...One of the dishes we'd most been looking forward to make was the Chicken & Dumpling Soup. The pictures in the book just made us crave it.
I have to that this was actually the first dish that has disappointed us from the book. Flavor-wise it was just so-so though Matt really like the mustard & chive flavor in the dumplings.
Actually the dumplings made from pate de choux were the best thing in this dish & we'll use that method again perhaps with our own soup base. We also felt that the amount of steps required to make this made it even more of a disappointment, all the work for eh. Let me walk you through it.
1. Chop carrots, leeks, onion & celery. 2. Cook that in butter with until tender. 3. Put those vegetables in some homemade stock & simmer for 30 minutes. 4. Make pate de choux. 5. Form the dough into dumplings. 6. Boil the dumplings in hot water & set aside. 7. Strain the stock & throw out the vegetables. 8. Make a roux. 9. Slowly add the roux to the strained stock & simmer for 30 minutes until thick. 10. Diagonal slice some celery. 11. Blanch the celery until crisp tender. 12. Drain the celery & add to ice bath. Drain again. 13. Slice carrots. 14. Put the carrots, some thyme, honey, salt & pepper in a pot. Cover with water & simmer until tender. 15. Drain carrots throwing away the thyme. 16. Shred 2 cups of cooked chicken. 17. Add celery, carrots, chicken & dumplings to the thicken stock & heat through. 18. Chop chives & sprinkle into soup. Whew...over 2 hours later eat.
Really I have no problem with recipes with a lot of steps but I felt like a lot of these steps added no extra flavor to the soup. We couldn't taste the thyme or honey in the carrots. I don't feel the simmered vegetables added much flavor to the broth (my homemade broth is really flavorful & already cooked with vegetables, perhaps with store bought broth this would make a difference). This is also the first time I've made the roux separate & added it to the broth. Despite the fact it is cooked for awhile before adding I felt like it gave the soup a bit of a flour flavor. Oh well, they can't all be winners. I'm sure the pork tenderloin we do next will be great.
On to Menu Planning Monday...
We are out for dinner Monday & Tuesday.
Salmon with Mustard Crumb Crust - a meal we never got to last week
Sausage & Peppers Waffles
Beef, Barley & Vegetable Soup
Juicy Blue-cy
I have to that this was actually the first dish that has disappointed us from the book. Flavor-wise it was just so-so though Matt really like the mustard & chive flavor in the dumplings.
Actually the dumplings made from pate de choux were the best thing in this dish & we'll use that method again perhaps with our own soup base. We also felt that the amount of steps required to make this made it even more of a disappointment, all the work for eh. Let me walk you through it.
1. Chop carrots, leeks, onion & celery. 2. Cook that in butter with until tender. 3. Put those vegetables in some homemade stock & simmer for 30 minutes. 4. Make pate de choux. 5. Form the dough into dumplings. 6. Boil the dumplings in hot water & set aside. 7. Strain the stock & throw out the vegetables. 8. Make a roux. 9. Slowly add the roux to the strained stock & simmer for 30 minutes until thick. 10. Diagonal slice some celery. 11. Blanch the celery until crisp tender. 12. Drain the celery & add to ice bath. Drain again. 13. Slice carrots. 14. Put the carrots, some thyme, honey, salt & pepper in a pot. Cover with water & simmer until tender. 15. Drain carrots throwing away the thyme. 16. Shred 2 cups of cooked chicken. 17. Add celery, carrots, chicken & dumplings to the thicken stock & heat through. 18. Chop chives & sprinkle into soup. Whew...over 2 hours later eat.
Really I have no problem with recipes with a lot of steps but I felt like a lot of these steps added no extra flavor to the soup. We couldn't taste the thyme or honey in the carrots. I don't feel the simmered vegetables added much flavor to the broth (my homemade broth is really flavorful & already cooked with vegetables, perhaps with store bought broth this would make a difference). This is also the first time I've made the roux separate & added it to the broth. Despite the fact it is cooked for awhile before adding I felt like it gave the soup a bit of a flour flavor. Oh well, they can't all be winners. I'm sure the pork tenderloin we do next will be great.
On to Menu Planning Monday...
We are out for dinner Monday & Tuesday.
Salmon with Mustard Crumb Crust - a meal we never got to last week
Sausage & Peppers Waffles
Beef, Barley & Vegetable Soup
Juicy Blue-cy
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© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski
© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski
Those dumplings look awesome! What a wonderful soup!
ReplyDeleteThe soup looks fantastic. Too bad that there were too many steps that were not meaningful to the end result. I'm sure the next recipe from the book will be a winner.
ReplyDeleteyou win some you lose some!! looks good though.
ReplyDeletekat... the soup is nice & light and the cabbage dumplings look really delicious.
ReplyDeleteI agree that steps, no matter how numerous are fine, if you are rewarded for your efforts.
Looks like another week of a great variety of menus. Thanks...
Well, your wonderful posts have convinced me. I just went out and bought Ad Hoc at home. But I'll be waiting for your lead and insights before cooking from it.
ReplyDeleteyep, i suspect the dumplings would be the very best part of this soup--they sound quite tasty! chicken soup does a body good. :)
ReplyDeleteI made this soup with my homemade stock. It was fabulous and well worth the effort.
ReplyDelete