Do You Need A Quick Fix?

“Dinners in a Dish or a Dash” By Jean Anderson

(William Morrow, $25)

Coming from generations of women who worked outside the home, there were only two criteria for great recipes in our house: Is it quick and it is easy?

To be fair, Mother always gave us choices for dinner: “Take it or leave it.”

The front section of “Dinners in a Dish or a Dash” deals with stocking the pantry, refrigerator and freezer. For those of us who are kitchen-challenged this is plainly organized by food category and subdivided into “indispensables” and “useful extras.”

Peppered throughout the book are extremely useful margin notes, tips and variations.

With colder weather, the recipes for main-dish soups and stews are particularly appealing. Here is a dish that meets my family’s criteria, smells delicious and tastes like “seconds.”

Chicken and Mushroom Soup with Cornbread Dumplings (Makes 4 to 6 servings)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups fresh or frozen chopped onions

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1 cup peeled baby-cut carrots, sliced 1/2-inch thick

Half of an 8-ounce package sliced white mushrooms

1 large whole bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled

1 pound chicken meat

2 14 1/2-ounce cans chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup frozen whole-kernel corn (do not thaw)

Half of 11 1/2-oz. tube refrigerated cornbread twists

1/3 cup minced parsley

Directions: Heat oil in medium-size Dutch oven over moderately high heat for 2 minutes. Add onions, garlic, celery, carrots, mushrooms, bay leaf, and thyme and turn to coat with oil. Add chicken, reduce heat to moderate, cover and “sweat” 15 minutes, stirring now and then.

Add broth, salt, pepper, and corn; adjust heat so mixture bubbles gently, cover, and cook 15 to 20 minutes.

Uncoil strips of cornbread dough and with scissors, snip crosswise at 1 1/4-inch intervals. Bring soup to rapid boil, then drop in pieces of cornbread dough, spacing evenly so they don’t touch. Adjust heat so soup bubbles gently, cover and cook 10 minutes — no peeking.

Remove bay leaf, then mix in parsley, taking care not to damage dumplings. Ladle into heated large soup plates and serve.

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