Soup Archives - Kitchen Conundrum

Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India

March 31, 2014 by Renee

Vegetable Barley Soup is one of my favorites. Of course I also love Beef and Barley soup or Barley and Mushroom soup too. However, I’ve never thought to venture far from the traditional preparation. Now we’ve gone a bit wild and are combining some of my favorite flavors together for a hearty, spicy and curry inspired dinner. For this week’s French Friday’s with Dorie, we made a Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India.

This soup could not have come at a better time. I’ve had a terrible cold for the past two weeks or so and nothing has really helped. It’s been on and off and I’ve pumped myself full of decongestants and ibuprofen in an attempt at some relief to little avail. However, the gentle heat of the ginger and red pepper flakes along with the fragrant, warm aromas from the Garam masala provided some much needed sensory appeal and soothed my symptoms greatly. I honestly felt myself breathe for the first time in quite a while. By today, I was completely better and I think it’s all because of this soup.

I am very happy that this recipe made a generous amount as I’ve been eating it all weekend and still have some left over to take to work this week for lunch.

The thing about barley though is that it expands. It also doesn’t seem to stop expanding, so the broth is nearly fully absorbed into the grain. Which of course, is fine, it’s just less liquidy by the second and third days. You can add more stock if you want, but I am enjoying the more stew like quality at this point.

This recipe was super easy to make too- which is always a plus when you are feeling under the weather and don’t want to be bothered to prep too much. I can definitely see this one being made again (and again!).

While I cannot share this delightful recipe, you can (and should!) buy the book and cook along with us. It’s great fun! Every Friday we make a new recipe. Looking forward to next weeks! For details and to see how others are recreating the dishes from this awesome book, check out the FFWD site.

Buy the book:

Christine’s Simple Party Soups – French Fridays with Dorie

January 17, 2014 by Renee

Even though this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe was for a trio of soups, Broccoli, Asparagus and Red Pepper, they were all extremely quick and easy to make- stock (or bouillon cube) based with the vegetables pureed with an immersion blender. Super simple! Just as the name implies. Because I didn’t need a quart of soup for each flavor, I cut the recipes down to one cup each. This was the perfect amount for us.

The broccoli was by far the favorite of the three. The red pepper soup was quite good too, but in my opinion it would have benefited from charring the peppers over the flame and peeling them before being added to the stock. Next time.

I am sure the asparagus soup would have been terrific too had the asparagus been somewhat decent. I, quite literally, bought the last sad looking bunch at the grocery store. They were so shriveled and the tips were already turning and just so pitiful that I actually think using frozen would have been a better option. But alas, I bought them and the soup had, well, a rather bitter aftertaste to it. Thankfully, it was only one cup so I didn’t feel so badly letting it go down the drain.

Overall though, these would make great dinner party or brunch appetizers as they don’t require much fussing, can be made in advance and served either warmed, chilled or at room temperature. Dollop a bit of fresh whipped cream and top with a spice of your choice and “Voila!”, an instant starter. I used pink salt for the red pepper, curry for the broccoli and black salt for the asparagus, but the combinations are endless.

While I cannot share the actual recipe, you can (and should!) buy the book and cook along with us. It’s great fun! Every Friday we make a new recipe. Looking forward to next weeks! For details and to see how others are recreating the dishes from this awesome book, check out the FFWD site.

Buy the book:

Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

November 24, 2013 by Renee

It’s near 20 degrees in NYC today and the girls and I spent the day in the city at a blogging holiday party. We had tons of fun and afterwards, we wandered up Fifth Avenue to check out the holiday windows of the large department stores. They are always so lovely! But sadly, the cold was just too much for us and we had to call it quits before we turned into ice pops.

We made our way back to Penn Station and headed home shivering the entire time!

The best cure for cold weather is serious comfort food. Knowing that we are having roast turkey and mashed potatoes later in the week, we opted for a stew instead. But I didn’t want beef. Chicken and Dumplings seemed to be the perfect next choice and it was!

My aunt, in North Carolina, made the best Chicken and Dumplings growing up. She is a real down home, Southern kind of a lady and makes everyone feel welcome the moment they arrive, sweet tea in hand. Not only was her fried chicken the best, but the homemade bacon that they cured in their smokehouse was out of this world and I have never had better. But the real treat was her Chicken & Dumplings. I remember how she rolled out her dumplings thin and cut them like pasta rather than dropping balls of dough by spoonfuls into a boiling cauldron of chicken stock. The result was a hearty stew with bite fulls of dense, dough, creamy sauce and chunks of herbed chicken. A very filling and a very comforting bowl.

I don’t have her recipe but I’ve been making them this way for years and they are reminiscent of the ones she made. I may not remember or know if they are as good as hers, but my family loves them and a 6.3 quart French Oven yielded just enough tonight that there was only one small bowl left over. But next time, I’ll have to make more dumplings- because that’s the first thing to go as everyone spoons them out of the pot and it’s good to have some leftover because the dish is always better the next day!

Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

1 hour 45 mins

Total time

2 hours 15 mins

Chicken and Dumplings

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

For the Stock:

1 3-4lb Whole Chicken ((You can use ¼'s or ⅛'s as well))
2 stalks Celery (Chopped in large chunks)
2 large Carrots (Chopped in large chunks)
1 medium Onion (Diced)
2 Bay Leaves
2 sprigs Thyme (Leave whole)
2 sprigs Rosemary (Leave whole)
2 sprigs Sage (Leave whole)
3 cloves Garlic (Finely chopped)
Salt and Pepper (To Taste)
Water (To Cover)

For the Dumplings:

3 cups Self Rising Flour
1½ cup Chicken Stock (Use the just made stock)

Method

For the Stock. In a large pot (I used a 6.3 French Oven) over high heat, add the chicken, herbs and chopped vegetables. Add enough water to cover and submerge the chicken. Bring to a boil and lower the flame to medium-low heat and simmer for an hour and a half or until the chicken is fork tender. At this point, remove the whole chicken from the broth and set it aside to cool. Leave the broth on the low flame to continue simmering.
Once you are able to touch the chicken, go ahead and remove the meat from the bones. Set aside the meat and discard the carcass.
From the broth, remove the stems and stalks of the herbs. If you want, you can now also skim the top of the broth to remove any impurities. Add salt and pepper to taste.
For the dumplings. Remove 1½ cups of stock from the pot and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, add the self-rising flour* and the stock. With a fork or your hands, knead the liquid into the flour to form a dough. Continue kneading until all the flour is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it's about ¼" thick. Cut the dough into 2" squares with a knife.
Turn up the heat on the stock and once it is boiling, drop the squares of dumplings into the pot, stirring so they do not stick together.
Return the chicken pieces to the pot and stir to combine. Continue cooking for another 5-8 minutes until the dumplings are cooked through and the stock has thickened some.**
Serve in large bowls.

Notes

* Self Rising Flour- If you don't have, you can make your own. For every 1 cup of ap flour add 1½ teaspoons Baking Powder and ¼ teaspoon Salt and mix well.

** If your sauce is not as thick as you would like, in a separate bowl, make a slurry consisting of 2 teaspoons Corn Starch and a 2 tablespoons of Stock. Mix well to remove any lumps and add this mixture back to your stock which should continue boiling for another minute or so. Keep stirring to combine. Lower the flame back to a simmer and the sauce will become thicker as it continues to cook.

Enjoy and Stay Warm!