Chicken and Dumplings

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This is made almost just like chicken noodle soup, except for a few changes. I usually make it several nights after making a roasted chicken, so that I can make the broth up from the leftover chicken. I can use the extra chicken that comes off the bones, or use a cooked chicken breast for the chicken.

For the chicken broth - Throw the leftover cooked chicken ( or raw chicken pieces ), bones and all, in a big pot with water and salt, enough to cover all the chicken. Let it cook at a slow boil until the chicken is falling off the bones. Then strain the broth off the chicken, return to heat and let it reduce until it has the "strength" of chicken flavor that you like.  ( At this point, you can save the chicken broth to use at a later date. Freeze it if it will be more than a few days. )

For the dumplings:

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1 cup unbleached flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 Tbsp oil
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp sea salt

Put flour, sea salt, and baking powder in a bowl, then add beaten egg, milk, and oil. Mix with a fork and let the dough sit for at least 15-20 minutes, covered.
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Okay, once your dumpling dough is resting, start peeling and slicing carrots, slice celery, and dice onions; mince a little parsley, too, if you like, or maybe some peas. You can cook the veggies in the broth, or cook them separately in some salted water.

Bone some of the chicken, which should have cooled by now. If you prefer nice chunks of chicken instead of little pieces of leftovers, you can use a leftover cooked chicken breast or, maybe you can just use your roast chicken entirely for the soup, cutting off some of the best of the chicken before it goes to making broth. The boiled bits of chicken are good for chicken tacos.

Now, pat out your dumpling dough lightly on a lightly floured surface. Turn over once so they get flour on both sides. Cut with a biscuit cutter ( or inverted small glass ).

Make sure the veggies haven't overcooked. You can now steam your dumplings in a large pot of water that has been brought to a boil. You can steam them in the chicken broth, but I prefer to do it in a different pan of salted water that has been brought to a boil. ( This way your broth stays nice for the gravy. ) Reduce the heat to low (water should not be bubbling, but should still be very hot) and place dumplings in the hot water. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and let steam ever-so-slightly for about 7 minutes. You just want them to steam, not boil. After about 7 minutes, turn the dumplings over and cover again for about 5 minutes more.

Now turn you attention to the broth. Turn the heat up under the broth. In a cup, mix about 1/3 cup cornstarch in about a half to 3/4 cup of water.  Stir until it has no lumps, then pour into hot broth while stirring all with a whisk. Add the cornstarch only about a third at a time, letting it get thick and adding more as you need it. When you have a nice gravy, add the chicken, veggies, and dumplings.


Enjoy!!!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

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A while back I made a BBQ chicken pizza. I'd been wanting to make one for a long time, though I'm not much of a BBQ fan. It was really good :)

I used my basic crust recipe. While it was rising, I made a sauce with a simple roux and some KC Masterpiece that Jamie keeps around. ( I only needed a little sauce, so the roux was just two teaspoons oil, two teaspoons flour, about 3/4 cup water and some BBQ sauce and red chili paste to taste. )

I took a leftover cooked chicken breast and cut it into pieces, then took a little water, a little sugar, and some more BBQ sauce and chili paste, and let the chicken simmer in there until it was glossy and starting to thicken.

I cut up some green onions, white onions, and then carmelized some of the white onion. I shredded some mozarella and swiss, mixed them together with some dried red chili flakes. I put the crust in the oven (400*) for about five minutes just to get the crust dried out a bit before adding the toppings. Then I spread a little of the sauce, then added a little bit of the cheese, then the chicken, then the raw onions, then the carmelized onions, and then the cheese. I do think it would have been better with some bleu cheese crumbles, but I didn't have any.

Anyway, it was good :)

Stuffed Crust Pizza

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This pizza was really good! The only way I had ever had "stuffed crust" pizza before was with the cheese in the outside edge of the crust. But I had heard about making stuffed crust pizza by making a mixture of ricotta, eggs, and cheeses ( I used only mozzarella, as that's all I had on hand) and putting it between two layers of crust.

For two pizzas, I used my basic pizza crust recipe  and divided the dough into four sections to rise. I made the sauce by simmering diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, sea salt and a little fresh basil.

