Chicken and Dumplings

Well, school has been in session for about a month now which means, of course, that all those little germs that your kids are bringing back from school are now making their way into your body and chances are you're feeling pretty crummy right about now.  And even if you don't have any kids (like me) you're still getting exposed to all those lovely little germies from all your coworkers who do have kids.  Basically, if you don't have "the crud" right now, you'll probably be getting it.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Cole and I are both not feeling great this weekend, so I decided some comfort food was in order.  If you've never had chicken and dumplings, the dumplings are basically poached biscuits in chicken noodle soup (minus the noddles).  I don't really understand how they end up getting cooked, but they do and that's all I really care about.  My mom used to make this for us in the winter growing up.  We lived in Idaho so we had a real winter, and there was nothing better than sitting down at the table with a nice steaming bowl of chicken and dumplings after playing outside in the snow all day.  She would make extra dumplings so I could take them to school for lunch the next day in a big thermos.  Let me tell you, all my friends with pb&j or bologna sandwiches were totally jealous of my lunches on chicken and dumplings days.  This recipe is just like my momma made it, and it was just as delicious as I remembered it.

Chicken and Dumplings

What you need:

4 chicken thighs (or a whole chicken, cut up; or whatever kind of chicken you prefer.  Bone in meat is preferable)

4 cups chicken stock

1-2 cups water

Celery (about 2 cups chopped)

5 medium/large carrots, chopped

1 white onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, chopped

5 tsp thyme

2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup bisquick

1/3 cup milk

What you do:

Chop up all your vegetables and put them in a large pot with a little bit of olive oil.  Cook the vegetables over medium high heat until you can smell the garlic and the vegetables have softened up a bit.  Meanwhile, season the chicken with 2 tsp thyme (approx.), garlic powder and salt and pepper.   

Put the chicken on top of the vegetables in the pot.  Add your chicken stock and water until the chicken is covered.  You may need to add extra water.  Add the remaining 3 tsp of thyme and cover the pot. 

Let the chicken simmer with the vegetables for as long as you want (at least 30 minutes).  The longer everything simmers together the better, in my opinion.  Keep an eye on it though, you may need to add some more water periodically if it looks like it's getting to low.  

When you're about ready to eat you'll want to make your dumplings.  Mix together 1 cup bisquick and 1/3 cup milk.  Roll the dough into balls roughly the size of a golf ball and drop them into the pot.  Cook them for 10 minutes with the lid on, then 10 minutes with the lid of.  Serve and enjoy.  

I like to serve this in a bowl with a lot of broth, but you can easily pull out the chicken and some of the vegetables and use the broth more as a sauce over the dumplings.  Either way, you'll probably have a lot of broth and vegetables left over.  Don't throw it away!  Keep it and make chicken noodle soup!  You can even freeze it if you're not going to use it right away and pull it out later.  

 Cole described this both as "Thanksgiving in a bowl" and one of the all time greatest things I've ever made him.  So I think it was a success.  

Date Night Dinners: Mussels in a white wine cream sauce

I love making meals that look really impressive and fancy that are actually super easy (and way less expensive than going to a fancy restaurant for dinner).  Cole and I love seafood, but I wanted to make something different than our usual shrimp, salmon or tilapia for dinner a few weekends ago so I decided that I would splurge and make mussels.  For some reason I thought that mussels would be expensive, I'm not sure why. Little did I know, they are actually one of the cheapest types of seafood you can get.  I got 2 lbs from Walmart in the little frozen seafood section for a little more than $3.  That's a good deal in my book.  So, what I thought was a splurge turned out to be a really inexpensive dinner.  I love it when things like that happen.  

Anyway, the mussels I got were already cooked so I just had to boil them in water (in the little bag they came in) for about 5 minutes to warm them up.  I thought it was weird at first, but they turned out great.  

Mussels in a White Wine Cream Sauce

What you need:

2 lbs mussels (fresh or frozen)

5 shallots diced (or 1/2 a large onion)

4-5 large cloves garlic minced

3-4 tsp thyme

1 1/2 cups white wine (whatever kind you like to drink)

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup fat free half and half

Extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

What you do:

Saute the minced garlic and shallots in some olive oil in a large pot.  Add the wine and allow it to reduce by half then add the chicken stock, thyme, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste.  Allow the chicken stock/wine mixture to reduce down, then add the half and half.  Allow everything to simmer together for 10-15 minutes.  At this point, if you have fresh mussels you will add them to the sauce mixture and allow them to cook for 5-7 minutes.  If you're using fresh mussels don't use any that are open before you cook them because that means they are dead..  If they're only slightly open you can tap them against the counter and if they close up they are fine to eat, but if they don't please discard them.  You definitely do NOT want to eat dead mussels.

If you're using frozen mussels like I did, while your sauce is simmering boil the mussels in the bag they came in then transfer them to the sauce and mix everything around in there a little bit.  Whether you're using fresh or frozen mussels do not eat any that aren't open after cooking them.  

I served the mussels over linguini and with homemade french bread (recipe forthcoming, don't worry) and artichokes.  

Artichokes are probably my favorite vegetables.  They are delicious, interactive, and so interesting looking.  I just love, love, love them. 

I was just so pleased with this meal.  I usually am really hard on myself when it comes to judging the food I make, but I was overall very happy with this.  Of course, there are things I will tweak next time I make this, but if it comes out like this every time I make it I will be happy.  

