Creamy Chicken Stoup with Dumplings

Well, I'm not sure what it's like in your neck of the woods, but it is rainy, windy, and awful in Quinte West.  On days like today, I just want a warm bowl of comfort food, my favourite being creamy chicken soup!   There's some about tender chunks of chicken, veggies, fresh herbs and cream that make your insides happy!

*BUZZ* 

Wait a second, fresh cream is off the market now (damn dairy and it's delicious irritants!) so I had to find a way to make this stoup (stew+soup = stoup) creamy and satisfying sans dairy ( ohhh "sans", oui, je parle en peu francais!!)  Ok, I need to stay on track here.  Ok... creaminess. 

I read a few websites that used pureed veggies as a thickener so I figured this would be a good option.  OMG guys... best decision ever.  I ended up making what I call "cauliflower-turnip milk" and from this day forward, it will be my thickener for soups, stews, and gravies.  It was that awesome!!   Oh.. and I felt so awesome about this recipe that I totally tried my hand at dumplings!  Never had them pre-Paleo so I have no comparison, but these were soft and delish!  So let's get into it!

Stoup Ingredients:

1 whole organic chicken (approx. 4lbs)

2 litres of water

1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 cup turnip, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 large carrots, diced

2 parsnips, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Sea salt

Pepper

How to:

1. Take your chicken and place in a LARGE stock pot and add the 2 litres of water.  Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked.  Remove chicken and set aside to cool.

2. Remove 3 cups of stock from pot and set aside.

3. To the pot, add the cauliflower florets and turnip, and simmer for 30 minutes.  Pour stock and turnip/cauliflower into a large bowl and set aside to cool.

4. Add olive to stock pot and add onion, carrots, celery, and parsnips.  Sauté until onions are translucent.  Add garlic and dried thyme.

5. Add the 3 cups of stock reserved from earlier.  Simmer until veggies are soft and liquid is reduced by 3/4.

6. Once the cauliflower, turnip, and stock has cooled slightly, add to a glass jar blender and puree until smooth.  It will have the consistency of cream.  Set aside.

7. Remove meat from chicken carcass and reserve half (for lunches).  With the remaining half, chop into bite-size chunks.

8.  Add in cauliflower-turnip "milk" and chicken into the stock pot.  Simmer long enough to combine flavours, 10-15 minutes.  Add in chicken chunks

7.  Season with salt and pepper.




Dumpling Recipe:

1/2 head cauliflower, grated

2 tablespoons tapioca flour

2 tablespoons coconut flour

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon sea salt 

1.  Place grated cauliflower into a large glass bowl and place in microwave for 4 minutes to steam.  Set aside until cool enough to handle.

2.  Once cool, place cauliflower into a tea towel and squeeze out all excess moisture.

3.  Place the squeezed-out cauliflower into a bowl and sift in the coconut flour and tapioca flour.

4.  Add in the egg and salt and combine.

5.  Form into small shapes and gently float the dumplings on the top of the simmer stoup. (Note:  I made mine into thin patty-like dumplings... In the future I will use my smallest cookie scoop and drop them in little balls.  I think they will hold up better!)

6.  Cover the pot of stoup and steam the dumplings for 10 minutes.

7.  Serve and enjoy!