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Soup
- 1-1/4 cups dry lentils
- 8 cups water (2 quarts)
- 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 3 or 4 celery stalks, peeled and
sliced
- 1 large onion, peeled and sliced
- 4 bouillon cubes or 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Dumplings
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 egg or 3 tablespoons more milk
(see note below)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon each salt & sugar
Begin by making the soup. Rinse the
lentils under running water. Then place them
in a large pot and cover them with 2-quarts
of water. Bring the mixture to a boil and
allow it to simmer over medium heat for
about 20 minutes. The lentils will be almost
tender. Add the vegetables, bouillon, garlic
and black pepper. Stir gently and allow the
mixture to simmer for 20 minutes more. The
vegetables and lentils will both be tender.
Taste and add salt if you think it needs it.
Now look over the amount of liquid in the
pot. Add enough extra water so that all of
the solids are well covered with liquid.
They don't need to be swimming over their
heads, but they should be wading up to their
waists. Bring the mixture to a slow lazy
simmer, not a boil. If the soup boils it
will disintegrate the dumplings instead of
cooking them up into fluffy, glimmering
jewels.
While the soup is simmering, prepare your
dumplings. Get out a big bowl. In it combine
the oil, egg and milk until they are well
blended. Add the flour, baking powder, salt
and sugar. Mix it up to a stiff batter, like
for drop biscuits. Set it aside until you
need it.
When the soup is simmering slowly, it is
time to drop in the dumplings. Take small
rounded scoops of the dough with teaspoon
and drop them into the simmering broth, on
top of the vegetables. Keep dropping the
dough blobs until you have scraped the bowl
clean. Now put the lid, or a handy pizza pan
over the pot and let it simmer for 20
minutes. Do not peak. Let the dumplings
simmer covered for the full 20 minutes. The
thing about dumplings is that they cook
partly from the boiling soup and partly from
the steam. The steam is what makes them
fluffy, and the simmering broth is what
cooks them all the way through. If you peak
while the dumplings are cooking then they
will turn into lumpy, doughy rocks. When the
time is up, serve the soup and dumplings as
soon as possible. The soup will be thickened
and the dumplings will be light and fluffy.
Makes between 4 and 6 servings.
NOTE: If you don't have any extra eggs, then
leave out the egg and replace it with 3
tablespoons of milk. The dumplings will
still be good.
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