Good old-fashioned comfort food that sticks to your ribs. This is a nice recipe to make for a friend who’s feeling under the weather! Be sure to check out the short cut at the bottom if you don’t have a lot of time to make this.

Ingredients:

Chicken and broth:

1 tbsp oil1 medium onion
chopped2-3 cloves garlic
chopped1 tbsp fresh ginger
chopped1 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut up
salt and pepper
3.5 quarts water
3 stalks celery, chopped
12-15 baby carrots (or 2 regular sized carrots), chopped
2 pieces green onion,
chopped1 tsp parsley leaves
dash cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon salt
10 peppercorns
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
½ tsp salt1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 small bag frozen mixed vegetables

Dumplings:
2 cups all-purpose flour, see note
1 tablespoon baking powder, see note
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 cup cold milk

Directions:

In 5- or 6-quart pot (better if not coated w/Teflon), heat oil over med high heat. Add onion, garlic, and ginger, sauté for 3-5 min. Lightly season chicken w/salt and pepper; add chicken pieces to pot and sear on all sides.Add water, celery, carrots, green onion, parsley, cilantro, 1 tsp salt, and peppercorns to the pot. Bring to boil, gently scrape bottom of pan to deglaze, then reduce the heat to simmer and cook the chicken, uncovered, for 2 hours. The liquid will reduce by about one third. (If all water won’t fit at once, it’s ok to keep adding more water throughout simmering – just be sure to have added 3.5 quarts total.)

When the chicken has cooked, remove it from the pot and set it aside. Strain the stock to remove all the vegetables and floating scum (straining through cheesecloth works well here). You want only the stock and the chicken, so toss everything else out.Pour 2 quarts (8 cups) of the stock back into the pot (keep the leftover stock, if any, for another recipe – it can be frozen). Add coarsely ground pepper, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the lemon juice, then reheat the stock over medium heat while preparing the dumplings.

SHORT CUT:If you’re running short on time, just buy a rotisserie chicken and some GOOD chicken stock from the grocery store. Cut up the chicken and measure 2 quarts chicken stock into the pot and start from here.

For the dumplings, combine the flour, baking powder, 1 ¼ teaspoons salt and milk in a medium bowl. Stir well until smooth, then let the dough rest for 5 to 20 minutes. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to about a 1/2-inch thickness.

Note: Some dumpling makers have found that they needed about 3/4 cup more flour than the recipe called for. They added 1/4 cup of flour at a time to get the dough to rolling consistency and then added 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.

Cut the dough into 1/2-inch squares and drop each square into the simmering stock. Use all of the dough. The Dumplings will first swell and then slowly shrink as they partially dissolve to thicken the stock into a white gravy. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until thick. Stir often.

While the stock is thickening, the chicken will have become cool enough to handle. Tear all the meat from the bones and remove the skin. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and drop them into the pot. Discard the skin and bones. Add frozen veggies to pot – make sure to submerge. Covering can also help.

Continue to simmer the chicken and dumplings for another 5 to 10 minutes, but don’t stir too vigorously or the chicken will shred and fall apart. You want big chunks of chicken in the end.When the gravy has reached the desired consistency, ladle into bowls and serve hot. ENJOY!

I’ve been ill. A big January cold to welcome in the new year, and my birthday (of course). I had heard that tea with honey was better for coughs than cough syrup, and so drank through my entire herbal tea collection in the space of a week. Desperate for an alternative that didn’t involve me going to the store, I called my sister who not only sent me a big huge food basket (with green tea in it!) but recommended making a tea from slices of fresh ginger.

Literally all you do: 3-4 slices of fresh ginger (a couple mms thick) in a cup with boiling water.

Take out the ginger when you’re tired of waiting.

Add honey.

It was MAAAAAAHvelous, and I now highly recommend it. Hope you’re healthy where you are!