Chicken & Dumplings

Its a lot like chicken pot pies, its a creamy chicken-y stew... pot pies have a lot more veggies. this one usually wants veggies on the side. But then there are the dumplings... the part we all love the most. these squishy dough-y dumplings swimming in a creamy chicken bath of love.  That was the part thats the most important. I've never gotten the frozen ones, so I have no idea if they are any good... its too easy to just make them myself, and then I know whats in them ;)

Now, I have a vegetarian boyfriend, this mean that I need to always think of the adaptations to cater to what he would be able to have, so I would add a bunch more veggies, all veggie broth and the dumplings... just big chunks of veggies like broccoli, carrot, mushroom, celery and potato.

Let's get this going.

Mirepoix: carrots, onion, celery.  Soften in some butter and oil, a fine dice - I usually throw them in the processor and let them get fairly small, this way they cook down and the non-veggie eaters of the house are none the wiser, but the vitamins are still present! Garlic is going to be your decision, some people like it more than others, and you've already used an aromatic, so its going to be a matter of taste.  Add garlic if you want now and keep sauteing... Now, 1/4- 1/2 cup of flour in next to get everything nice and thick, thin with low sodium chicken broth and milk or 1/2 & 1/2, cater to your diet needs...add your large can of cream of chicken soup and some fresh thyme if you can - otherwise dry will do.

SECRET!- want it to be a little more yellow for the kids? with that "authentic chicken color"? ;) add about 1/2 tsp of Tumeric, its good for you and it makes it very pretty.

Now, you could have started by cooking your chicken in the broth you are using (poaching it) or you could sautee it in the pan, pull it out and then throw the mirepoix in, getting the bits off the bottom. Or roast in on the bone, and pull it off.  Use canned, if you can stomach it. Boil it whole. Do whatever is handiest for you.

At some point you have to make the dumplings. I use this recipe and its always perfect.

1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp. veg shortening - now there is this YouTube cook named "frietasex" who used (brilliantly) some of the fat from the top of his refrigerated chicken stock in his dumplings, which obviously would give it a better flavor, but I'm not one to cook things the day ahead and keep that around, but perhaps it might be worth it to make some fatty stock and cool it just to collect and freeze that solid fat love.
3/4 c. buttermilk  (what do i do with the rest of it? well, you could have marinated the chicken in it the night before - but you didn't so, save whats left and use it to marinate your next chicken meal, specifically BBQ or Southern Fried over night with some seasonings and hot sauce)

Bowl. Dry ingredients, mix. add the fat, and pinch out until crumbly, then add wet. mix and roll out to about 1/4 inch. You will have to do this in batches and flour everything generously. Cut into 2" squares (don't be too perfect about it), or however you like them.  Add these into the bubbly chicken soupy-stew give it a good stir and put the lid on it. let it cook for about 10-12 minutes and add the chicken, stir again, cover and let cook another 5 minutes.

I like to add a can of drained corn and a can of drained peas at this point - which to purists are a no-no- but whatever you enjoy, throw in. Or not.

Stir around and its done. All is hot and ready at this point.

Turn the heat off, carefully remove the lid, and ladle into bowls.

I double this recipe when I cook for six and there is always left overs, and I think it works just fine as leftovers in the microwave as long as you don't over-zap it and mix it every so often.

the lore of the chicken and dumplings:

but this isn't how I make mine, and my dumplings never fall apart. just look at them!

Beef Stroganoff

Meat and mushroom gravyness - this is prior to sour cream, and before its bed of wide egg noodles and peas hat. You can see the quartered bella at the top, beef and then a sliced white mushroom at the bottom.

"History:  Elena Molokhovets' classic Russian cookbook (1861) gives the first known recipe for Govjadina po-strogonovski, s gorchitseju "Beef à la Stroganov, with mustard" which involves lightly floured beef cubes (not strips) sautéed, sauced with prepared mustard and bouillon, and finished with a small amount of sour cream: no onions, no mushrooms. An 1890 competition is sometimes mentioned in the dish's history, but both the recipe and the name existed before then. A 1912 recipe adds onions and tomato paste, and serves it with crisp potato straws, which are considered the traditional side dish in Russia. The version given in the 1938 Larousse Gastronomique includes beef strips, and onions, with either mustard or tomato paste optional.

