Chicken and Slippery Dumplings

This is it, the real thing.  And it is great but if you want it even better....boil the chicken in chicken broth instead of water; twice the flavor.

1 stewing chicken (about 4 or 5 pounds), cut up
4 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

DUMPLINGS:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons lard or butter
1/2 cup hot broth, (or if you prefer, cold milk)

Season chicken with salt and pepper; Place chicken, celery, onion and carrot in a Dutch oven.

Cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until chicken is tender (about 20 minutes per pound).

Remove chicken and keep warm.

When chicken is cool enough to handle remove the skin and discard it.

Remove the meat from the bones and return the bones to the broth in the pot. Reserve the chicken meat.

Bring the bones and aromatic vegetables to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for one hour, covered. Strain the broth and reserve it. Discard the bones and cooked vegetables

Add water to measure 4 qts. Set aside 1/2 cup for dumplings. Return remaining broth to the Dutch oven; add Poultry Seasoning.

The Dumplings: Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture forms fine crumbs. Stir in enough of the 1/2 cup of hot broth you set aside to make a firm but manageable dough.
Meanwhile, bring broth to a boil. Roll dough to 1/16-in. thickness; NO THICKER. If thick, they will be tough. Cut into 2-in. squares. Drop a few at a time into boiling broth. You want the broth to always continue to boil.

Reduce the heat to medium and cook dumplings uncovered until tender, about 15 minutes. Add the chicken and serve immediately.

Pork Rillettes

This is my recipe from Australia. It is so simple we never used a written recipe.

Note:  You certainly can chop up the vegetables and include them in the rillettes spread.  This is a country French recipe and you can do with it what you please.


5 lbs. Boneless Pork Butt
1 lb. Mirepoix. (2 parts onion, one part each carrots and celery) I estimate about 2 onions and 2 carrots and 4 stalks of celery. Doesn’t matter that much.
3 cloves garlic, mashed, no need to peel
1 tsp. Thyme
2 or three bay leaves
12 cups beef or chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Here’s how to do it:
Cut up your meat into about 10 more or less equally sized portions. Put in a pot with all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat immediately to a simmer. Cover and let is gently do it’s thing for about 8 hours. At very low heat. Test a piece, it should fall apart with very little encouragement. Refrigerate it overnight.

Next morning skim off all the fat and save it. Remove the meat and set it aside. Save the broth because it makes a luscious soup base. No need to save the vegetables, but you can eat them if you like.

Now the real work: Remove all the fat and any other waste from the pieces of meast, then squeeze, mash, and if necessary chop and stir until the meat is fairly smooth enough to tolerate being spread on a cracker or slice of bread.

If you feel you need to do so, add some of the broth to make it spreadable.  You can make it ultra-smooth by buzzing it up in the processor.

Pack the spread into a pot, or pots of some kind, melt the fat and pour it over the meat, that will seal from oxygen and help preserve it. Refrigerate. When ready to serve remove the fat and spread on crackers, toasts etc. I like bread and butter pickles, onions, chopped eggs etc. on mine.

Applesauce Cookies

Oh Boy!


½ stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ cup chunky-style applesauce
1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup golden raisins
¼ teaspoon cinnamonPreheat oven to 350˚F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and place parchment paper until a wire cooling rack.
Mix the butter and sugars on low speed in the bowl of a standing mixer until combined.
Add egg and applesauce and beat for about 2 to 3 minutes, until thoroughly blended.
Mix in the dry ingredients — oats, flour, baking soda and powder, and salt — and then stir in the raisins.
Drop 1½-inch balls of dough onto your baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
Bake until golden and just set, 13 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to the wire rack. Let cookies cool completely.

Soft Sugar Cookies

Wantonly delicious.

2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stir into the creamed mixture until dough comes together. Roll dough into walnut sized balls and roll the balls in sugar. Place them on an unprepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until bottom is light brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Chicken Salad

4 to 6 servings


4 cups cubed (1/2 inch) cooked chicken (about 1 3/4 pound)
1 cup walnuts, chopped, (toasted, if you like)
1 celery rib, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices (1 cup)
2 tablespoons finely chopped, or two green onions
2 cups halved seedless red grapes
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper


Toss all ingredients together. 

Celery Seed Honey Dressing

½ cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Paprika
4 tablespoons Vinegar
1 teaspoon Celery seed
1 teaspoon Dry mustard
1/3 cup Honey
1 tablespoon Lemon or Lime juice
1 teaspoon Grated onion
1 cup Salad oil

Mix dry ingredients. Add honey, lemon juice, vinegar and onion. Pour oil slowly into mixture, beating constantly. Serve with fruit salad.

Ranch Beans

2 (16 ounce) cans pork and beans
1 (16 ounce) can butter beans
1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans , drained
½ lb bacon
1 lb . ground beef
1 onion , diced
2 tablespoons molasses
3 teaspoons dry mustard
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup ketchup


Brown bacon and dice; brown ground beef and onion.
Mix beans in crock pot.
Add remaining ingredients (meat, molasses, mustard, sugars and ketchup).
Cook 5 to 6 hours in crock pot on medium-high or
can be baked in oven, covered, at 350 for 1 hour.