Chicken & Dumplings - The Perfect Comfort Food

Chicken and dumplings has always been one of my favorite meals.  As much as I love it though, I'm not very good at recipes that require the use of a rolling pin.  I've made a couple of modifications to this recipe to accommodate my rolling pin insecurities and it's still delicious!

Broth

1 whole chicken (thawed)

Olive oil
2 Bay leaves

1 Onion

12 cups of water

Poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot over medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot.  Add your chicken and sear it for three minutes on each side.  Cover with water and add the bay leaves, onion, and seasonings.  Bring to a boil and let it boil slowly for an hour.  

While your chicken cooks, peel and slice 3 large carrots into 1/2" slices.  Slice 3 stalks of celery into 1/2" slices.  Set them aside.  Depending on what veggies I have available, I may add fresh green beans or fresh peas.  It's good with or without the extras.  

Remove your chicken from the stock pot and set it on a cutting board and allow it to cool.  

Taste your stock and add more seasoning to suit your taste.  Add your carrots, celery, and extra veggies, if desired.  Allow these to simmer while you make the dumplings and the chicken cools.  

Dumplings

1 3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup Crisco shortening

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and shortening in a medium bowl.  Use a fork to mix until the shortening in completely mixed in.  Add milk a little at a time until you get a soft, but not sticky dough.  Here's where we go rogue . . . I don't roll out the dough, I pinch off bite sized pieces of the dough and flatten with my fingers and drop the dumplings into the boiling broth.  The dumplings need to boil for about 20 minutes.  

As the dumplings cook, remove the skin from the chicken and pull the meat from the bones in bite-sized pieces and add it back to the broth with the veggies and dumplings.  

If you want to thicken your broth, combine 4 Tbsp of cornstarch with 4 Tbsp of water in a small bowl.  Add this, a little bit at a time, to the boiling broth, stirring until you reach the desired thickness. 

This is one of my go to recipes when it's cold and dreary outside.  It's just so satisfying.  

Thanksgiving Turkey 2019 -- This was the best one ever!

I have to tell on myself.  I've not spent enough time adding posts to this blog the last couple of years.  I noticed when I signed in this afternoon that I had created a draft of our 2019 Thanksgiving turkey recipe and I never bothered to post it. So . . . here we go.

Honestly, I've been preparing Thanksgiving dinner for more years than I care to admit, but this turkey was the best ever.  I will definitely repeat this every year moving forward.

15 lb turkey
2 sticks of salted butter (room temp)
1 pkg fresh Poultry herbs (sage, rosemary, and thyme)
1 lemon
2 stalks celery
1 red onion

Create a butter spread by chopping half of the herbs into small dice and combining with the butter.  Mix well, adding a good amount of salt and pepper.  

Unwrap your turkey and remove giblets and neck.  Pat dry with a paper towel. 

Cut your lemon into eighths and combine with chopped celery and chopped onion.  Sprinkle heavily with  salt and pepper and stuff into turkey. 

Smear your herb butter all over the turkey and poke several holes into your bird with a small paring knife to allow the flavor to work it's way into the meat.

I like to use Reynolds turkey-size roasting bags.  I place the turkey in the bag and set it on a rack inside my roasting pan.  I bake it at 325 degrees for about 4 hours.  It comes out perfectly golden brown and absolutely delicious!  

Bread & Butter Pickles

These pickles are a family favorite.

Slice enough cucumbers to fill a 1 quart jar

Slice 1/2 white or yellow onion

Place cucumbers and onion in a plastic bowl and sprinkle with Kosher salt

Let sit for 1/2 hour

Place all in a one quart jar.

Prepare your pickling solution:

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp mustard seed

1/2 tsp Tumeric

1/2 tsp celery seed

3 Tbsp Kosher Salt

Bring your pickling solution to a boil.  Let cool and then pour into jar.  Allow to cool and then refrigerate. Rotate your jars every half hour until they reach room temp.  

What On Earth Do We Do With All Of Theses Cucumbers? We Make Dill Pickles, Of Course!

 For one quart jar of dill pickles:

Slice, quarter, or leave whole enough cucumbers to pack a one quart jar.  Place them in a large plastic bowl and sprinkle them with Kosher Salt lightly.

Slice 1/2 white onion and add that to the bowl and sprinkle with Kosher Salt.

Peel and smash one garlic clove and drop it into the bottom of your jar.  Add one large sprig of fresh dill.

Fill your jar with a mixture of cucumber and onion.

Prepare your pickling solution:

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups water

3 tsp kosher salt

1/8 cup sugar

1 tsp whole black peppercorns

1 tsp pickling spice

1 tsp yellow mustard seed

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Bring to a boil and then let cool a bit.  Pour solution into your jar and let them stand until they reach room temp.  Flip them every half hour to mix well.  Place in refrigerator and they should be ready to eat in one week. The photo shown includes a couple of Tabasco peppers instead of onions. Add what you like.