This week I made Chicken Corn Chowder with dumplings. Now this is definitely not a soup - it is hearty and you can almost eat it with a fork. You could make it soupier by adding more broth and or milk. It is a little labor intensive but you could speed things along by using already prepared ingredients. It makes a huge pot that would feed a hoard of hungry campers.
I am a utility cook, not a Martha Stewart wannabe or anything near close to it. I love cooking but I make mistakes and burn stuff on a regular basis. That's why I love soups and stews because they are so flexible and hard to screw up. So here's my recipe. Let me know if you like it or if you have any better ideas. It will be going with us on our next weekend camping trip.
Fall camping is such a great time for this type of food!
Chicken Corn Chowder with Dumplings
3-4 pounds of boneless chicken breast chopped in bite size pieces
8-10 slices of bacon
1 stick of butter or margarine
1 large onion chopped
2 tablespoons jarred garlic (or fresh)
6 cups chicken broth (More or less depending on how thick you want it to be)
1 can cream of chicken soup
3-4 stalks celery chopped
1 jar alfredo sauce
1 1/2 cups carrots chopped
4-5 potatoes peeled and chopped
1 cup half and half
1 large bag of frozen corn
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 cups Bisquick or baking mix
2/3 cups skim milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic salt
I like to build the stew so I start a stock pot with the chicken broth added and after it is warm I add the cream of chicken soup and alfredo - yep I said alfredo. It gives the stew a nice creamy texture and a great taste. I used a whisk to stir this as it heats and get it all mixed together. Then in another pan, I add the chopped onion and sautee in grape seed or olive oil (which ever I happen to have on hand) along with a couple of tablespoons margarine or butter. I season each ingredient as it cooks with salt and pepper and garlic salt. After they are softened I add the garlic and continue to cook for a few more minutes until both are transparent. Then I add this to the broth and keep stirring.
Next I add the celery to the pan with butter or margarine and oil and sautee until tender, seasoning again as I go. Add that to the pot and continue stirring. Do the same with the carrots and then add to the hot tub. Next add the potatoes to the pan and season well and sautee and add in with the broth mixture.
Next I brown the bacon and put it aside to drain but leave the bacon fat in the pan. Cook the chicken until browned slightly and almost done. I like it cut into bite sized pieces but hubby normally chops it for me. He was working when I defiled this chicken so it was not chopped so perfectly but still worked just fine. Add to your pot. At this point I let the stew simmer until the vegetables are almost done. Then dump in the corn and stir well again.
Look at your stew and determine if it is brothy or soupy enough (yes I know that's not a word) and if not add more liquid. Let it come to a gentle boil and add the half and half to a glass jar and add the corn starch and shake it up - after you add the lid. Pour this into the chowder and stir well. This will help it thicken.
Next add the Bisquick or baking mix to a bowl with the skim milk and mix well. Be sure this is a very stiff dough or the dumplings will dissolve and you will have a pot of chicken mud. You can also use a can of biscuit dough cut into pieces. Let the pot come to a gentle boil and drop the dumplings by the spoonful into the broth. Don't stir - it's tempting but don't do it. Let the dumplings cook 10 minutes with the lid off and then 10 with the lid on and this should get them done all the way through. You can ladle broth over the top of the dumplings after the 20 minutes of cooking to get any raw spots done. I also season the top of the dumplings with garlic salt and pepper while they are cooking.
This can be served with shredded cheese and the chopped bacon. It is delicious and it will stick to your ribs for sure. Enjoy!
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