Dog days and hot soup can go together, and this Pennsylvania Dutch classic soup is the best reason I can think of to pull out the stock pot and crank up the stove this time of year. After I’ve eaten my first batch of fresh, succulent corn on the cob every summer, this is the next dish I simply have to make with the sweet corn I pick up at the farmers’ market or from a neighbor.

When I lived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in my twenties, this soup was offered at local fire house dinners in small towns around the county, usually featuring the spectacularly sweet, white Silver Queen corn that the Amish and “English” alike always seemed to sell at roadside stands. Fresh sweet corn, a plump chicken, and homemade rivels—small, rough dumplings that are relatively quick to make—make this a wonderfully homey, satisfying soup, and leftovers freeze beautifully for the next time you need a taste of summer or feel a sniffle coming on.

Here’s the recipe I’ve made for years, adapted from the Frugal Gourmet’s The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American. This is a dish to make over the weekend, when you have a little extra time and want to make a big pot of something that you can enjoy on the spot, then freeze for later lunches. It’s well worth the bit of extra time it takes!

I made my last batch using sweet corn from the Boys from Chamois in Chamois, Missouri, and a young organic chicken from Richly Blessed Farm in Centertown.

Chicken Corn Soup with Rivels

A rich, simple Pennsylvania Dutch specialty featuring fresh sweet corn.

Yields 12

Ingredients

1 chicken (3 to 3-1/2 pounds), cut in half
3 quarts water (or enough to cover the chicken)
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
2 whole sprigs of parsley (if you happen to have them on hand)
Salt and pepper to taste
6 to 10 ears corn, scraped from the cob (see below)
(I also like to add a little diced carrot and celery sometimes)
Chicken soup base concentrate, optional (I like to add a tablespoon of Penzey's chicken soup base, but you can skip that and just add a little more salt.)

Rivels

2 eggs, beaten
1 to 1-1/2 cups flour (The Frug's original recipe calls for 2 cups flour to 2 eggs, but that never seems moist enough to me. You can experiment and see which proportions you prefer.)
Pinch of salt

Garnish

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional)

Instructions

1. Rinse off the chicken, cut into halves, and place in a large stock pot. Add the water to cover, onion, bay leaf, parsley sprigs, and a little salt and pepper. Bring the chicken to boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and cover. Simmer the chicken for an hour. Remove the chicken from the stock (I put it on a high-sided plate) and allow to cool, leaving the soup stock in the pot. After the chicken has cooled, remove the chicken from the bones and the skin (discard both), and coarsely chop the chicken meat. Cover the chicken and set it aside.

2. Cut the corn from the cob, slicing through most of the kernel and scraping the remainder from the cob with the blunt side of your knife, extracting the milky goodness from the cob. Set aside. Bring the stock pot to a light boil.

3. To make the rivels, mix the beaten eggs with the flour and salt, using a fork. Stir this mixture until it turns into large grains of dough; it will seem dry. Rub the mixture through your hands over the soup pot, so that very small lumps of dough fall into the pot. It will seem too dry and crumbly, but resist the urge to add a lot of water to form a more recognizable dough; the rough grains of dough will form tiny, tender dumplings, and the flour that falls into the pot will thicken the broth nicely. (Remove the pot from the heat while doing this if the steam starts to burn your hands!)

4. Stir gently as you go, and simmer the soup and rivels for 10 to 20 minutes, or until tender. Add the corn, chopped chicken, and check for salt and pepper; cook for another 10 minutes or so. It's fine to leave the soup on the stove longer, but if you do, keep it to a light simmer or leave it on warm.

5. Once it's time to serve, ladle it into bowls and top with hard boiled egg slices and a sprinkle of parsley. NOTE: You may think the hard-boiled egg sounds weird or unnecessary, but it's neither—be sure to include it!

Adapted from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American by Jeff Smith

Do you or your family have a favorite homemade soup? Post a recipe or memory in the comments!