Cracker Barrel's Chicken and Dumplins

I was gonna make my regular chicken & dumplings for dinner last night, but I know how much my hubby LOVES Cracker Barrel's version. So I did some searching and found the recipe posted on a random website. It happens to be from one of Todd Wilbur's cookbooks -- he figures out restaurant recipes and posts them on his site Top Secret Recipes. So I tried Cracker Barrel's recipe. It seems involved, but it was fun to try and not really hard -- and it turned out really well! Don't be intimidated by the dumplin making part. See it as a challenge that I know you can tackle.

Chicken and broth:
3 quarts water
1 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut up
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 small onion, sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and quartered
1 bay leaf
3 to 6 whole parsley leaves
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 Tbs lemon juice

Dumplins:
2 cups all-purpose flour, see note
1 tablespoon baking powder, see note
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add chicken, 1 teaspoon of salt, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, and parsley to the pot. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook the chicken, uncovered, for 2 hours. The liquid will reduce by about one third.

When the chicken has cooked, remove it from the pot and set it aside. Strain the stock to remove all the vegetables and floating scum. You want only the stock and the chicken, so toss everything else out (or find another use)

Pour 1 1/2 quarts (6 cups) of the stock back into the pot (keep the leftover stock, if any, for another recipe - it can be frozen). Add coarsely ground pepper, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the lemon juice, then reheat the stock over medium heat while preparing the Dumplins.

For the Dumplins, combine the flour, baking powder, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and milk in a medium bowl. Stir well until smooth, then let the dough rest for 5 to 20 minutes. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to about a 1/2-inch thickness.

Cut the dough into 1/2-inch squares and drop each square into the simmering stock. Use all of the dough. The Dumplins will first swell and then slowly shrink as they partially dissolve to thicken the stock into a white gravy. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until thick. Stir often.

While the stock is thickening, the chicken will have become cool enough to handle. Tear all the meat from the bones and remove the skin. Cut the chicken neatly into bite-size pieces and drop them into the pot. Discard the skin and bones. Continue to simmer the chicken and dumplings for another 5 to 10 minutes, but don't stir too vigorously or the chicken will shred and fall apart. You want big chunks of chicken in the end.

When the gravy has reached the desired consistency, ladle four portions onto plates and serve hot. Serve with your choice of steamed vegetables, if desired.

Notes:

~I only had boneless skinless chicken breasts on hand, so I used three of them. It still turned out well. I did add about a tablespoon of chicken bullion (equivilant to 1 cube) because a whole chicken will add more flavor to stock than chicken breasts alone.

~If you don't have coarsely ground black pepper, use only 1/2 tsp of regular pepper. I used a full tsp not remembering coarse pepper takes up more room in a measuring spoon and therefore adds less spice than the same amount of regular pepper. It was way peppery, but still good.

~The author of the article indicated they needed about 3/4 cup more flour and 1/2 tsp more baking powder than the recipe called for. I found this to be true when I made it. Add the flour 1/4 cup at a time until it is more of a dough than batter. It was still sticky when I was ready to roll it out, so I just WELL floured my surface, place the sticky dough on top, then WELL floured the top of the dough. I kneaded it not more than 5 times just to get it less sticky. Don't overwork it though!

~Use a pizza cutter to cut the 1/2 inch squares -- it's so much easier. You may have to occasionally roll the edge in flour as the center of the dough is sticky.

~The dumplins do swell quite a bit, so dont' think something went wrong.

~I served it with baby carrots steamed in a little water, butter, and brown sugar because that's the side Matt always gets with the Chicken & Dumplins.

(I'd take a picture, but really...it's just a mass of white dumplins and white chicken. If you follow the recipe, it will look like it's supposed to. If you want a pic, request it and I'll post it.)

