Garlic Garlic Chicken and Dumplings Vegetable Soup for 2 People

Another week, another week of Rotisserie Chicken Recipes...

If I die and go to heaven, this is the soup they will serve!

Hands down, this is my favorite soup of all time.


The dumplings are actually drop biscuits.  But not just any drop biscuits, these are the copy cat RED LOBSTER GARLIC BISCUITS I posted about earlier (follow the blue letter or click the photo to see the easy recipe).  The biscuit dough is dropped into the soup and poached in the chicken broth as they cook.  They also season the soup with garlic as they cook and when you finish them off with garlic butter and chives, the drippings add even more seasoning to the soup.

Earlier this month I did a post on making fresh Chicken Stock in a Crock Pot from the bones of a Rotisserie Chicken (same rules, blue letter link or click the photo).

That was the last thing I made from a rotisserie chicken challenge... Five goals,...

First, eat well. Anyone can slice the chicken, add bread and mayo and make a sandwich. I like to use the bird as a base for a good tasting meal... Or a stock that is then used to make a good tasting soup.
Second, make these dishes for 2. Old farts like Jackie and myself, as well as young couples see lots of recipes that feed 6-8 (or more). In fact, if you read over those "52 Uses for a Rotisserie Chicken." you will see that most of those recipes indeed would feed not only Jackie and myself but our neighbors on both sides as well. Much as I like leftovers, for a change, here's some recipes aimed at two people. This also allows me to stretch my food budget. Of course the stock is not for two, but can be divided for multiple meals. usually I use about 6 Cups a week. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

Second, make these dishes for 2. Old farts like Jackie and myself, as well as young couples see lots of recipes that feed 6-8 (or more). In fact, if you read over those "52 Uses for a Rotisserie Chicken." you will see that most of those recipes indeed would feed not only Jackie and myself but our neighbors on both sides as well. Much as I like leftovers, for a change, here's some recipes aimed at two people. This also allows me to stretch my food budget, which leads me to...

Which leads me to...

Third, even though the base of the meal is the same (chicken), I should be able to get 4 or 5 dishes out of a single bird. So let's see what type of variety I can get out of the rotisserie poultry. This week I made 6 dishes and Stock from the single bird... pretty good value for my food dollar.

Fourth, keep track of costs. Now this is a little difficult as how much does a couple of TBS of flour cost or an old onion nearing it's prime? So, instead of figuring pennies, let's just agree that pantry items (like flour, sugar, spices) will not be included. Also, I am cheap and I almost always buy things on sale. Case in point, this recipe calls for refrigerator biscuits. If I were going to the store to buy them for a recipe I was going to make today, I would probably buy a generic brand to save money. BUT if you watch the sales like I do and buy extras when I see a good price, you can get a can of Pillsbury "Grands" biscuits, not at the normal $2.50 a can but for $0.99 cents a can.

This culinary intellectual challenge is as much about stretching your dollar as it is about eating good.

And Fifth and finally, I want to do a few very very basic posts meant for non hobbyist cooks. Look over this post. You will see not only my recipe, a few in focus photos that hopefully make you want to give this a try, but also if you scroll past the recipe you will see some more detailed photos and some detailed explanations of what I did, why and how.

So.... Welcome to week two of my challenge... Second bird, second set of recipes and same goals...

OK... Here's what I did...

This recipe assumes a couple of things.  First that you have chicken stock.  Of course I would prefer that you use stock you made yourself with the tips I showed in my post.  BUT, store bought from a can works just as well.

Next, it assumes that you are using the dough that I made in my earlier post.  BUT of course about any biscuit recipe dough will work, even using refrigerator canned biscuits will work.

OK... Now here we go...

