Recipe: Amish Chicken Corn Soup with Rivels

I live in the midst of Amish and Mennonite country. I have an Italian background, however, one of my favorite local foods is Amish chicken corn soup. I don't like it with noodles, I love it with the rivels. If you've never had it with the rivels, you HAVE to try it. They are like miniature dumplings. This is a great dish on a cold winter day. I make a big pot of it and have loads of leftovers to bring to work for dinner. ENJOY!

AMISH CHICKEN CORN SOUP WITH RIVELS

You will need:

4 - 5 lb. roaster chicken (or you can use chicken pieces, i.e. legs, breasts, thighs)

1 medium onion, minced

2 stalks celery with leaves, chopped small

4 quarts (16 cups) water (if you use chicken pieces, you might want to strengthen the broth by using chicken stock)

6 or 8 ears of fresh corn, cut from the cobs (you may substitute canned or frozen corn, about 6+ cups worth)
4 hard cooked eggs, chopped into medium size pieces
generous pinch of saffron
a handful of chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, combine the onion, celery, chicken, and cold water (or stock). Bring to simmer over medium high heat, then reduce the heat to low and continue simmering until the chicken is done and ready to fall off the bones--an hour or more. Remove chicken and let cool. Cut the meat into pieces and reserve, discarding the bones. You may skim the fat off the stock if you wish.

Add the corn kernels, the reserved chicken pieces, the hard boiled eggs, the saffron, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let cook for 10 minutes. Make up the rivel dough at this point...

FOR THE RIVELS: Wait until the soup is done to prepare this dough. Then, in a bowl, mix 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 beaten eggs, blending until the mixture is crumbly (NOT SMOOTH). Add to the soup by rubbing the mixture between your fingers over the pot of soup, dropping in small amounts bit by bit. Keep them small, these are not as big as dumplings.

When the rivels are cooked and the soup has thickened, ladle into big bowls and garnish with some extra sprinkles of parsley.

*NOTE: I use a whole chicken roaster and just use water. It's very economical and I just buy the chicken when on sale and keep in the freezer until ready to use.