I spread out my pizza crust on a greased pizza pan, dotted it with fork holes all over, and then spread an egg and cheese mixture on the crust. Then I rolled out the second crust and placed it over the top, also dotting it with fork holes all around. I put this much in the oven (425*) for about 7 minutes, and then went to work on my toppings, which included the sauce, a few small leaves of basil, browned hot sausage, and mozzarella. I did the same for another pizza, then put both in the oven to bake. I switched racks every now and then so they would get done evenly.

It was SO yummy . . . I can't wait to do this one again : )

Dairy-Free Vegan Chocolate Pudding

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This is very good! I've been making it for a few years now. It tastes very, very much like regular chocolate pudding. However, there is no milk or dairy, and the recipe, as is, is totally raw except for the cocoa powder, which has probably been heat-treated. If you want it to be 100% raw, use ground raw cacao instead of cocoa powder.

2 cups raw coconut meat from young coconuts

1/2 cup raw honey

1/2 cup ground cocoa powder 

1/2 to 3/4 cup water

2 tsps vanilla

1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Put all in a heavy-duty blender or Vitamix and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for a day or so, if you can wait that long! It generally thickens a bit after a day or so. Very nice!

Italian Buttercream Frosting

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Yummy, yum, yum!!!  Have you ever made authentic Italian buttercream frosting? Once you have it, you will never want that premade canned stuff again.

 

Now, it's not as easy as a plain old buttercream frosting made by beating butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together. It requires cooking a sugar syrup and then slowly adding it to beaten egg whites, making a lovely meringue, and then adding softened butter. 

 

You start by separating 5 eggs - you will be using only the whites, which you should place in a large bowl. Now, taking 1 1/4 cup extra fine sugar ( you can just run regular sugar through the coffee grinder for a few seconds ) and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan, cook these together until the syrup reaches a temperature of 238* on a candy thermometer or the soft-ball stage when a tiny bit is dropped into a glass of cool water. Remove from heat. 

 

While the sugar syrup is slowly cooking, beat the 5 egg whites until stiff. Once the egg whites are stiff and the sugar syrup is at the soft-ball stage, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites, beating all the while, until you have a nice meringue. Now, gently beat in 3/4 cup of softened butter. NOT TOO SOFT or your frosting will be wimpy. NOT TOO COLD or your frosting will be lumpy. Soft enough that you can begin to squish the butter with your fingers.

 

You can now place your buttercream in the fridge for a while, if you like. I think this makes it a bit easier to pipe.

 

The icing I have pictured here was a little too soft, but still tasted wonderful. Don't worry if you don't get it right the first time. It takes a bit of practice, but it's well worth the effort. I finally had to quit practicing, though, 'cause it was really ruining my diet!

Italian Buttercream Icing

5 eggs, separated
1 1/4 cup superfine sugar
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Homemade Pizza Crust

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I love, love, love making pizza! It took me a while to get it down to where I would actually rather have a homemade pizza than to get it from a good pizza place, but it was worth all the years of trial and error.

I usually make one large (18") and two mediums (12") with this recipe. You can cut it in half, or put half the dough in the freezer for later use.

I usually put no oil or fat in my pizza crust. I often brush the crust with butter after baking is finished. You can put a tablespoon or so in the dough, if you wish, or you can drizzle the crust with olive oil before topping. Whatever you like.

2 cups warm water

1 slightly heaping tablespoon (TBSP) of good yeast

2 cups unbleached flour

Whisk these together to allow the sponge to form. After it is bubbly and about doubled in size, add:

1 teaspoon (tsp) sea salt

1 or 2 teaspoons (tsp) sugar ( or you can leave it out completely )

1 1/2 to 2 more cups unbleached flour ( I usually reserve some of this for the kneading process. Feel free to add more while kneading until it seems right.)

Knead for about 15 minutes, until smooth and elastic. ( If you don't want to knead it the whole time, it will have about the same effect if you just let it set for about 15 minutes and then come back and knead it for 5 minutes or so. )

Divide the dough as needed for your pizzas.

Place each ball of dough on a greased pizza pan and cover with a cloth. Allow it to rise until about doubled in size.  With greased hands, spread your dough out over the pan, working from the middle out. Poke holes all over with a fork. Let rise again for ten to fifteen minutes, more if needed.

You can put your crust in the oven for a few minutes before topping, or just begin topping as it.

Bake at about 425* til done.

Enjoy!