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Katie at the Kitchen Door

Globally-inspired, seasonal recipes

21 March 3, 2013 Cookbook

Book Club: The Little Paris Kitchen // Chicken Dumpling Soup

Chicken Dumpling Soup {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

To so many, Paris is the ultimate destination – timeless, elegant, romantic and confident in its own charms. It’s the city of lights, the city of love and, one might argue, the ultimate city of food. Centuries of tradition have defined French cuisine as the haute cuisine, with dishes such as duck a l’orange, boeuf bourguignon, and chocolate souffle being practically synonymous with fine dining for many years. But classic French cooking doesn’t have to be intimidating and stuffy. As Rachel Khoo shows us in The Little Paris Kitchen, French food can be simple, wholesome, and yet still remain effortlessly chic.

Rachel is an all-around food personality – she has a pastry degree from Le Cordon Bleu, has written three cookbooks, and been the star of a cooking show. She’s more of an European personality than an American one, but I think the release of a US version of The Little Paris Kitchen, may change that. The book is a little glimpse into Rachel’s life in Paris, as shown through the food she makes to feed herself and her friends.

Chicken Dumpling Soup {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

The recipes included are universally appealing, not in a way that made me think “Oh, I’d love to make that someday,” but in a way that made me add three recipes to my weekly menu after only 20 minutes flipping through the book. The fact that the food is simple but also interesting makes it easy to visualize incorporating into your everyday routine. Recipes such as Tartiflette Muffins, Onion Creme Brulee, and Cassoulet Soup with Duck-and-Sausage Dumplings are examples of the hearty, soul-warming food in this book that will probably be on my dinner menu soon. There are plenty of lighter, more elegant recipes that caught my eye as well – Champagne Sabayon with Strawberries and Cherry Tomatoes, Rosemary, Lavender, and Chevre Fougasse, and Cherry-Tomato Vanilla Jam are a few. In general, there’s a nice balance.

I should mention – this book has lots of pictures. And they’re beautiful pictures. In fact, every single recipe is accompanied by a full-page color photograph, a cookbook characteristic that I love – it makes it so much easier to decide what to cook when you can see the end result. There are also a lot of pictures of Rachel – Rachel shopping, Rachel riding her bike, Rachel holding a glass of wine and looking pensively into the distance, Rachel having a picnic with her attractive Parisian girlfriends. I think perhaps this would have stuck out less to me if I already knew more about her; as I didn’t, I found it a touch over-done. Just a personal thing. I will say that, along with the curly font and the pink text, the pictures of her out and about in pretty dresses definitely contributes to the overall girliness of the book’s style. It’s not over the top, but it’s definitely not gender neutral.

The Little Paris Kitchen

To test out the food, I started with two recipes – a roast vegetable salad with goat cheese mousse, and a chicken-dumpling soup. I’ll share the salad later this week, but for now let’s focus on this soup, which was even better than I was expecting it to be. The dumplings, also called quenelles, are made from ground chicken, soft white bread, and cream, and are then simmered for just a few minutes in a pot of chicken broth. The only other ingredients are a handful of just-cooked carrots and mushrooms and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. The result is a lovely bowl of super-comforting soup filled with soft, fluffy, deeply savory dumplings, the kind of soup that you wish someone would make for you every time you’re feeling down. (Solution: make some for yourself when you’re feeling good, then stick a bunch in the freezer for those days that you need to feel loved). It reminded me of matzoh-ball soup, but richer and more chicken-y (well, duh Katie). I loved it. I made a double-batch of the dumplings, and I’m saving the rest for the suggestion Rachel includes at the bottom of the recipe – broiling the poached quenelles with bechamel and grated cheese.

The bottom line: The Little Paris Kitchen is a book that makes classic French cooking an everyday affair. It’s a bit girly, and the author, Rachel, is strongly featured throughout the book (a la Giada or Rachel Ray), but the recipes are solid and the photography both beautiful and abundant. I can see this book quickly becoming a weeknight go-to for me with plenty of recipes that are quick and satisfying.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of The Little Paris Kitchen free of charge from Chronicle Books. I was not otherwise compensated and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Chicken Dumpling Soup {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Chicken Dumpling Soup / Bouillon de Poulet avec Des Quenelles de Volailles

Recipe from The Little Paris Kitchen. Serves 4.

