Cold Weather, Warm Soup

This is what was going on here yesterday morning.


The temperature was 7 degrees.


So, I made soup. Recently I had chicken and dumpling soup at a diner. It was the first time I had it and it was scrumptious. So I decided to make my own. I roasted a bunch of chicken breasts with their bones and skin.



While they were cooking, I diced 2 big onions.


I melted a stick of butter in a heavy pan.



Then I diced a bunch of celery.


And some carrots.


I cooked these in the butter just until the onions became translucent.


Then I added 4 quarts of chicken stock.


While the vegetables were simmering, I removed the skin from the chicken and pulled all the meat off the bone.


I diced 6 cups and sat it aside. Then I measured out another 6 cups.


Stir the diced chicken into the vegetable mixture and sit it aside.


Bring 2 quarts of chicken stock to a boil.


I missed a few pictures here so use your imagination. I put the extra 6 cups of chicken in a food processor along with some fresh tarragon, parsley, 2 eggs and 2 cups of flour with some salt and pepper.


This gets dropped by spoonfuls into the boiling stock.


After about 5 minutes, remove the dumplings from the stock and place on paper towels to dry. When you are done boiling all the dumpling, add the stock to the main soup mixture.


Ladle the soup into a bowl and add some dumplings.



Teddy enjoyed her soup. She is even asking for more.


Then I made some babaganoush and hummus. This stuff is so easy to make it is a shame to by the store bought stuff. I pricked 3 eggplants all over with a sharp fork and placed them under the broiler turning them often for 30 minutes. These would be better done on a grill but I did not feel like shoveling snow to get to the grill.






While they are broiling, put 4 tablespoons of tahini, some fresh chopped parsley, 4 diced garlic cloves, s&p, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice in a bowl and mix together.



Once the eggplants cool, scoop all the meat out of the skins. Mix this with the above mixture.


For the hummus, dump 3 cans of chick peas into a food processor saving some of their liquid. Add 1/2 cup fresh parsley, 5 garlic cloves, 1 tsp. ground cumin, s&p, 3 tablespoons olive oil, and 1 cup fresh lemon juice. Puree this until it is smooth adding the reserved bean liquid to get a smooth consistency.


This can be served with vegetables, spread on cracker or eaten in pita.