After the fall of Imperial Russia, the recipe was popularly served in the hotels and restaurants of China before the start of the Second World War. Russian and Chinese immigrants, as well as U.S. servicemen stationed in pre-Communist China, brought several variants of the dish to the United States, which may account for its popularity during the 1950s. It came to Hong Kong in the late fifties, with Russian restaurants and hotels serving the dish with rice, but not sour cream. In the version often prepared in the USA today in restaurants and hotels, it consists of strips of beef filet with a mushroom, onion, and sour cream sauce, and is served over rice or pasta."

-thank you Wikipedia

This is a gross story, but its important to the recipe.

When I was pregnant with my oldest son, I was living in a small town in South Carolina where the -other- Triple Crown is every year.  I was over nine months, now...any woman who has given birth understands that its really 10 months..its the end of the ninth month that you give birth, and I was past my due date. I went to have dinner at my then husbands' grandparents house, Beef Stroganoff, something I certainly did -not- grow up eating. It was made with ground beef and was not bad, but not hamburger helper version.  After we ate we left and went to a Walmart, and I ended up getting VERY sick, and making a big mess of things, and was miserable. its hard to vomit over a large belly when you -have- to be on the commode :P  Needless to say, I was not able to ever even consider the thought of eating that again until 10 years later.  I believe my roommate made it, or something and i really did enjoy it... so worked on perfecting my recipe for it.

I am proud of what its ended up as, and hope you explore your own version.

serves 4-5 good eaters.

2 lbs chuck or bottom round beef  (marked stew meat)
2 medium sweet onions
1 large package common mushrooms (brushed of all dirt)
1 small package baby bellas (cleaned and quartered)
4 cloves of garlic
1-2 cartons beef stock , or 1 beef and 1 vegetable
1 cup red wine (merlot is what i choose) (more if you choose to)
medium container of sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream (optional really, but it does add to the flavor)
browning sauce or gravy master
1/2 tsp. paprika (to taste)
salt and pepper
approx 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour or substitute
1/4- 1/2 c. vegetable oil

I'm sure you can figure out how to put it together, but here it goes.

Cube up your meat. salt and pepper them cubes. chuck in a cup of that flour and toss until they are all coated, then set them aside.

In your processor or chopper, throw in the onions, garlic and about 1/2 the common mushrooms, and process all up. Heat a pan on medium, add a bit of oil and sautee the mix, with salt and pepper, until its all nice and soft. but not yet browning. Remove to a plate.

Reheat pan, add the rest of the oil to the pan, get nice and hot. Drop in cubes of meat one at a time and leave alone until you can see some browning action,  If you need to do it in batches, thats ok too. just deglaze the pan with some of the broth and save that liquid.  Once all the meat is seared, remove to a bowl, leaving the oil in the pan, if all has been absorbed then add just a touch more.

Add the rest of the mushrooms to the hot pan and sauteed briefly, seasoning them, before adding the veggies back to the pan. Sprinkle in the rest of the flour and scrape up any bit on the bottom of the pan, cook for 1-2- minutes. Add the meat back to the pan, and then add in the red wine and cook bubbling for a minute or two. stirring.  Add in all your stock and let simmer for at least an hour, two is even better...add more stock or water as needed.

This is where I check for seasoning, and make sure its just slightly salty. Adding the browning sauce first about 2 table spoons worth, and then salt and pepper.

Once the meat is falling apart (feel free to test until you are happy with the texture) turn the heat down to very low, and add in first the heavy cream, if you opt to and then the sour cream, stir, check for seasoning and bring up to hot again.

Serve over cooked wide egg noodles and we throw in a drained can of peas at the end in ours too.

happy eating.

