from the pen of icarus blake

Soup was the first food I learned how to make myself — chicken noodle, dumped from the can and into a pot and heated so my mom could wash her hands of me and return to work with a closed office door.  Then began the raids on the spice cabinet: oregano, cayenne pepper, nutmeg for tomato soup, dried basil, garlic powder, all liberally applied to the canned soup in the pot.  A pinch of this, a pinch of that, some spice to bring out the richness of the chicken, and in all of this a level of sodium consumption that made my doctor cringe.  He did suppose soup was better than junk food.  I did not tell him about my habit of topping loaded baked potato soup with sour cream and onion potato chips.

When I moved out and my partner’s father gifted us an instant pot, I knew it was over for us.  The soup train kicked into high gear with unfettered access to a kitchen and a pressure cooker on hand.  My repertoire expanded: homemade vegetable scrap stock, slow cooked bone broth, roasted mushroom, broccoli cheddar, chicken and dumplings.  If I could cut it up, it went in the soup pot.  I’d compare to a witch hunching over my cauldron, but I need a stepstool to look directly into the big stock pot.

Speaking of, I did find my chicken and dumpling soup recipe, if you’d like to try the fruits of my potion making obsession.  Fair warning, I measure with my heart so most of these ratios are approximate.

Drunken Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

Dumplings

• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tbsp butter (melted)
• Cold water

Chicken

• 1 lb chicken thighs
• 1 can ale of your choice
• ¼ cup fresh ginger root, chopped
• Montreal Steak Seasoning

Soup

• 2 cups stock (chicken, vegetable, beef, garlic, whatever)
• waxy potatoes (red, yukon gold, or fingerling)
• ½ cup carrot
• ½ cup celery
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 6 cloves garlic

Directions:

Dumplings

1. Add flour, sugar, and salt to a large bowl.  Mix until homogenous.
2. Create a well in the middle of the dry mixture.  Crack egg into it and beat the egg in the well.
3. Add butter in slowly, mixing until clumps form.
4. Add cold water slowly as needed and knead until dough is smooth.
5. Refrigerate for 1 hour or more.
6. Cut dough into 1x1in pieces, shape is your choice.

Chicken

1. Remove bones and excess fat.  Score the smooth side of the meat deeply.
2. Season meat liberally on all sides with Montreal steak seasoning.
3. Place chicken into a 1 gallon plastic bag or large bowl, gradually adding chopped ginger and pouring the ale so it evenly covers all the chicken.
4. Marinate for 3+ hours.
5. Remove chicken from marinade (RESERVE MARINADE), strain the chunks of ginger out of the remaining liquid and set aside.
6. Sear chicken in a pot on all sides.
7. Deglaze with marinade mixture, add water until chicken is totally covered.  Let braise for 2 hours on low OR pressure cook on high for 10 minutes and allow to depressurize slowly (don’t release the vent).
8. Remove chicken, reserve cooking liquid.

Soup

1. Sautee carrots, celery, ginger, and garlic until fragrant.
2. Add stock and cooking liquid reserved from chicken, bring to a simmer.
3. Wash and roughly chop potatoes, add to simmering pot.
4. Shred and add chicken, add dumplings.
5. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until both potatoes and dumplings are cooked through.