Comfort Food ~ Rainy Fall Days = Chicken and Dumplings

Comfort Food ~ Chicken and Dumplings

Three days of rain, jackets, scarves, and coats means, comfort food time! So naturally I thought I would make chicken and dumplings! I grew up with Pioneer style cut dumplings, this not something I knew until today when I decided to make some and saw that there were only recipes for the dump, lumpy style dumplings... Yuck! Chicken and dumplings are really pretty simple.. some elbow grease required, but simple... more like homemade chicken noodle soup... But when you're looking for a good simple hearty meal (that freezes pretty well) then I would say this is by far my perfect pick!


Recipe:

Chicken Broth-Soup
  • Half a container of chicken broth
  • one whole rough chopped onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic chopped 
  • 3 carrots chopped 
  • one sliced leek (light greens only, reserve dark greens)
  • one whole cut up chicken (reserve back bone, neck, wings, and heart)
  • salt - to taste
  • pepper - to taste
  • and Italian Seasoning (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients and cook on slow boil for 1-1.5 hours
2. When chicken is done cooking remove from broth, and let cool slightly, and de-bone.
3. Pull large pieces of chicken into smaller portions and set aside.
4. Scoop out with very little broth half of the veggies and blend till smooth in  the blender, and add back to broth. Bring broth back to boil and add chicken, noodles and cook for 10-15minutes on med boil.  Turn off heat and keep warm with lid.

5. Serve!

Pioneer Style Cut Dumplings

  • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour and it worked just fine too)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 egg
  • 3/4 cup milk
  1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Add the milk and egg, and mix until it forms a dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll out to your desired thickness for dumplings or you can roll thinner for noodles. Cut into strips, squares, or any shape you like. Let dry while you prepare broth or soup.
  2. Drop dumplings into boiling broth, and cook until tender. Time will depend on the thickness of the dumplings and how dry they were. 
 
I hate wasting things that are still totally of use... so  when I cook chicken I try to use the entire chicken... everything but the liver (which overwhelms) It's good practice and makes excellent broth for soups and sauce later in the week.
 Chicken Broth from Throw away parts: 

All chicken bones from de-boned chicken, chicken backbone, heart and extra skin. Add whole washed dark green leeks, one chopped onion, and three cloves of garlic, plus carrot rough chopped. Six cups of water, salt and pepper. Combine all ingredients and cook on Med heat for one hour, let cool and strain. Refrigerate for one week.

Jon ate two HUGE bowls of them tonight, so I would say they were a success! He didn't even leave enough to freeze, I guess we'll heat up the last bowl for lunch some time this week... Happy Fall Everyone!


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