Salisbury Steaks

Dr. James H. Salisbury, an American physician, born in Scott, NY (1823-1905), wrote  'The Relation of Alimentation and Disease' as an early nutritionist. Salisbury believed our health was determined by the food put into it, so he designed a special food and diet for his patients suffering from anemia, tuberculosis, colitis, gout, rheumatism, arteriosclerosis and asthma. During the American Civil War, Salisbury a war doctor for Union camps in Ohio, and while he was there, he came up with these minced beef patties to help Civil War soldiers' dealing with "camp diarrhea."

Here is Dr. Salisbury’s 'recipe':

"Eat the muscle pulp of lean beef made into cakes and broiled. This pulp should be as free as possible from connective or glue tissue, fat and cartilage.....The pulp should not be pressed too firmly together before broiling, or it will taste livery. Simply press it sufficiently to hold it together. Make the cakes from half an inch to an inch thick. Broil slowly and moderately well over a fire free from blaze and smoke. When cooked, put it on a hot plate and season to taste with butter, pepper, salt; also use either Worcestershire or Halford sauce, mustard, horseradish or lemon juice on the meat if desired."

Well now, I always assumed they were made by a nice English woman in Salisbury UK! 

Ah well, now we both know the truth of it.

I like mine with gravy and onions and mushrooms and love, thanks. And the idea of calling them "meat cakes" kinda grosses me out a little bit.  But thank you, Mr. Salisbury for your wonderful idea...and thanks to all the chefs that changed it up over the years and have made it into a common American family alongside Meatloaf, Macaroni & Cheese, and Baked Beans.

I serve mine with real mashed potatoes, and green beans from a can that have simmered with a slab of bacon for at least an hour, if not longer.  I have to take shortcuts somewhere or I'll spend far too many hours in the kitchen!

Ground sirloin is your best bet, unless you are feeling poor that week, then its a cheaper mince - this means I sop up as much of that fatty mess as possible with paper towels... which probably will cost more than the difference between ground chuck and sirloin...  >shrug<  I'll remember that next time.

This most recent time, I used some Ritz crackers instead of breadcrumbs and didn't add any sat at all - tasted great as usual.

ground beeft - 2.25lbs
2 large eggs
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers crushed
chopped and cooked sweet onion, mushrooms and garlic, cooled  - 1 cup each of onion and mushrooms, and a tablespoon of garlic
black pepper
dried parsley and thyme, teaspoon of each
1/2 tsp horseradish mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Mix, and form into patties - 6- , cook on Med-hi until both sides are nice and brown, remove from pan.

Saute sliced mushrooms until a bit cooked, then add 2 packages of beef gravy mix mixed with a carton of beef stock, mix and put the meat back in and simmer well for 20 minutes or so.

eat.
yum.

Eat well!
Jen

The Pasty

You can't call them Cornish if they aren't from Cornwall!

   Ahhh, I would be proud to serve this to any meat-eating Brit, and with a bit of change - even could feed a veggie.  My housemate and best friend tells me that I've tried to make these before, but I really don't remember trying.  This time it was perfect filling, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the dough.  I used refrigerated pie dough, and one full crust per pasty, and it was HUGE and the dough just wasn't good enough for me. I really want to experiment more with the dough, I am very good at working with pizza dough and making calzones amd strombolis, so this wasn't too much different, except that there is TONS of filling in these bad boys, so there must be some reductions of things, and the dough needs to be a bit thicker, besides the texture. In the videos I will mention later, they show the texture of the dough i should be using, and this is by mixing lard and margarine (surprisingly not butter) with the dry ingredients.

 Now eating it was a delight, the pie doughs' taste was perfect with its rooty guts, reminding me of a chicken pot pie, but beefy and drier, (i.e. no gravy), but it was moist in its own juices - which was beautiful, really.

The potatoes remained potatoes, the carrots were carrot-y and sweet, the rutabaga was perfect in its -yam-carrot-potato-ness.  I want to start trying new recipes with rutabaga/swede/turnip, it was far yummier than I expected.

