Germans from Russia - Chicken and Knoephla Soup

     I made this only a few days ago, though I didn't, then, know it's proper name.  A delicious dish and a delicious recipe, Tas!  There's only one bad thing about this dish...we usually don't have any leftovers!  

As mentioned above, there are all sorts of Knoephla Soup recipes. Many, perhaps most of them, are composed merely of chicken broth with veggies and knoephla. That is, there is no meat protein in the soup. Others do have pieces of chicken. That’s what I opted for when I first made this great soup.

I also decided to go with home-made chicken stock. Most modern recipes start with water and either bouillon cubes or chicken base. This reflects, I believe, the fact that the recipes come from third and fourth generation Americans, who do not make nor keep stock or broth, so have adapted grandma’s recipe to fit. Were they writing the recipes today, they’d probably use boxed stock.

For the chicken, I had just trimmed the tenders from a family pack of skinless/boneless breasts, and figured why not use them. Quantity was a little shy, so I sliced up one of the breasts as well, after pan-searing it (and the tenders).

Finally, I did not make knoephla. A few days before I’d made a pot of spaetzle, and there were plenty of left-overs. So I used them instead. The doughs are similar. Most of the time, knoephla dumplings are slightly larger than spaetzle. But that’s the primary difference.

As should be obvious, what I did is take part from this recipe, part from that, and create my own version. I take no credit for it, though, as I’m sure the same assemblage has been used by others.

Here’s how I assembled the soup:

6 cups chicken stock
2 tbls lard, shortening, or butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 large stalk celery, diced
2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
Salt & pepper to taste
1 lb (more or less—I eyeballed it) pan-seared chicken in bite-sized pieces
Knoephla dumplings or equivalent
½-1 cup milk or cream

Heat the lard in a soup kettle or heavy-bottomed pot, Sauté the onion, carrots, and celery until softened. Add the chicken stock and simmer a few minute, stirring. Add the potatoes and bay leaf. Simmer five minutes, then adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Add the chicken. Simmer until chicken and potatoes are almost cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add knoephla dough in small pieces and continue cooking about ten minutes. Adjust seasonings. Add milk or cream in preferred amount.   

If, as I did, you use previously cooked dumplings, add them five minutes before serving and gently heat through.

Just guessing, Ron, but I'd say the baking powder, acting as a leavening, lightens the dumplings.