Chicken Soup & Dumplings

It seems like everyone I talk to has a cold or the flu. The changing of the seasons can be beautiful, but also tend to make everyone sick. With this in mind, I made a huge pot of chicken soup and dumplings. The nice thing about making a huge pot, is you can share it with others or freeze it for those chilly winter nights!

What you'll need for the soup:

1 Whole Chicken

J.B. Jameson's Chicken Flavored Soup Base

1 Bunch of Celery, chopped

1 Bunch of Carrots, chopped

1 Onion, chopped

5-10 Bay Leaves

Fresh Ground Pepper

How to make:

Clean chicken thoroughly and place in a large stock pot. Pour water into pot until it covers the chicken. I tend to fill my pot almost to the top because I like to make a huge batch. If your making a large batch, make sure to allow enough room for when vegetable are added. Next add all your chopped veggies and your bay leaves. I think the bay leaves give the soup a wonderful flavor so I tend to use more. Depending on your own personal taste adjust the amount. Next bring soup to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for an hour.

After an hour your chicken should be floating and cooked. The chicken may not take the full hour to cook. The way to tell is look at the meat on the legs, if it starts to come apart from the bone, it's done. Remove chicken from pot and place on cutting board. While the chicken is resting on the board, skim any chicken fat that may be floating at the top of the chicken stock. You may have to do this several times to get everything. Once skimmed take the soup base, and add about a quarter of the jar. Stir in, taste and add additional base until soup is well flavored. I typically end up using at least half the jar, sometimes more depending on the amount of soup I make. Add gradually, because if you do add too much, it will be a little salty. If that happens, just add more water. I do not use bullion, I think it is way too salty, and has a generic taste to it. J.B. Jameson's soup base is excellent and rich in flavor. It can be found in your soup isle at the grocery store.

Once you have added enough base, let the soup simmer an additional 20-30 minutes. Remember to keep skimming the fat off the top. At this time you can take the bay leaves out of the soup, and add fresh ground pepper to taste.

Remove chicken from the bone along with skin. Meat should be very tender, and easy to shred or able to be cut into chunks. Once all chicken has been broken into bite size pieces, add to soup.

For The Dumplings:

2 Cups Flour

3/4 Cup - 1 Cup Cold Water

Seasoning Blend ( I use Tastefully Simple Spinach and Dill Blend)

Dash of Salt

In a bowl pour flour, salt, and your favorite seasoning blend. (I used about a tablespoon and a half of the TS spinach and dill blend.) Gradually add water to flour mixture and stir until a dough forms. Once dough has been formed, drop by tablespoon into simmering soup. Dumpling will float to the top once cooked. You'll probably want to add dumplings once you've added all your soup base. The dumplings can take between 10-20 minutes to cook.

Once dumplings are cooked, serve soup immediately! Enjoy!

Tips:

***You can use potatoes in the soup too, just chop into small chunks and add to soup with other veggies in the beginning.

***Store left over soup in gallon Ziploc bags in freezer.