Comfort Food - Chicken and Dumplings

Oh my - we have been so busy lately. John is on day 31 or 32 of working, without weekends off, and I think I have too many hobbies. I know….that sounds really weird, but I can’t fit them all in! What to do, what to do?!?

Back on track…

Sometimes you just need a little down home cooking…oh wait, I always have down home cooking :) Well, it has probably been about a year ago that I first experimented with Chicken and Dumplings and it quickly became one of John and I’s (John and mine, our…oh what the hell, I don’t know) favorite comfort foods. I don’t recall eating this growing up, but you never know, we might have??

I was hesitant at first because I am not a fan of soggy anything and I quickly thought the dumplings would be soggy. Boy was I wrong! They are like fluffy little pillows of joy! You could probably sleep on them if you wanted - your hair might get gross though. I used to just use the canned biscuits to make dumplings then decided I would start experimenting with my own recipe. I think I have it down pretty solid at this point.

Pretty little things, aren’t they!

Yes, that creamy goodness comes from the dumplings - not cream!

For the soup…

• 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1” cubes
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 4 stalks celery diced
• 4-5 carrots peeled and diced
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme chopped fine
• 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary chopped fine
• 6 cups chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the dumplings…

• 2 cups baking mix (Bisquick)
• ½ to 2/3 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter melted
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme chopped fine
• 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary chopped fine

Brown your chicken in a large pot. Add in the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and herbs and stir to combine. Cover with chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for at least an hour, but longer if you have it.

For the dumplings - In a large mixing bowl, mix together all ingredients. These will be a little bit sticky, but should have a thick, cake-like consistency. You can make these ahead and stick in the refrigerator until you are ready to add them.

Twenty five minutes before you are ready to serve, drop your dumplings spoonful by spoonful into your soup mixture. Put the lid on and let simmer for 15 minutes. Turn the dumplings over and cover again. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Stir and serve.

These dumplings are delicate until they are cooked - don’t fuss with them too much or they will fall apart.

Well, hopefully in the next few weeks John’s schedule will lighten up a bit and he’ll actually get a weekend off. What a novel idea :) AND maybe I will figure out how to fit all my hobbies in or figure out which one to drop.  Nah, that doesn’t sound like a good idea! I like being busy way too much!

When the Moon Hits your Eye like a Big Spaghetti Pie, that’s Amore’

I have always loved spaghetti, so of course I was hooked when it could be made into a pie version as well. I think my mom originally discovered this little ditty of a casserole in a newspaper or some magazine. The first time she made it, I was loved it! The crust (spaghetti) gets semi-crunchy, the cheese is gooey, and in my version there is of course plenty of meat to meet John’s needs!

Funny thing…I have been craving this dish for quite some time and when I finally decided to make it, I realized I don’t have any pie tins/glass dishes/whatever they are called. Yeah, I know…strange. SO instead of the traditional round Spaghetti Pie, I technically made Spaghetti Oval, but the premise is the same :)

Look at it in all its glory! Soooo good!

• 6 ounces of spaghetti cooked to al dente
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• ½ cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 cup ricotta cheese (you can make your own ricotta! Learn how here)
• ½ pound ground beef
• ½ pound hot Italian sausage
• 1 small onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1-2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1 can diced Italian style tomatoes
• ½ cup + ¾ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix your spaghetti, melted butter, parmesan cheese, eggs, and salt and pepper to taste. Spray the bottom of a pie pan with cooking spray and press the spaghetti mixture into the bottom of it.  Bake for ten minutes to set. In the meantime, mix your ricotta cheese and ½ cup mozzarella cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. Brown the ground beef and Italian sausage. Rinse and drain. Add the onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper and sauté for several minutes. Add in the diced tomatoes and let simmer until ready to use (this mixture should be pretty thick - you may not need the entire can of tomatoes).

Once the spaghetti is done baking, top with ricotta cheese mixture then spread the meat mixture over the top of that. Be sure to leave a spaghetti crust exposed. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese, then bake for 10-15 more minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

Yes, it truly is Amore’! Well, for me anyway...Awkward! :) haha! So, so good.

Healthy Cooking Group

A few months back, we started a healthy cooking group at work. The last Friday of the month, someone takes a turn at preparing a healthy lunch. It is actually pretty fun, but a little stressful when it is your turn to cook! Since today is the last Friday of the month, we had our luncheon. AND yes, it was my turn to cook.

I cook for people all the time - I mean all the time, but for some reason this lunch had me particularly stressed out. I thought about what I was going to make for weeks and finally settled on shredded chicken taco salads for a few reasons:

1. I wouldn’t actually have to cook at work - I could make everything ahead and bring in crock pots.
2. Everyone loves Mexican food, right?
3. Look how yummy!

I like my chicken, beans, and corn on the bottom - so, you really can't see them :)

I think the salads were a big hit. In fact, I made everyone’s mouth water the entire day while the chicken and black beans were just cooking away. I also made my whole building smell like a Mexican restaurant. Hmm, oh well :)

Here are a few details:

The tortilla bowls are baked. They are made from uncooked flour tortillas sprayed with a little cooking spray, then smashed between the form found below. Bake for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Watch them carefully as to not burn them. If you don’t have any of these little forms, you should definitely get some! They are awesome and the tortilla bowls are fantastic. 

For the chicken, I used the same exact recipe found in this post - but obviously substituted the pork for 4 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts. I am a bigger fan of using pork for this recipe, but chicken worked since it is technically healthier.

For the beans, I started with the recipe found here. Instead of cooking in a pan, I just threw everything into a crock pot. I didn’t see a need for the oil, so I didn’t use it and I also used half chicken stock and half tomato juice instead of just tomato juice. If I were cooking for John and I, I would have added some jalapeno times two. I love spicy!

I used my go to recipe for the southwestern corn succotash, which is found here. It is just a nice accompaniment to the rest of the meal and makes a good topping! I was uncertain how everyone would feel about this,  but they loved it! Whew!

The other toppings include lettuce (since it is a salad after all), habenero cheese, cotija cheese, cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, fresh squeezed lime, and jalapenos. I also made two different dressings a creamy cilantro ranch - like they have at Café Rio - and an avocado/lime vinaigrette. Both dressings were great.

Creamy Cilantro Ranch

I started out with the recipe found here, then made a few substitutions since it is the healthy cooking group after all.

• 2 T salsa verde (you can use a tomatillo in place of this - I think I will do that next time)
• ½ jalapeno diced 
• 1 pkg buttermilk ranch dressing mix
• 1 cup mayonnaise (use the kind made with olive oil)
• 1 6 ounce cup of plain Greek yogurt
• Skim milk to thin to the correct consistency (maybe ½ cup)
• ½ bunch cilantro (with stems)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Lime juice from 1 lime
• Salt and pepper to taste

Add ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Chill at least one hour.

Avocado/Lime Vinaigrette - this looks like a Green Machine smoothy, but is way good!

• 1 large ripe avocado
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons rough chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Lime juice from 1 lime
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a blender and process until smooth. Serve immediately.

Wow…that was a lot of work and I am certainly glad that it is over with and I don’t have to think about cooking for the group for at least six months! Oh and thank goodness for John…he helped me get everything all chopped up last night. I would have been up all night if he hadn’t helped out.