Garlic Garlic Chicken and Biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 Batch  Red Lobster Copy Cat Garlic Cheesy Biscuit Batter
• 2 TBS Butter
• 2 TBS Flour
• 1/2 Medium Onion, Diced
• 4 Cloves Garlic, chopped, minced
• 1/2 Medium Red Bell Pepper
• 1 Medium Carrots, Diced
• 1 Stalks of Celery, sliced thin
• 1/2 Cup Frozen Corn, thawed
• 2 Cups Chicken Stock
• White Meat from a single breast from a  Rotisserie chicken, diced, @ 1 and 1/2 Cups
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 TBS Butter
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Fresh Herbs (I used Chives)

Cooking Directions

1. First, Make a roux.... In a large Oven Safe Saute Skillet, heat the butter until melted and warm... Slowly add flour and stir for a couple of minutes until well incorporated. be careful not to burn the roux and stir the entire time.
2. Add the Onions and saute for 3 minutes, until soft. Add another TBS of butter if needed to thin the roux.
3. Add the garlic and stir another 1 minute.
4. Add the Carrots, Celery, Bell Pepper and corn
5. Add the chicken stock and stir.
6. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes until the carrots and celery are soft, and the soup has thickened slightly (thanks to the roux).
7. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
8. Add the already cooked chicken meat from a rotisserie chicken.
9. Add Salt and Pepper to taste
10. Transfer to a baking dish
11. Drop the "Red Lobster Copy Cat Garlic Cheesy Biscuits" dough on top of the simmering liquid in spoonfuls, should be able to get 8 dumplings.
12. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes NOTE, this is longer than the biscuit recipe calls for, but it takes that long for the wet bottom of the biscuits (now dumplings) to fully cook.  Keep an eye after 15 minutes to be sure the biscuits do not over brown.  You may need to cover with aluminum foil.
13. Heat 2 TBS Butter, mix in Garlic Powder and the fresh herbs
14. After 20 minutes, remove Chicken and biscuits from the oven, brush on the herb garlic butter mix on top of the dumplings, return to oven, set to broil and broil for 2-4 minutes for the dumplings to brown for an added crunchy texture and presentation.
15. Serve HOT and ENJOY!!!

OK... Hopefully you read last weeks set of posts of the 6 recipes I made from a single Rotisserie Chicken.  

1. Cheesy Chicken Monkey Bread for 2 People
2. Chicken Salad Roll ups (sandwich) for 2 People
3. Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese for 2 People
4. FAST FOOD Smashed Potato and Chicken Lunch for 2 People
5. Chicken and Pasta with an Herb Tomato Sauce for 2 People
6. Chicken, Spinach, Feta Frittata Breakfast for 2 People

And of course Chicken Stock that I can use this week for soups, rice, etc.

OK... You've seen the challenge, you know the chicken, you will LOVE the soup... Come back the rest of the week and see what I do with the second chicken.!

But first... here's a few tips...

Pay very close attention to making the roux at the beginning... It is easy, and most important, the roux is what makes the broth in the soup thick.  The thick broth separates good soup from great soup.

Also, the carrots, peppers and celery should all be cut about the same size.

Adding the dumplings is nothing more complicated that what it looks like in the second photo.  

The biscuits float.  

But as they cook, they will puff up and sink.You want that combination of biscuits, cooked to a golden brown deliciousness on the top and soggy dense dumpling flavor on the bottom.  Just keep an eye on them.  be sure to cook until you get that color and be sure to cook until the bottoms are fully cooked.  20 minutes works about right.  Any less and you may have raw dough.

And serve up without dunking all of the biscuit into the broth.  It is a little difficult, but you want that combination of textures and tastes... light fluffy slightly crunchy biscuits and dense rich flavorful dumplings...

Easy Peasy... Enjoy!

OK... As to costs...

The cheesy biscuits will cost about $2.50 

The Chicken stock is free

The Soup ingredients sound like a lot, but can easily bought for about $2.50

And of course, a single chicken breast from a Rotisserie Chisken is a Dollar

Total cost, $6

$3 a serving (but I did have lunch the next day from this)!

Pretty good (great) soup for the costs!

Stay tuned, come on back tomorrow and see what else I make from the single bird!

And of course the Rotisserie Chicken makes this easy to make. Making this one of my new favorite additions to my "52 Uses For a Rotisserie Chicken"! Which now has blossomed well over 70 uses with still more to come!

What could be easier and tastier?

And as always, if you like this recipe and think you might want to give it a try, pin this to your Pinterest Board and be sure to follow me on Pinterest if you want to see the rest of my 52 Ideas (now at 65 and growing)!