   I used a sirloin tip steak, and it worked just fine.  Traditionally, they are made with a skirt steak...but I would think any cut that's fairly tender when cooked fairly quickly (sirloin anything, and other steak cuts.) A few baking potatoes, a rutabaga, handful of carrots, sweet onion, salt, a knob of butter, and a pepper melange (black, pink, green and white peppercorns) are all that's inside these little fatties.  Now, I followed tradition - onions, potatoes, -season-, rutabaga, carrots, -season-, meat, -season-  Its important to season every layer, they say.... but when eating it, I found that because the meat was on the very top, it was a bit dry.  Next time, I think I will have to either make them a bit tighter so the meat is up against the top dough for more of the cooking, or place a different item on top, or perhaps mix it all together as my BFF suggested.    

   I think my eldest son said that they would have been even better with gravy, but then again, he would put gravy on anything he could...

   I cooked them at 375 for an hour, they could have been pulled 10 or 15 minutes earlier and left to rest that long, before opening up.  The thermometer read 200F when I pulled them out, and everything was tender, but the meat was a bit drier - also due to the fact I didn't take shrinkage into account - the meat pieces should have been a bit bigger than the veg, but since it was all the same size, the meat did shrink more than I even considered.

   Well, I hope my exploration has given you a few tips and ideas, and you can take note of my boo-boos to make yours even better!

_OH_

Now, my head is swimming with different pasty ideas - I could make a food truck or food booth with these ideas that would ROCK

imagine this:  a pasty filled with mashed potatoes and in the center....a meatloaf meatball!

oh yeah.

This is a great little documentary all about the Cornish pasty

This one too!

And this is a delightful Cornish woman making them at home :)

(I have to say that mine looks a great deal like Nan's did.)

I had leftovers the next morning after work, a bit more time in the oven at 350 until i could hear it bubbling, and it was perhaps even a bit better!

Enjoy and eat well!
Jen

Beef Stew

   Last Monday was Beef Stew day...I know, its June, why did i pick stew!?  Well, we do keep the house at a nice 73 degrees, so its never far from comfortable. Why not? I wanted it.  I enjoy cooking it. So ner.

I decided to try making it a different way, including the crock pot, so I could leave it be and get on with the rest of my day (sleeping), but I ended up learning a few things.

  The night before, I trimmed about 3 pounds of stew meat (that's how its marked in grocery store) that i paroosed over for a great length of time to make sure i was getting more beef than fat. I salted and peppered the meat, added a bit of garlic and onion powder and threw it in a gallon zippy bag.  Mushing it around a bit to distribute the seasonings, and then adding about a cup of flour and shaking to coat it completely. Then I threw the bag in the fridge overnight.

   In the morning, the meat was sticky with the flour, but I just went with it and I browned it off in two batches in a bit of veg oil, sauteed some onion (I cut them into about fingernail size) and had I mushrooms, here is where i would have cooked them a bit as well, quartered.  I moved the meat into the crock pot with the deglazing stuff from the first batch of meat.  To the hot pan, Trader Joe's house Merlot, delicious stuff, $3 a bottle, about 1/2 cup or so. Let that do its thing for a bit until the bubbles get a bit thicker and all the bit are up, adding a bit of beef  and veggie broth to the pan to rinse all the goodies into the crotch-pot (i always call it that, cause I'm silly). I threw in a beef cube and a good splash of Gravy Master, set to high and DON'T TOUCH THE LID for at least 6 hours - or until about 2 hours before you want to eat.

  The flour on the meat will easily thicken this all up eventually, that and the starch from the eventual potatoes and carrots.

    So I let the meat cook for hours, and then got up and put the potatoes and carrots in about two hours before it was time to eat.  FAIL. It was dinner time and the potatoes and carrots were still uncooked.  I dumped the whole thing into normal pot and boiled the heck out of it for 15 minutes, and then it was ready for eating.  The meat was overcooked and most of it had just disintegrated into meat pulp and was swimming in the gravy, next time this is a viable choice, but the meat needs to be in bigger chunks, or the potatoes in smaller bites... or both really.  It shows that its been awhile since I've made stew, and trying new techniques doesn't always work perfectly the first time.

   Usually, I just brown the meat, then add onions and broth and simmer until the meat is satisfactorily tender, then goes in the potatoes and carrots until they are done... peas being an afterthought.  This was another way to over complicate things, and it didn't really save me any time at all.

on to the next!
Jen