Cook Club: Chicken and dumplings are perfect comfort food

This is the time of year when there is one dish I always crave: my grandmother June Kramer's chicken and dumpling soup recipe.

Rich and comforting, it takes me back to memories of sitting in her kitchen as a child, watching as she brought over a steaming bowl of soup on nights when my sister and I would stay there overnight. In the morning, there would be blueberry pancakes, and maybe a picnic at the park. But before we went to bed, there was soup.

Because this is a family recipe, it also evokes memories of my mom cooking it for my sister and I for as long as I can remember. When we were sick, when it was deep into winter or when we just needed a pick-me-up, my mom would make it. We now are adults, but we still request this recipe when we come home. My aunts also cook this soup, and I have made it for friends and even introduced it to classmates in South Africa when I was studying abroad.

The recipe is easy to make, and quick, which also makes it a good go-to when I need something healthy and substantial on the fly. A pot will leave me with leftovers for a week; the dumplings soak up a lot of the soup's liquid, so I add chicken broth to each bowl before reheating.

This recipe also can be easily adjusted for your preferences. In the past, I have added corn — sweet corn I froze over the summer — or peas to the soup. I also have added herbs such as rosemary, thyme and sage to the dish to kick up the flavor. My father likes to punch it up even more with a healthy dollop of hot sauce. My grandmother and mother always used Bisquick for the dumplings, but I think I've found the right dumpling mixture to forgo the boxed mix.

However I cook it, hone thing remains true: this is a recipe I'll be passing on to my own children some day. And I know they'll have fond memories of eating it at their grandmother's house.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLING SOUP

For the soup:

2 to 4 carrots

2 to 4 celery stalks

half an onion

2 chicken breasts

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

3 cups chicken broth

egg noodles

For the dumplings:

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup milk

For this recipe, wide pots work better than tall ones, as they allow the dumplings room to spread out on top of the soup.

Chop carrots, celery and onion, add to large pot with two chicken breasts and two bay leaves. Salt and pepper to taste. Add enough water to cover ingredients, then simmer for 20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink.

While soup is cooking, make dumplings. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, then add milk and stir until mixture is well combined.

Remove chicken, chop, and re-add to soup. Add chicken broth and one or two handfuls of egg noodles. Drop dumpling batter by spoonfuls over top of the soup. Cook uncovered 10 minutes, then covered 10 minutes.

l Comments: (319) 398-8434; alison.gowans@thegazette.com