recipes

This morning it is a cool, sunny, windy 55 degrees in Washington. A good day for chicken and dumplings - or the Western equivalent called pot pie. Here are both recipes:

Pot Pie

whole chicken or 4-6 chicken thighs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon shortening
1- 1/2 cups water or cold chicken broth
green onions

Stew chicken. For noncooks, this means cover chicken with water and simmer till you have a rich broth. Remove chicken from broth and cool. Mix flour, shortening, and water or chicken broth till ball of dough forms. If dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. If too dry, add more liquid. Don't be afraid to do either. Roll dough out on a floured surface such as countertop or pastry cloth until dough is as thin as pie crust. Using knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 1x2 inch dumplings. Drop dumplings into simmering broth. Cook uncovered 15 minutes. Add pieces of boneless, skinless chicken. Garnish with thinly sliced green onions:)


Southern Dumplings

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 -1/2 cups cold chicken broth

Mix well in given order. Roll out; cut. Drop into hot liquid, cook 15 minutes.

Dumpling making is kind of a lost art. My granny in Berea, Ky. used to make a lot of chicken and dumplings. Once when I was a girl, my brother, Chris, and I had a dumpling contest to see who could eat the most. Granny made a big kettle full of 72 dumplings and we each downed more than 30! I wrote this down in my journal at the time, otherwise I wouldn't remember. And I've had a weight problem ever since!