Chicken Stew with dumplings

It was a little cold this morning, waking to 2 degrees C, with a slight touch of frost. After a busy staff development day today, we all needed something comforting to eat. The temperature was already dropping when we left college, I wanted to cook something really simple for dinner that was full of nutrients, but would give us a foodie hug.
I still had carrots and leeks left from the organic box, so wanted to use those up, there were 6 chicken thigh fillets in the fridge, so decided to make a very easy chicken stew.

Chicken Stew

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 1/2 leeks, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 sweet potato, cut into chunks
2 1/2 pints water
1 chicken stock pot
6 chicken thighs
1 handful of paella rice
couple sprigs of fresh thyme
freshly ground black pepper
salt
1 cup frozen peas
cornflour and water

Method

Add the oil, onion, leeks and carrots to the pan, gently sweat the vegetables until the onion and leeks begin to soften, add the garlic and sweet potato and continue to sweat for another minute.
Add the water and stock pot to the pan, pop in the chicken and rice, throw in the thyme with some pepper and a touch of salt (add more later after cooking if needed).
Cover and cook gently for 1 hour.
Add the frozen peas bring the stew back up to the boil and add the dumplings, cover and gently simmer for 10 minutes.
Season to taste.

Depending on how you like your stew, if you like it thin, then serve as it is.

If you prefer a thicker stew, serve the dumplings, then thicken the remaining stew. Mix a couple of teaspoonfuls of cornflour with a little water, add gradually to stew and cook until thick. Add as much cornflour as necessary to get the thickness you prefer. Serve.

I wanted to find a gluten free recipe for dumplings, didn't have any suet, so went for a hunt online and discovered the following recipe. I added some mixed herbs to the flour and they were scrummy. I wet my hands before taking spoonfuls and use the damp hands to make the dumplings into soft balls.

Dumplings

150g Rice flour or any gf flour
2 tea spoons of baking powder
2 large eggs
a little water
optional a few dried herbs.

Mix to a dough and put spoonfulls into boiling stew and simmer for around 10 mins.

These are suitable for vegetarians and are lactose free and easy peasy

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Half-term Soup

It must be half-term.... 

The weather is awful, I'm feeling shattered after a very busy first half of the Autumn term, no energy and I've got that horrid feeling that a bug has decided to join me.
For some reason, I normally crave home made soup when I'm feeling like this, loaded with nutrients, easy to eat and makes you feel all warm and snug.
I must have had an inkling as I ordered a Riverford bumper veg box this week, it arrived Thursday, so I've got masses of amazing fresh organic vegetables to work with.
The box contents this week are:-

Leeks
Potatoes
Onions
Carrots
Parsnips
Butternut squash
Cauliflower
Savoy cabbage
Cime di rapa
Butterhead lettuce
Portobello mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes

I wanted to make a soup with minimal fuss and little washing up (no blender or food processor needed). I don't mind preparing and chopping ingredients so it was time to pick the veg and see what resulted.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1/2 leek, the green end, carefully washed and shredded
1 handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped (life's too short to skin them)
1 handful of risotto rice
1 beef stock pot
1 pt cold water
couple of small bunches of cime di rapa, shred including the stalks, keep the stalk section separated from the rest.
Sprig fresh thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
handful of fresh basil, shredded

Method

In a large pan, heat the oil then gently fry the onions and carrots until the onion is soft. Add the leeks and fry for another minute, stirring regularly. Add the stock pot and water to the pan, bring to the boil. Add the rice, tomatoes, 1/2 the fresh basil and the fresh thyme, turn down to a simmer.
Cook for approximately 20 minutes and add the bottom of the cime di rapa (the part with the stalks) to the pan and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add more water if necessary, you want some liquid to make this a soup not a pile of veg.
Check the rice is cooked.
Add the final cime di rapa and cook for another couple of minutes until wilted.
Add pepper to taste, remove the sprig of thyme.
Turn off heat and add the freshly shredded basil and stir.
Serve and enjoy.

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Leek and Potato Soup - Simple can be all that's needed

Gently does it

When you aren't feeling quite as good as you should, slightly off colour then soup maybe all you fancy. A very simple Leek and Potato soup would be a failsafe, plus I could put into a pour and store bag and pop in the fridge for later.

Leek and Potato Soup

Ingredients

1lb Potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1 Leek, washed and sliced
1 Vegetable stock cube
Water to cover
Seasoning

Method

Put all the ingredients in the pan and cover with enough water so that there is 1/2 inch above all the ingredients.
Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are soft.
Remove from heat and then blend using a hand blender.
Season to taste. If serving at a dinner party, you can add a swirl of cream and a few chopped chives, but for convalescing leave out the cream.

If chilled, this is a great vichyssoise.

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