Wednesday, November 3, 2010

In the mood for chicken? Try 2 of these!
















I love the flavor of a good chicken broth - and that is essential to two of these. Actually, I have no idea what is used to make the "Chicken in a Biskit" I'm taking it as a good sign that chicken is spelled right at least - unlike krab salad! The funny thing is a couple months ago I asked Richard if he remembered these crackers and he didn't. I went in search of them and finally found them at safeway the other day so of course I had to buy them, just to have the taste memory. Boy, what a flashback - talk about salty! It's amazing to really see (taste) how much your taste changes over the years. Anyway, my mom used to make her own chicken pot pies (pictured on the left) or sometimes turkey ones and kept them ready in the freezer - so beyond swansons - or even marie callendars! I will admit that when I make it I cheat and use prepared pie dough, as rolling dough is not something I take lightly - I'm only willing to do it for very special occasions. Anyway to make a pot pie (think leftover Thanksgiving turkey coming up!) just saute a little onion - I used leeks this time - in a few tablespoons of butter until soft. Add a few tablespoons of flour to make a light roux and cook for a few more min. Then add chopped potatoes and carrots and cover with a good homemade broth. Cook until tender, maybe 15 min, then add some chopped up cooked chicken (if you don't have leftover turkey, use a roasted chicken) and some fresh peas if you have them, frozen if not. You want the gravy to be a little wet, as it will cook down some more. Season to taste with s&p and then pour into a pie pan and top with a pie crust. Poke holes in and bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 min. They can be made into mini versions too and frozen before baking.

And finally Mary Grey's Chicken And Dumplings - these are a family secret - so don't tell anyone that I'm sharing this one... They are light and melt in your mouth!

Chicken and Dumplings serves a couple

1 cup cake flour
4 teaspoons baking powder (this along with the cake flour is what makes them so light and fluffy)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
some milk
chicken broth
cooked chicken

Mix in a medium bowl the dry ingredients. In a small measuring cup beat the egg and then add enough milk to make 1/2 cup then add to the dry ingredients making a stiff dough. Drop by tablespoons into lightly simmering broth, cover and let cook 2 min. Turn them over and cook another 2 min. Serve with some cooked chicken - I can't really remember how she did this part - maybe someone else with let me know - hint hint! I just add some chicken breast from a roasted chicken to the broth and serve.


3 comments:

  1. Mother (Mary Grey) learned that recipe from her Mother (Susan Dickinson) except that they went out and killed and plucked the chicken just before cooking. That is what made the broth. She cooked the chicken in an old pot with a lid to condense the steam and return it to the broth. She cooked the chicken (whole) until the meat fell off the bones. (The marrow adds to the flavor.) She then dropped then dumplings right into the boiling broth. The baking powder made them extremely fluffy. I have made them directly with Bisquick and it isn’t the same. The more dumplings she cooked, the thicker the broth got. She served it in a bowl with deboned chicken meat all together with lots of salt and press ground pepper which was popular in that era. I get hungry just thinking about it. Mother cooked everybody a bowl and then one for herself. Seconds were always cooked by us. So good.

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  2. Thanks Uncle Lindsay! I also have it written down that the original recipe came from the Joy of Cooking - probably a really old addition.

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  3. That much baking powder seems excessive, but it is necessary.

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