Sopa de Arroz con Menta (Chicken Soup with Rice and Mint)

This is a typically Andalusian dish.  My mother used to put mint in soup when I we feeling a bit ill, the tastes is very nostalgic.  Ideally one would use self-made chicken stock, but using pre-made stuff is alright if you don't have the time.  You may also omit the chicken if you just want something to quickly warm the soul.

Ingredients
Serves 4

1 liter chicken broth
2 tablespoons rice
150 ml plan yogurt (small container)
1 egg yolk, slightly beaten
1 cup cooked chicken (can be omitted)
butter
fresh mint, chopped

Put the chicken broth in a pot and bring to a boil, add the rice and boil slightly until rice is cooked, about 15 minutes.  In a separate saucepan, mix yogurt with flour and egg, slowly add 2 cups (250ml) water and bring to a boil, once the mixture is boiling, pour into large pot of chicken broth.  Let the soup simmer an additional 5 minutes.  Add the cooked chicken and heat through.  At the end, place a small pad of butter and a teaspoon (can be a little more if you like) of the mint in a bowl and ladle in the soup.  Enjoy...

Leek Soup Saalfelder Style

This is a recipe that I found in a cookbook from the Thüringen region of Germany.  This dish comes from Saalfeld. It's basically a chicken soup with lots of leeks.  Once the soup is finished, its hard to notice all those leeks in there, but they sure do give the soup a great taste.  The recipe also called for Parsley, I decided on using an Herbes de Provence blend I found at the Maybach Ufer Market here in Berlin.  Although this soup is super tasty if made on the same day, its even better the day after.

Serves 4
Ingredients

1 soup chicken
5 leeks
1 lb. potatoes
2 carrots
2 tablespoons Parsley or other herb blend
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken in a large pot and cover with water, add a little salt and pepper, bay leaf and 1 tablespoon of herb mixture.  Bring pot to a boil, then cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hour.  When done, the chicken should be falling off the bone.  Remove the chicken from the pot and strain and reserve the broth.  Place chicken on a plate to cool off.  While the chicken is close to being done,  wash and dry the leeks, cut them into 2cm long rings.  Wash and peel the potatoes and carrots and cut them.  Add these and the other tablespoon of herbs to the broth and cook an additional 20 minutes.  Pull the meat off the chicken and dice.  When the potatoes are done, add the chicken.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken and Dumplings

This has always been one of my favorite dishes.  I know Cracker Barrel has an awesome version; however here in Germany they don't have any, so I've got to make my own.  Albeit I used the dumpling recipes from this link (http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/11/homemade-chicken-and-dumplings/), I decided to make my own stock by simmering a chicken in some water for 1.5 hours until it was nice and tender and began to fall off the bones.  This is a great method because you can also make some tasty chicken stock at the same time.    This dish takes a bit of time to make, but the stock and chicken can be prepared ahead of time.  It's well worth the wait.  Here's what you'll need:

1 2-3 lb. chicken
Enough water to cover chicken in pot
1 onion, cut in half
Dry herbs (whatever you would like to season your stock with)
2 bay leaves
3 Allspice kernels
Salt and pepper

In a large stockpot, place the whole chicken in the pot and fill with enough water to cover.  Wash the onion with the skin, cut in half, and add to pot.  (Leaving the skin on the onion gives color to the broth)  Add the 2 bay leaves and allspice kernels, dry herbs, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, lower to a simmer and simmer for about an hour and a half.  Afterwards, take chicken out of the pot, strain the broth, discarding the onion, bay leaves and allspice.  Reserve broth.  Allow chicken to cook.  Once cool, pull meat off the bones and reserve meat.

For Dumplings:

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons butter
a little less than 1 cup milk
2 quarts of chicken broth
3 cups cooked chicken

This is where it gets fun.  Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and butter with your hands untin incorporated, similiar to how you would make a pie crust.  Then add the milk and stir until well blended.  On a well floured (the flour will later thicken your stock, so don't be shy) surface, roll out dough.  Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into 2x2 inch squares. You could probably also use some small cookie cutters if you wanted.  Bring the chicken broth to a rolling boil.  Then drop the dumplings in one at a time (this is to avoid them sticking).  Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 15-20 minutes until done.  You can test a dumpling and see if its cooked all the way.  Then, add the reserved chicken and cook until the chicken is warmed through.  Its now ready to serve!

Next time I plan on making the chicken stock well ahead of time, then refrigerate, so all the fat rises to the top of the container and solidifies.  I will then use the chicken fat to help make the dumplings.  I know this will make it more fattening; however, sometimes for me, taste usurps health :)