So, this recipe is one of the recipes my mom taught me and is one of the first real meals I learned to make for myself after leaving for college. I have since tweaked the soup a LITTLE, but it is pretty true to the original. My Great Great Grandma's Danish Dumplings, however, I have not changed at all.* A good friend of mine says they "taste like Christmas" and she wasn't wrong! ;)
This meal is the epitome of comfort food, in my opinion. Every time I make it, I think about when I was a kid making the dumplings with my mom (and sometimes brother). When I am sick this is the only food that sounds good. I LOVE this dish!
Soup ingredients:
- 3-4 chicken breasts
- 1/4c butter
- 2 boxes chicken broth
- 1/2 a small sweet onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2t seasoning salt (more or less to taste)
- 1T parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 stalks celery cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces
- about 1/2 a bag of baby carrots
- a little chicken bouillon (if you want a little extra flavor in the broth)
- 1-2 potatoes, diced (I haven't been adding this lately... I think there's plenty of starch in it already)
- 1/2 a package of egg noodles (I use "NoYolks")
Great Great Grandma's Danish Dumpling ingredients:
- 1/2c water
- 4T butter
- 1t salt
- 1t sugar
- 2/3c flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/2t nutmeg (*I usually cut this in half, just as my mom did :)
I usually make a double batch of the dumplings with the amount of soup here.
The soup part of this dish is fantastic in the crockpot. However, I made it on the stove in a big stock pot this time.
I melted the butter in the pan and added the onions and garlic. After a few minutes, I added the parsley and cooked over medium heat until the onions were clear. Then, I added the chicken, sprinkled the seasoning salt over them, and seared the outside for a couple minutes on each side. Once that was done, I added the chicken broth, bouillon, celery, and carrots. The hard part is now over... for now. Just put a lid on it, turn the heat down, and let it simmer for a few hours until the chicken is fall-apart-tender.
The dumplings take about 45 min to make from start to finish, and the noodles that I use take about 12 minutes to cook. So you will want to time them accordingly to be sure not to over cook the noodles.
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| Dumpling dough before adding eggs. Cooling after adding flour. |
To make my Great Great Grandma's Danish Dumplings, bring the water, butter, salt, and sugar to boil in a medium sized sauce pan. Once it has come to a full rolling boil for a min or two, quickly add the flour and mix well, stirring until the mixture forms a dough ball that does not stick to the sides of the pan. (Important note: Several of the times I made this dish the dough was too sticky and runny... the only thing I could come up with to explain why sometimes it comes out perfect and others it doesn't is, the times it doesn't work I didn't let it boil long enough. So, not enough water evaporated. It is just a theory... but if you think you know what else it could be, please let me know!)
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| Dumpling dough after adding eggs and nutmeg. Ready to go into the broth. |
At this point, you will need to let the dough cool before adding the eggs, usually about 20 min, give or take, depending on how well your pot holds heat. (Sometimes I will make this part earlier and put it in the fridge while the soup cooks. If I do that, I take it out in enough time for it to come back to room temperature before I move on to the next step. I don't know if that really matters... but, as I mentioned, the recipe can be a bit... temperamental. So, I don't want to take any chances.) While I wait for the dough to cool I usually whisk together the eggs and nutmeg.
Once the dough is cool you will add the eggs and nutmeg a little at a time and stir very well until all the lumps are out and the texture is consistant. (Now is about when you will want to add the noodles to the soup.) Drop spoonfuls of dumpling dough into boiling broth, cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
I often fill my soup to the brim with other goodies leaving no room for the dumplings. To remedy the situation I will cook the dumplings in a separate pot and add them to the soup just before serving. If you try to cram the dumplings into a pot that has too much in it already the dumplings get destroyed when you stir... It is also best to cook the dumplings in a separate pot if you make the soup part in the crockpot.
The only other deviations I make some times, particularly if I am impatient or sick, is put all the veggies and spices in the broth and bring that to a full boil until the veggies are cooked. Then, I cut up and add a rotisserie chicken from Publix. Instead of waiting hours for the chicken to be cooked and tender, it's ready in the time it takes to cook a carrot. And, it's almost as delicious! Also, sometimes I thicken the broth at the end with a little cornstarch... makes it more of a gravy than a soup, but it's tasty!
That just about covers it! Chicken Noodle Soup with my Great Great Grandma's Danish Dumplings is one of my favorite meals in the whole world! It is hardy, delicious and filling.
Give it a try I know you will love it. :)
~Sarah
