Chicken and Dumplins

Picture by Monica H.

It's Fall here in Washington, the leaves are falling, the air is cooler and it's... raining of course. The colds days and nights require some warm comfort food in order to warm the soul. One of my favorite soups is Chicken and Dumplins, but the one from Rachel Ray has more of a brothy base than the thick stew like soup I am used to. But I found this recipe on Lick the Bowl Good (my new fav food blog). M and I loved this stew, it was delish and had a lot of flavor. I did find that I needed to add an extra 2 cups of water at the end because it was so thick.

Ingredients:

Stew:

3 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 bunch celery, chopped
1 whole chicken fryer or cut up chicken(about 4 lbs.)
3 chicken bouillon cubes
6 cups chicken broth or water (possibly 2 more at the end)
salt and pepper to taste

Dumplings:

2 cups flour
4 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. dried basil (optional)
2 Tbsp. Crisco shortening
3/4 -1 cup buttermilk or milk

Directions:

In a large pot over high heat, saute onions, celery and bouillon cubes in butter til tender. Add whole chicken fryer to pot and cover with 6 cups water or chicken stock. Cook over medium heat til chicken is cooked through.

Once chicken is cooked through, pull out and place on a cutting board. Once cool enough to handle, take off all the meat and shred into bite sided pieces. Add chicken back to pot and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Bring to boil.

While the chicken stew is coming to a boil, make the dumplings: In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and dried basil. Mix dry ingredients and cut in shortening with a fork or a pastry cutter. Stir dough while adding buttermilk. Start with 3/4 cup and add more til completely moistened and biscuit like but not wet.

Drop by the spoon full onto the boiling stew. Do not stir dumplings. Reduce heat to low and cover pot with a tight fitting lid. Allow dumplings to steam for 15 minutes. Once dumplings are cooked through, stir dumplings into the stew and serve. The flour from the dumplings will thicken the stew.

Candy-Corn Sugar Cookies

I can't believe it's already Halloween. This year at work we had a cookie exchange. It was fun, I made these Martha Stewart cookies. They are quick, simple and tasty. But I think next time I am going to make my snicker-doodles. The only thing about this recipe I don't like is the cookies are VERY small. Bite size for little kids small, so I say this recipe makes a dozen normal size cookies.


Ingredients:
Makes about 36.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
About 36 candy corns

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter and sugar in a medium bowl; beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Beat in egg yolk, vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour, and mix until a dough forms.

Scoop out level teaspoons of dough, and roll into balls (chill dough briefly if it becomes too soft to handle). Place balls on baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are firm and cookies are dry to the touch (do not let cookies color), 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from oven; gently press a candy corn into center of each cookie (surface of cookies may crack slightly). Cool on sheets 1 minute; transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Teriyaki Turkey Burgers

::in best Al Pacino voice:: Say "hello" to my little friend.

I know, I know, you think I'm cheating but I wanted to introduce you to one of my little friends the "Seasoning Packets". Technically I am not making a homemade dish. But what can I say, Noh is my little helper in a time of need and once you try their Teri-Burgers, you won't go back. Noh is one of my favorite and you mostly find them in the Asian or Hawaiian stores. I still haven't found many in the Asian section of a regular grocery store. .



Ingredients:

1 pkg. NOH Hawaiian Style Teri-Burger Seasoning Mix
1/2 cups of water (use this ONLY if you choose beef, makes turkey to runny)
1 lb. of ground beef or turkey
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Directions:

Combine contents of package with 1/2 cup water in a large mixing bowl and blend well. Add 1 lb. ground beef or turkey and mix thoroughly. Shape into patties. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet and pan fry patties a few minutes on each side or until done. Patties can also be barbecued or broiled.

Top this little baby with your favorite toppings and side dishes. Mmm a little Teriyaki heaven in your mouth.

Michelle's Crock Pot Chili

Now don't get me wrong, I do like the Jaime's Chili, but I felt there was some flavor missing. I took that recipe and ran with it, "doctoring" it up with more seasoning. I really enjoyed this batch and I hope you do too. Oh btw, it's spicy. :)

Ingredients:

2 pounds mixed ground beef and sausage, browned and drained
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper diced
2 cups chopped celery
2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 (28 oz) can whole, peeled tomatoes
1 (4 oz) can of tomatoe paste
1-2 cubes beef bouillon
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco)
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 (14 1/2 oz) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 1/2 oz) can chili beans with spicy sauce
1 (14 1/2 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 package chili seasoning mix
smoked applewood salt to taste(it's something we own but table salt is fine)
ground black pepper to taste

Shredded cheddar, sour cream, chopped green onions, for garnish
Fritos (optional)

Directions:

In a skillet brown ground beef and sausage, drain and set aside. Add the onion, green pepper,celery, beans, seasonings and meat into the crock pot. Stir in the diced, tomatoe paste and whole tomatoes. Turn your crock pot to low and let simmer for 6-8 hours stirring occasionally.

Serve with Cheddar cheese, sour cream, and green onions.

Crock pot BBQ Pork

M and I have tried a few different BBQ chicken or pork recipes in the crock pot and have found them to taste disgusting. Something about having the meat cook in the BBQ for hours does something gross to the sauce or maybe it's just the crock pot that does that. I came across this recipe on one of my new favorite foodie blogs, I thought I would give it a try and we LOVE it. It has better flavor and the sauce is added at the very end so no weird taste.I picked up KFC cole slaw for a side dish they worked well together.


adapted from Lick the Bowl Good

Ingredients:

Spice Rub:

1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 (2-3lb) Pork Shoulder (butt)
1-2 tsp of liquid smoke (optional)
1-2 cups barbecue sauce (use as much as you like)

Directions:
Mix all spice rub ingredients in small bowl.

Place shoulder in a 9x13 Pyrex dish. Massage spice rub into meat. Cover tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (For stronger flavor, the pork can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

Unwrap and place pork in slow cooker liner. Add ¼ cup water and liquid smoke. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 6-8 hours, until meat is fork-tender.

Transfer meat to cutting board. “Pull” by tearing meat into thin shreds with two forks or your fingers (be careful it's HOT).

Place shredded meat back in slow cooker liner. Stir in 1 cup barbecue sauce. Add more if desired. Heat on low for 30-60 minutes, until hot.

Makes about 8 pulled pork sandwiches.