Accidental Chicken Noodle Soup

 

The other day I began to make my favorite Chicken and Dumplings.  I started with the chicken and broth base. 

4 pounds whole frying chicken
2 quarts water
2 teaspoons salt
1 bay leaf
2 stalks celery
2 medium carrots
1 medium onion, quartered
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Then I decided that it was too warm to eat Chicken and Dumplings, so we had Sonic for dinner. Not a healthy choice, but one that I love every once in a while. After the chicken was cooled, I stored in the refrigerator for another night.  Well, that night was last night, or so I thought.

While out shopping, I found a box of premade dumplings.  I thought they were worth a try at least once.

So following the directions on the box, I continued on with my dumplings (reserving a few layers) as follows:

Remove the frozen dumplings from freezer while broth is heating.(I also added 2 chopped carrots and 2 stalks of chopped celery)  Separate each layer of dumplings as needed and drop 8-10 in boiling broth stirring under as added. As broth comes back to a boil, add more dumplings stirring after each addition until all are in boiling broth. Cook at a full boil about 10-12 minutes or until desired tenderness is achieved Add cooked chicken and boil 2 more minutes. Check to see if more salt is needed and add pepper as desired. Remove from heat, cover and wait 20-30 minutes before serving. 

As I waited for the dumplings to thicken, I decided to bake the 6 reserved dough strips to make crackers.  I placed them on a baking pan, rub them lightly with butter and picked them several times with a fork.  I put them in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  I checked on them several times, but as luck would have it I over cooked them.  This happens to me often when I try to do too much at one time. Regardless, they turned out ok.  Nice a crispy crackers that would have gone perfect with the soup, if the hubby and I didn’t have to taste them all to make sure they were good.  Oh well!  Back to the dumplings…

So I pulled off the lid to taste test the dumplings.  To my surprise, they did not thicken one iota!  I tasted it and it had great flavor, but it looked more like Chicken Noodles soup.  The family concurred.  Nonetheless, We all enjoyed it.

Update:  The next night I decided to make biscuits to go along with our soup.  I heated up some of the leftovers on the stove.  Much to my surprise, the soup turned into Dumplings!  LOL!!!  So there you have it Accidental Chicken Noodle Soup one night and Chicken and Dumplings the next.