Week 7 - Golden Cheese Soup with Parsley Dumplings

 Golden Cheese Soup with Parsley Dumplings

Recipe 7 of 52 in 2022

Vegetarian Entree #1

    So, I can't tell you this week which cookbook I got this recipe from, because I put it somewhere and can't find it! Luckily, I almost always take a picture of the recipe and I had that to work from. I can tell you that this recipe is likely from a 1967ish era cookbook. It seems to be in a font which was used a lot in the cookbooks of the 60's. I will update this post, when I find the cookbook.  

    Week 6's category was Vegetarian Entree and I'm really glad I picked this recipe.  The only thing I'd really change, would be to add some salt, pepper or red pepper flakes at the table. I even had some of my leftovers with Sriracha sauce. If you are going to cook this on a weeknight, I'd suggest doing your prep work of grating the carrot, chopping celery and onion, the night before, so it is ready to go. I know dumplings can sometimes turn out like rocks, but I liked how mine turned out.  Cook your carrots, celery and onion in a soup pan; you'll add it to your large pot. You could certainly use a large pot, but I used a dutch oven, like the original recipe suggests.  I have a cast iron dutch oven I bought last year, which I love but have gotten to use much.  I'll give you the recipe and note any changes/additions in italics. 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup grated carrots

1/3 cup chopped celery

2 tablespoons chopped onion

3 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used butter)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups milk (I heated the milk before adding to the flour; because it helps it thicken quicker)

1 14-ounce can chicken broth (I used vegetable broth and I didn't have a can; I simply measured out that amount)

1 1/4 cups shredded sharp processed American cheese (I used regular sharp cheddar)

1 recipe Parsley Dumplings

    

Directions: 

    Cook carrots, celery and onion until tender in 1 cup of boiling salted water. Do not drain. Melt butter and blend in flour. Add warmed milk when the butter & flour mixture bubbles and stir constantly until thick. Stir in your broth and cheese and mix until smooth. Stir in your vegetables (remember not to drain the vegetables after cooking). Stir over low heat until the cheese melts. Leave on low heat while you mix your dumplings. Drop your dumplings by small kitchen dining spoons, onto the simmering soup. Cover tightly and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. The original recipe says this serves six.  I would say it serves 3. I made 9 dumplings, so three dumplings per serving, would be perfect. Serve with bits of parsley as garnish. Add a salad to complete your meal.

Parsley Dumplings:

    1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

    2 teaspoons baking powder

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    2 tablespoons snipped parsley (I chopped my finely)

    1/2 cup milk

    2 tablespoons melted shortening (I melted mine in the microwave)

    Sift together dry ingredients and mix in parsley. The original recipe says to combine milk and melted shortening and add to the dry ingredients all at once. Stir until moistened. When I added the shortening to the milk, it instantly solidified, so maybe the next time I'd let the melted shortening cool a little longer. I just made sure to mix the dry and wet ingredients well (I maybe did a little more mixing than "just moistened"). Drop onto your soup and cook.

Golden Cheese Soup with Parsley Dumplings

A close-up of a dumpling.

Two of my "helpers" watching me take a photo of the parsley.