Chicken and Roasted Poblano Pepper Soup

I really love it when the weather turns cool. I have to wait a while because I'm so far south, but it's worth it. The cool weather makes soup so much more enjoyable to me. I love making hearty soups, chili, and big pots of beans accompanied by mountains of warm, buttery cornbread. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard!

I seem to have a thing here lately with Poblano peppers. Poblano peppers are lovely, dark green, mild chili peppers. If you ever eat chilies rellenos at your favorite Mexican restaurant, then you have eaten them. Occasionally you might find a spicy one, but usually they are mild and full of flavor.

This soup was inspired by my latest pepper kick, a whole stack of soup recipes, and cool weather. It makes a BIG pot of soup, so if you are feeding only 2-3 people, you might want to cut it in half or freeze part for later. But my best advise is to make it a day ahead and enjoy it the next day. It is one of those dishes that gets better the next day because the flavors have longer to "marry." Regardless, I heartily recommend this yummy soup. Enjoy!

Chicken & Roasted Poblano Pepper Soup

1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups diced or chopped carrots
3 Poblano peppers, fresh
3 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
1 roasted chicken
2 cups frozen sweet corn
1cup long grain rice, uncooked
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup flour
shredded Monterey Jack cheese (optional)

 

Wash and dry the fresh Poblano peppers. Place them on a broiling pan, and place in the broiler. Turn peppers once the tops of their skins have bubbled and blackened. This will take just a few minutes. Allow both sides to bubble and blacken.

Remove from broiler and immediately place in a paper or plastic bag. Seal and allow to sit for 20 minutes. After steaming for 20 minutes, remove the blackened skin, stems, seeds, and veins of the peppers. Dice the peppers and reserve.

Preheat a large saucepan. Add olive oil, diced carrots, and onions. Stir and cook until soft. Add garlic, cumin, thyme, poblanos, cilantro, and salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Add chicken broth, corn, and the diced meat from one roasted chicken. Cover and bring to a simmer. Add rice, stir, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When about 5 minutes of cooking time are remaining, melt butter in a small sauce pan. Add flour and stir constantly. Cook for 4-5 minutes to cook roux. Add roux to soup and mix well. Simmer soup for 5-10 more minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Serve hot and top with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and fresh chopped cilantro if desired.

Hearty Chicken and Dumplings - Rolled Out Texas Style!

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Isn't our little light house lovely? I couldn't resist stopping for a snapshot one evening when we were out for an evening drive along the water.

It's a time of equal days and nights where the temperatures slowly start to dip, the grass slows its race for the sky, and the best stars in the night sky begin to rise. Fall is my very favorite season. I love the crispness of the air, Texas high school and college football, cub scout outings, Halloween costume designing, and moving the menu toward more warm, hearty dishes.

This particular dish has a special place in my heart. You see, almost a year ago, I made my Chicken and Dumplings for my brother-in-law, my husband, and myself. I was 9 months pregnant but still feeling good, and I needed some comfort food. As supper was almost ready, I began having strong contractions. I'd had 3 false alarms, so I wasn't all that concerned. We sat down to eat, and I managed to eat a few bites. The contractions kept getting stronger and closer together, so I moved from the table to the rocking chair nearby. The guys kept eating but watched me carefully. As I breathed slowly, they agreed that the baby was going to come tonight. That was about 7 pm. We went to the hospital at around 8:00, and the baby was born around 10:30 pm. So he's my little dumpling! We think about that night every time I make this dish.

My Hearty Chicken and Dumplings recipe is easy, quick, but impressive. Unlike a lot of recipes out there, there aren't any fluffy plops of dough floating on top of mine. No vegetables in it either. In my part of Texas, we make rolled dumplings and put lots of black pepper in the broth. The pepper is optional. My husband doesn't like pepper, so I've left it out. I'm just letting you know how we roll around these parts! :)

Hearty Chicken and Dumplings

1 medium rotisserie chicken, deboned

6 cups low sodium chicken stock

3 cups water

1 bay leaf

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 Tablespoons shortening

1 egg

1/4 - 1/2 cup water (see directions)

black pepper to taste

Remove the cooked chicken from the bone. You want it to be in large-ish pieces no bigger than 2 inches in any direction. Don't use the skin. Give it to your dog. It'll love you for life!

In a large pot with a tight fitting lid, add chicken broth and water to the chicken. Throw in a bay leaf and bring the whole thing to a boil. Cover and simmer while you get the dumplings ready.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir it up. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut-in the shortening. In a separate bowl, lightly beat one egg. Pour it into the dry ingredients and stir. Slowly add a small amount of water and stir. Repeat this until the dough comes together as a ball, but stop before it gets too sticky. If it does get too sticky, add a small amount of flour.

Sprinkle some extra flour onto you clean counter top. Plop the dough out and roll it out until it's about 1/4 inch thick. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into strips about an inch wide. Cut those strips into lengths no longer than about 4 inches.

Drop the dumplings into the boiling broth one at a time. Be careful not to splash hot broth on you. It hurts! After adding all of the dumplings, cover the pot and simmer. The dumplings should take about 15 minutes to cook. It all depends on how thick or thin you rolled them. Check the dumplings to see if they're done. They are ready when they are tender and have a thin dark, wet layer in the middle of them. As the dumplings cook, your broth will thicken into a nice gravy/sauce.

Don't you love the bowl? I just love these old Fire King bowls!

Now I did throw a cup of frozen peas into mine just before I added the dumplings because my little dumpling loves to feed himself peas with his little dumpling fingers. Who can resist? Just don't tell the folks back home. Okay?

Last week, we drove out to the dike and noticed the strangest sight in the sky.

As we were scratching our heads wondering what it was, the local Emergency Management office did a mass call-out. It said that the aircraft seen over the city was a NASA project. They were testing a space-plane out of Ellington AFB. It was really cool! Just thought I'd share the neat sight.

I hope you enjoy my quick recipe. I could go to the trouble of cooking my own chicken and making my own stock, but when rotisserie chickens are so tasty, convenient, and inexpensive, I'm not going to bother. Besides, it tastes better this way. I hope you'll give rolled dumplings a try. They're totally easy, and oh so good!

Keep lovin' and keep cookin'!