Taco Soup...oh my goodness

This soup is so delicious!!! Don't be put off by the fact that you use ground turkey. I was skeptical at first but it is wonderful. If you just can't do the ground turkey, you could use ground beef. It serves alot (12) but it freezes really well. Enjoy!!! :D

TACO SOUP
3/4 pound ground turkey
1 pkg fiesta ranch dressing mix(or regular ranch dressing mix, fiesta ranch can be hard to find)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can pinto beans
1 can chili hot beans(or just chili beans)
1 can black beans
1 can rotel(this is just diced tomatoes with green chilis in it)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup of frozen corn
1 diced onion
1 diced green bell pepper

Brown meat with onion and bell pepper. Add seasoning mixes. Saute until vegetables are tender. add remaining ingredients.
Makes 12 servings

Corn Dogs - A Piece of Americana

This recipe came from an August newsletter we got when we moved into our apartments. It is the only newsletter we've ever gotten from them, but it is a treasure! It had this corn dog recipe in it, and I thought "Hey, why not give it a try? Home-made corn dogs? Who knew?" And they are DELISH! So easy to make, too! Matt said they are his favorite corn dogs, and I know my family has also had them. So, some night when you're not on a health kick and want to have a little fun in the kitchen -- be a kid again and make some corn dogs! (I don't reccomend little helpers though as it involves frying! They can be kids as they EAT the yummies!)

2/3 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 pkg hot dogs, patted dry
8 (6”) wooden skewers (optional)
1 cup or more vegetable oil

1) Add oil to 2” depth in large skillet; heat to 350 (med-high heat).

2) Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, and baking powder in medium bowl. Combine milk and egg in small bowl. Add to flour mixture; mix until blended (batter will be thick). Spread batter into shallow plate or dish. Insert skewers into hot dogs.

3) Dip hot dogs into batter, coating all sides. Add 3 to 4 hot dogs to hot oil, turning after 5-10 seconds to set batter. Fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown; drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining hot dogs. Enjoy!

Notes:
~Using a shallow dish makes it much easier to coat the hot dogs in the batter.
~You must pat the hot dogs dry (with paper towels) so the batter won't slide off easily.
~I've never used skewers, mainly because I can't find short ones. I just use a combination of fork and tongs for frying and getting them into/out of the skillet. I guess I could buy some long skewers and cut them in half. Hmm.

Burritos

This is my mom's "recipe" for simple burritos that I have edited some. I think I perfected it for our family's taste last night. Enjoy!

1 lb hamburger
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
Shredded cheddar cheese
1 pkg (10 count) soft taco sized tortillas

1) Brown hamburger; drain. Return to pan and add 1/2 pkg taco seasoning (or all if desired), refried beans, and 1/2 cup water. Mix well over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, have a griddle or other pan heating to medium-high heat.

2) Place damp paper towel in tortilla package; microwave for 1 minute. Assemble burritos by placing meat mixture (1/2 cup or less) towards one side of tortilla, top with cheese. Fold in sides and roll up. Place seam side down on heated griddle while assembling next burrito. When placing second burrito seam side down on griddle, turn first one over. Assemble third burrito; remove first from griddle, turn second one over, and place third seam side down. This gets a rythm going for assembly and grilling. Grilling seam side down first seals the burrito; grilling the top side melts the cheese.

3) Serve with sour cream, salsa, and any other burrito toppers and side dishes you like!

Notes:

~I use 1/2 pkg mild taco seasoning because I'm not a huge fan of it anyway.
~I like to use soft taco size instead of burrito size because 2 is just enough where burrito sized 1 isn't enough and 2 is too much.

Lovers' Chicken Tetrazzini

The reason for the title is because we cooked this as a couple tonight. We were hungry, I didn't have the ingredients I needed for what I planned to make, and Matt browsed the cookbook because he was in the mood to cook. He found a chicken tetrazzini recipe (which he loves), and we had most of the ingredients. So this is our edited version that we had fun making and eating together on a Friday night! It was nice to feel like the assistant chef to my hubby the chef. :-)

8 oz spaghetti

1/3 cup diced onion

2 Tbs butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/4 cup chicken broth

1 1/4 cup milk

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1) Cook spaghetti according to package; drain.

2) Meanwhile, in a saucepan or skillet, cook onions in butter until tender. Stir in flour, pepper, and nutmeg. Add broth and milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan followed by chicken and spaghetti, stirring gently to coat.

3) Transfer pasta mixture to baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake 350 uncovered for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Notes:

~We are going to saute some garlic with the onion next time for extra flare.

~Fresh sauted/steamed veggies such as squash & zucchini or broccoli & carrots would taste great mixed into the tetrazzini. It would also add some wonderful color.

~I say add as much Parm as you want...to me you can never have enough!

~If you have a Pampered Chef skillet, you've saved yourself a step of cooking and clean-up because it is oven proof at 350. Take it from stovetop straight to the oven rather than transferring to a baking dish!