What Came First? Chicken or the Dumplings?

Hey howdy everybody, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. It's just your regular crazy winter weather in the South, new responsibilities at work, and winter boogies that are keeping this momma very busy. I have a quick post today that's so simple and I hope that you all will get to try it before the cold weather leaves us. Today I'm going to make the world's easiest chicken and dumplings.  

This used to be an all day process that began with me boiling a whole fryer, seasoning broth with onions and vegetables, deboning chicken and straining broth, but this is much faster and has lots of flavor.  I start by getting a rotisserie chicken, try and get the plain or “savory” one, any other seasoned chicken is too overpowering for this recipe. You will need:

1 carton of chicken broth (plus one can if you prefer it thinner)

Onion powder

Garlic powder

2 tbsp dried parsley

Salt and pepper

1 can of biscuits

1 tbsp butter

Flour

Begin by deboning the chicken; add this and the broth to good deep stock pot.

 I like to cut the corner off a flap of the broth carton if I'm going to use the whole thing, this eliminates the glug, glug and gives me a nice smooth pour.

Season with a few sprinkles of onion powder and garlic powder and bring to a gentle rolling boil.

While the broth comes to temperature get out the biscuits, a rolling pin, flour and a pizza cutter. Be careful not to buy butter flavored biscuits, I did this once in college and ended up with an inch of yellow colored, butter flavored grease product floating on top of the pot, blagh! 

Open your biscuits and coat both sides with generous amount of flour, this will thicken your broth when you add them to the pot. Roll the biscuits very thin and stack them up. I use a pizza cutter to cut my biscuits into thin small strips.   

Once your broth has come up to a boil gently add handfuls of the biscuits to the pot, use the back of the spoon to push them down into the liquid. 

Once they've all been covered put the lid on top and wait for them to cook. They will all puff up and float to the top; it looks a bit like a science experiment. 

Then when they are all cooked they will sink down into the bottom. Once the dumplings are cooked they will distribute evenly throughout the chicken and broth when you stir.  

 After the dumplings have cooked turn it down to a medium low, add a couple of pats of butter for richness and some dried parsley and you are ready to serve. 

There you have it quick and easy chicken and dumplings.  You will get a feel for how you like it, thick or thin, other seasoning, what have you.  Give this one a try, you'll be glad you did, and remember to share it with a friend.  Be sure to come back for some organization tips, more recipes and a little building project I have going on for 'Harry the Dog'.

Crock Pot Mania: Texas Style Brisket

You know how much I love a good crock pot recipe, so here's one I just had to make for New Year's Day. This is Texas Style Brisket from Taste of Home. I've made this one for a few years and it always gets rave reviews.  I will say that this time my eyes were bigger than 10 or 12 people's stomachs.  I went to the butcher to see if he had anything smaller than an eleven pound brisket.  He offered to trim and cut one in half for me.  Well after he cut all of the fat off it just looked naked and deflated so I took the eight pounds of brisket at the trimmed price, I am such a sucker some times I didn't want to hurt the brisket's feeling.   Despite that, it really was so delicious and it travels and reheats very well. Mine is never quite as pretty as theirs, probably because I cook mine until it falls apart like a woman at a chick flick.

Texas-Style Beef Brisket Recipe photo by Taste of Home

I started by cutting it in half to fit the crock pot and marinating it in a 2 gallon food storage bag. I placed it in the refrigerator before going to bed, when the baby woke up for his middle of the night bottle I went into the kitchen and put it in the crock pot so it would be ready in the morning when we woke up.

I had to cut it once more to fit the three pieces side by side in the crock pot. I poured in the beef broth and put the lid on and cranked it on high and went back to sleep.

I woke up the next morning to find this glorious sight of brisket done and ready.  

I placed it on my favorite bamboo carving board and shredded it with two forks; I chose not to cut it across the grain because it would have completely fallen apart.

Next I chopped the onions and measured my ingredients for the sauce.

I used my gravy separator to skim the fat off of the au jus from the brisket, to add that to the barbecue sauce. I love this gravy separator because it's over sized and has a strainer on the top. The recipe calls for one cup of au jus, with the remaining I measure 1 cup into freezer bags and freeze lying flat so I can make this sauce anytime I'd like.

I served this New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with the sauce on the side. I had enough leftovers to prepare another batch of barbecue sauce later in the week and we had barbecued beef sandwiches. I cut the leftovers across the grain and put back into the crock pot to warm with the sauce. I served it with toasted buns and potato salad.

Mmm-mm.  I definitely recommend adding this one to your repertoire. Enjoy, and remember to share with a friend.

Hi-ho, Hi-ho, It's Back To Work I Go

Oh my goodness, can you believe we are 2 weeks into the New Year? I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday.  The holidays came and went, I spent all kinds of time in the kitchen, my two boys got sick poor babies, and the house is still in one piece.  I would imagine it is time to get back to sharing with you all again. 

I received a lovely new camera from Santa Clause and I can’t wait to try out all the bell and whistles.  Here is a shot of the wrapping paper carnage and the Christmas enthusiasm all over my living room floor.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed watching the boys open presents and playing together in what would any other day be the “formal” living room. Although there really isn't much "formal" in any part of our house.

I will be sharing some of the amazing food we turned out over the holidays.  I have some projects planned this year and I am eager to get started.  Please stop by to keep up with all the happenings in this new year.