Adventures in Cooking - Double Dumpling Chicken Stoup

It's been really muggy here for the past two days, so I haven't really felt like cooking. Turning on the stove or oven would be agony. And while we could have microwaved something, the idea of putting warm food in our bellies was 100% unappealing.

So today when the humidity broke, I decided to take full advantage and use the stove. I also had some ground turkey in the fridge that I'd totally forgotten about (thanks for reminding me, Aric!) and needed to use up before it went bad.

It's about time to go grocery shopping, so my choices are limited. I briefly considered making a meatloaf (I have a kickass recipe for turkey meatloaf, which I'll share at a later date), but I just wasn't feeling it. Then it hit me - turkey ball soup!

Turkey ball soup began as a 30-minute recipe by Rachel Ray. Her recipe is good, but I've been able to customize it a bit to my preferences. I'll cover the changes I've made a little bit later ("turkey ball soup" will make a lot more sense when I'm done, I promise).

So now, with no further ado, I present you with...

DOUBLE DUMPLING CHICKEN STOUP (by Rachel Ray)

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp. EVOO
4 celery ribs from the heart, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cups store-bought shredded carrots
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
Salt and pepper
6 cups chicken stock
1 lb. ground chicken
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 package gnocchi
1 cup frozen peas
Parsley, finely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS
1) Heat the EVOO in a large soup pot over medium to medium-high heat.
2) Add the celery, onions, carrots, and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper, and cook for about five minutes, until the onions become soft.
3) Add the chicken stock, cover, and bring to a gentle boil.
4) While the stock comes to a boil, combine the ground chicken, salt, pepper, egg, bread crumbs, nutmeg, and cheese.
5) Roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls and gently drop them into the boiling stock. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes.
6) Add the gnocchi to the pot and cook for 5 minutes, or until they float to the surface.
7) Add the peas and parsley, and cook for 2 minutes longer.
8) Turn the heat off and allow the "stoup" to sit for a few minutes, to cool off and thicken.
9) Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!

WHAT I DO DIFFERENTLY
1) I have never been able to find ground chicken in my grocery store. I can, however, find ground turkey (and it's frequently on sale), so that's what I use - thus "turkey ball soup" was born.
2) I hate chopping carrots, so I usually use frozen peas and carrots, and just add them when it says to add the peas. Bigger chunks of carrot might be nice, but lazy wins out in this case.
3) Rachel Ray says you can find gnocchi in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. I have never seen gnocchi anywhere other than the international/pasta aisle.
4) Another note about the gnocchi - normally I use plain potato gnocchi, but I was in Horrocks the other day and found some basil gnocchi, so I decided to give that a try.
5) This is the first time I've ever used the bay leaf. I've never had bay leaves - I always thought they were too expensive. But the other week McCormick's spices went on sale, so I picked up some spices that I'd normally done without. The soup is delicious either way, so if you prefer not to fish around for a tiny little leaf in your soup, feel free to omit.
6) I usually don't use cheese in the meatballs. I never kept cheese in the house, and now that I live with Aric, we typically only have American sliced cheese. But again, I was at Horrocks and found some parmesan cheese with peppercorns in it, so I bought it, and used it in the meatballs. Fancy! Anyway, you aren't missing anything if you don't put cheese in the meatballs, so don't worry.

THE BOTTOM LINE
It's a little expensive to get all of the components for this soup, but sweet fancy pants, is it ever delicious! You can go as fancy or as lazy as you want with this soup, and it will taste like you slaved over the stove for hours.

This is also an incredibly filling soup - excuse me, stoup (so called because it is more stew-like than it is soup-like). I don't like watery soups with nothing to them. I really hate drinking just broth. Turkey ball soup is incredibly hearty, and only gets better the longer it sits in your fridge.

Thank you, Rachel Ray!