TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

How To Soothe The Savage And Sick Sherpa

Photo by MICHELLE BAKER

Chicken and dumplings is one of those comforting dishes that can make even the grumpiest patient dig in.

ADVERTISEMENT

By GREG and MICHELLE BAKER

Tribune correspondents

Published: October 31, 2008

Last week, Greg came down with a bug. Two hours later, he was holed up in the bedroom, covered in blankets and drowning in cold medicine, vapor rub, OJ and lotion-soaked tissues.

Great. It's flu season.

In our world, there are no days off, and certainly no time to be sick. So when it does happen to one of us, the other has to pick up the slack.

It's amazing how many chores accumulate in a home with only two humans, especially when one is sick. We don't have any children, yet it seems our home is in constant disaster mode, which means the one picking up the slack inevitably will pass out from exhaustion by day's end.

Wash laundry, clean the kitchen, change the kitty boxes, sweep dog fur, mop the floors, clean the bathroom and unclog the bathtub. Don't forget to mow the lawn, fix the fence post and fill the bird feeder. While you're at it, make dinner for a person who is deathly ill (not really; he's just dramatic) and doesn't want to eat.

Michelle: "What would my sick little Pooh Bear like to eat?"

Greg: "Grrrrrrr"

Michelle: "Greg, you have to eat something."

Greg: "Allow me to die in peace, woman."

Michelle: "Would chicken and dumplings make my Pooh Bear feel better?"

The daggers coming from Greg's eyes said it all. Of course it would!

Chicken and dumplings is one of those comforting dishes that can make even the grumpiest patient dig in. Michelle came up with this very fast and very delicious version just for Greg. Super-juicy chicken, pillowy dumplings, carrots, peas and corn all in a robust broth. Just what the doctor ordered.

SUPER-FAST CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

For the soup:

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 carrots, sliced into very thin circles (use a mandoline, if you have one)

2 stalks celery, sliced into very thin half-moons (use a mandoline; if you don't have one, you really should get one!)

1 cup frozen sweet peas

1 cup frozen sweet corn

1 can low-sodium cream of chicken soup

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock (preferably stock you made)

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh thyme, stemmed and chopped

2 teaspoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the dumplings:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 3/4 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, then brown in a saute pan with olive oil over medium heat; about 2 minutes per side. Place the chicken in the oven and continue to cook for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. In a large wide pot, add celery, carrots, corn and peas. Add the cut chicken to the pot then add cream of chicken soup and chicken stock. Stir well and add thyme, bay leaf and parsley. Heat the soup until just simmering and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large bowl, combine the first four dumpling ingredients. Add cream and mix until just combined. Using a fork and spoon, drop about 12 heaping tablespoons of the dumpling mixture into the soup pot trying not to let the raw dumplings touch.

Bake chicken and dumplings in oven for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees.

To serve, spoon chicken soup into bowl and top with dumplings. Serves 6.

Join Greg and Michelle from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Westfield Citrus Park mall's Williams-Sonoma (8066 Citrus Park Town Center) as they launch the Thanksgiving Recipe Rescue!

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT