[Recipe] Spicy Baked Chicken & Dumplings Soup
With the chilly weather coming on, I find myself more and more in favor of comfoting, savory soups. This weekend is no exception -- and with a Penzey's Spices quarterly/recipe book in hand, I decided to try a variant on chicken and dumplings.
Spicy Baked Chicken & Dumplings Soup
Ingredients
Soup:
* 2 lbs. boneless/skinless chicken breasts
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 tsp white pepper
* 1/2 tsp paprika
* 2 tsp your favorite seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash's Lemon Pepper mix)
* 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
* 1 whole bay leaf
* 1 small onion, diced
* 1 cup carrots, sliced
* 1 cup celery, cut into 1/4" slices
* 1 - 1 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/3 cup flour or chicken gravy mix
Dumplings:
* 1 cup flour
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp garlic salt
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1/2 cup milk
Method
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cut chicken breasts in half, to produce two shallow but broad fillets apiece. Mix 1/2 tsp salt, peppers, paprika, and 2 tsps of your choice of seasoning. Season the chicken fillets with the spice mix, and bake on an aluminum foil-lined baking pan for 30 minutes.
2. While the chicken breasts are baking, simmer 3 1/2 cups chicken broth with bay leaf, chopped veggies, and salt. Combine flour and water mixture, whisk to a smooth paste, and set aside.
3. For the dumplings, sift together the flour, baking powder, garlic salt, and pepper. Cut in the butter and blend until you have pea-sized bits of dough. Add the milk and stir until mixed.
4. Remove chicken from oven, chop and add to pot. Simmer for 10 minutes, then drizzle in the flour/water mixture.
5. Drop by the tablespoon into the broth and chicken mixture. Simmer until the dumplings become light and fluffy, about 10 minutes further. Makes 4 - 5 reasonably sized servings.
Thick, savory stew with plenty of chicken and tasty dumplings to top it off -- an absolute winner in my book! For me, adding the lemon pepper spicing to season the chicken breasts made it particularly delicious, but for others that may be a touch too spicy.
The original recipe calls for double the amount of dumpling mix, which was way too much for me. I made the full amount and dropped the dumplings into the broth, but rapidly found myself out of space in the pot for more dumplings. Thus, I've halved the amounts for that part of the recipe. Honestly, I feel as though the recipe could even use a bit more broth -- with that much chicken and veggies as a base, the soup pot was crowded even before the dumplings went in.
Overall, though, I will absolutely be making this recipe again. Simple, straightforward, not too long to cook, and incredibly tasty -- four things that make it a winner in my book.
Originally crossposted from http://kitchenklutz.dreamwidth.org/13088.html. Please comment here if you first read the post here.
Spicy Baked Chicken & Dumplings Soup
Ingredients
Soup:
* 2 lbs. boneless/skinless chicken breasts
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 tsp white pepper
* 1/2 tsp paprika
* 2 tsp your favorite seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash's Lemon Pepper mix)
* 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
* 1 whole bay leaf
* 1 small onion, diced
* 1 cup carrots, sliced
* 1 cup celery, cut into 1/4" slices
* 1 - 1 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/3 cup flour or chicken gravy mix
Dumplings:
* 1 cup flour
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp garlic salt
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1/2 cup milk
Method
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cut chicken breasts in half, to produce two shallow but broad fillets apiece. Mix 1/2 tsp salt, peppers, paprika, and 2 tsps of your choice of seasoning. Season the chicken fillets with the spice mix, and bake on an aluminum foil-lined baking pan for 30 minutes.
2. While the chicken breasts are baking, simmer 3 1/2 cups chicken broth with bay leaf, chopped veggies, and salt. Combine flour and water mixture, whisk to a smooth paste, and set aside.
3. For the dumplings, sift together the flour, baking powder, garlic salt, and pepper. Cut in the butter and blend until you have pea-sized bits of dough. Add the milk and stir until mixed.
4. Remove chicken from oven, chop and add to pot. Simmer for 10 minutes, then drizzle in the flour/water mixture.
5. Drop by the tablespoon into the broth and chicken mixture. Simmer until the dumplings become light and fluffy, about 10 minutes further. Makes 4 - 5 reasonably sized servings.
Thick, savory stew with plenty of chicken and tasty dumplings to top it off -- an absolute winner in my book! For me, adding the lemon pepper spicing to season the chicken breasts made it particularly delicious, but for others that may be a touch too spicy.
The original recipe calls for double the amount of dumpling mix, which was way too much for me. I made the full amount and dropped the dumplings into the broth, but rapidly found myself out of space in the pot for more dumplings. Thus, I've halved the amounts for that part of the recipe. Honestly, I feel as though the recipe could even use a bit more broth -- with that much chicken and veggies as a base, the soup pot was crowded even before the dumplings went in.
Overall, though, I will absolutely be making this recipe again. Simple, straightforward, not too long to cook, and incredibly tasty -- four things that make it a winner in my book.
Originally crossposted from http://kitchenklutz.dreamwidth.org/13088.html. Please comment here if you first read the post here.