  • 6 1/2 c. chicken stock
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 7 oz boneless skinless chicken breast or ground chicken
  • 3 1/2 oz. white bread, no crusts (I used burger rolls)
  • 6 1/2 TBS of half and half
  • 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp salt
  • a pinch of pepper
  • a pinch of nutmeg
  • 5 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 bunch of fresh parsley, leaves roughly chopped
  1. Bring the chicken stock and chopped carrots to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Boil for 10 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
  2. In a blender, combine the chicken, bread, half and half, egg, egg yolk, salt, pepper and nutmeg, and blend until you have a smooth and sticky paste. Use a spoon to form the paste into dumplings of about 2 TBS apiece, and drop the dumplings into the boiling broth. Cook the dumplings for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute longer. Check the inside of a dumpling just to make sure it is cooked all the way through. Serve the soup immediately, with a generous sprinkling of chopped parsley stirred in.
21

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Categories: Cookbook Tags: carrot, chicken, dumpling, french, mushroom, parsley, review

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mama Mouse says

    March 4, 2013 at 1:33 am

    beautiful soup, it looks delicious

    Reply
  2. Small Taste Of Adventure says

    March 4, 2013 at 2:11 am

    love this post and the beautiful photos! thanks so much for sharing. grabbing this book right away!

    Reply
  3. brownpaperbelle says

    March 4, 2013 at 2:27 am

    This cookbook sounds wonderful – and that soup looks delicious. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  4. Rachel Khoo says

    March 4, 2013 at 9:10 am

    Thanks for featuring my book! Happy cooking, Rachel :)

    Reply
  5. A Renaissance Glow says

    March 4, 2013 at 1:00 pm

    I saw this cookbook at Anthropologie but wasn’t sure if it was reachable cooking for me, however, with your descriptions and review I am eager to give it a try. My mom used to make chicken and dumplings while growing up, this looks like a wonderful variation. Have a great day!

    Reply
  6. Pin says

    March 5, 2013 at 1:07 pm

    This looks delicious, and I’m looking forward to the roasted vegetable salad recipe. Mmm… goat cheese!

    Reply
  7. One-Half Hippie says

    March 6, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    The soup looks amazing! I’d just change mushrooms for something else…it’s a texture thing. I just can’t handle em.

    Reply
  8. Sausage Tarts & Marmalade Rolls says

    March 17, 2013 at 4:24 pm

    I have such a girl crush on Rachel Khoo and bought this book this week! Love her recipes, modern but classic french cooking! Yum!

    Reply
  9. Zeba says

    March 26, 2013 at 9:22 pm

    I made this soup today. It was delicious. Since I can’t make anything without garlic, I added a clove in my chicken mix. Probably not very French. My six year old picky eater loved it.

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      March 26, 2013 at 9:23 pm

      I’m so glad you liked it! And garlic is totally french, a nice addition :-)

      Reply
  10. Michelle says

    April 6, 2013 at 7:21 am

    “There are also a lot of pictures of Rachel – Rachel shopping, Rachel riding her bike, Rachel holding a glass of wine and looking pensively into the distance, Rachel having a picnic with her attractive Parisian girlfriends.” I think you nailed it! But, having watched her show a few times in Europe last fall (British satellite TV—hooray!), I will say she does have a sweet TV personality and can clearly cook. And, mmm, the soup looks great.

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      April 6, 2013 at 8:20 am

      Haha, thanks Michelle, glad you agree! I’m sure I would have felt more endeared to her if I’d seen the show. Great food either way!

      Reply
  11. Mikaela says

    January 12, 2015 at 9:18 pm

    So I finally made this , divine! The dumplings are like little clouds! I used my home made bone broth and added garlic :)

    Reply
  12. Nimisha Kale says

    August 9, 2020 at 3:06 pm

    hi…
    What is 6 1/2 TBS in the recipe??
    i didnt get it:-(
    Nimisha

    Reply
    • katieatthekitchendoor says

      March 4, 2021 at 2:57 pm

      6 1/2 TBS is the amount of “half and half.” It’s usually found near the cream, and is a mix of half milk and half heavy cream. If you’re in the US it’s widely available, but if you’re cooking outside the US it might be marketed differently. You could easily substitute a mixture of milk and cream.

      Reply

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  1. La petite cuisine Parisienne | One quality, the finest. says:
    March 25, 2013 at 11:04 pm

    […] Book Club: The Little Paris Kitchen // Chicken Dumpling Soup (katieatthekitchendoor.com) […]

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