Cole, of course, said he loved it which is not a surprise because he always says that about everything I make (even the time I made a horribly disgusting raspberry white chocolate cheesecake).  He did say that he wished the sauce was a little thicker, which I agree with.  If you use heavy cream instead of half and half that would help thicken up the sauce, but I at least attempt to eat healthy so I think next time I will mix the half and half with a little bit of flour before I add it to the sauce.  That should help thicken it up some without adding more calories and fat.  

Two pounds of mussels was plenty for Cole and I for dinner.  If you were using this as a first course or appetizer you could probably get 4-5 servings out of this amount.  And I guarantee you ladies, if you make this for your boyfriend/husband he will be SO impressed.  It looks like you put a ton of effort into it too, so you can probably negotiate yourself a massage or a trip to Yumilicious Yogurt.  Or both, who knows?

 

Mini Mondays Gameday Edition: Calzones

In honor of the first Mini Monday of "Football Season" (which really is a season around here) I wanted  to make something that would be perfect to snack on while watching the game.  No forks or knives required.  So I thought about it, and decided calzones (or as Cole calls them: cal-zone-ays) were the winning the idea.  Making them mini is perfect because you can make a bunch different kinds, you don't have to decide on just one kind like you do when you make pizza.

Mini Calzones

What you need:

Pizza dough (click here for a recipe)

Whatever toppings your little heart desires

Small container of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup approx. shredded mozzarella cheese

2 eggs

Marinara sauce

What you do:

Prepare pizza dough.  Preheat oven to 400*.  Chop up whatever toppings you want for you calzones.  I used sausage, bacon, jalapenos, onion, bell pepper, pineapple and ham.  I was so excited for these because I got Hawaiian calzones.  We don't really make Hawaiian pizza because Cole doesn't like it, but this way I got to make my own little mini Hawaiian calzones! 

Mix ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and one egg together.  Take a golfball size piece of dough and roll it out pretty thin.  Put a small scoop of the cheese mixture in the middle, then add whatever toppings you want.  Fold the dough over so you have a little half circle shape.  Press the edges closed with a fork and brush eggwash over the top of the calzone.  Bake for 15 minutes, until crust is golden brown.  Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.   

Homemade Hot Fudge Sundae

What you are about to read is probably the easiest recipe known to mankind (and quite possibly the most delicious as well).  I will be honest, I never thought of making homemade hot fudge (this is obviously another one of Cole's family recipes).  I mean really, the jarred stuff is pretty good.  I never had any problem eating it by the spoonful.  But if you think the store-bought stuff is good, this homemade stuff is going to blow your mind (and the button of your pants if you're not careful).  

Hot Fudge

(aka chocolate "sause")    

What you need:

1 5 oz can of evaporated milk

1 cup sugar (although I think 3/4 cup is plenty)

2 T cocoa powder

I'm guessing Cole or one of his brothers wrote down this recipe at some point judging by the spelling, lack of details, and the handwriting.  The first time I made this recipe I started out with sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated, boy would that would've been a mistake.  Luckily I figured out my error before I added any of the cocoa or sugar and was able to steer clear of that crisis.

What you do:   

Mix all the ingredients together over medium heat and cook until the "sause" becomes thick and hot fudge-esque.  I would suggest stopping just before your ideal consistency unless you are going to serve it immediately because it will thicken up some while sitting.

Server over ice cream with some whipped cream, almonds and a cherry on top (of course).

If you were able to control yourself and have any leftover you should mix it with a little milk when you reheat the hot fudge. 

Spicy Shrimp Tacos

This recipe is so simple to put together.  I make it for weekend lunches or a quick weeknight dinner all the time.  The best part is that it's as easy to make for 1 to 2 people as it is for a big group.  I like to add guacamole, cilantro and red onions to my taco but sometimes I get fancy and make a quick mango salsa.  Sometimes I also get crazy and fry up some bacon and crumble it over the top of the shrimp.  However, I was making these at 1:30ish and it was our first meal of the day so Cole was about to faint from starvation (or so he said) so I just made these quick and dirty.

Side Note: We like our food spicy so if you don't you may not want to add the full amount of spices I have listed (particularly the cayenne pepper).

Spicy Shrimp Tacos

What you need:

Shrimp, peeled and deveined (you'll need 3-4 per taco)

1/2 small red onion

Cilantro

2 small limes

3 cloves garlic finely chopped (for 20 shrimp, use more or less depending on how many shrimp you are using)

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cayenne pepper

Olive oil

 What you do:

Season shrimp with garlic powder, black pepper, salt, cayenne pepper and the juice of one whole lime. Heat olive oil in a medium pan.  Sautee garlic in the pan for a couple minutes, then add the shrimp.  Cook until done (approx. 5-7 minutes).  Serve in warm tortilla (corn or flour).  Like I said, I like to serve mine with guacamole and top with red onion and cilantro.  

Chicken and Eggplant Parmigiana

Carbs are my nemesis.  If I could I would eat pasta, potatoes, bread, etc for every meal.  Every. Single. One.  I once did the Atkins diet.  I stuck to it for 3 weeks and I lost, like, 15 lbs.  I was also in a permanent bad mood and literally cried when I was making dinner and served Cole his dinner with rice and I couldn't have any.  Suffice it to say, that diet did not last very long (and afterwards I may or may not have gone on a carb binge, but I'm not on trial here).

Point is, I love carbs.  Therefore, I love Italian food.  Cole and I are trying to put together an Italian Feast Night with a bunch of his friends so I thought I'd practice a bit before that.  Also, Olive Garden was playing a commercial for Eggplant Parmesan and it was making me crave it like no other.  I would complement them on their advertising, but it didn't make actually come into their restaurant.  So it probably didn't work out so well for them.  I decided to make some Chicken Parmigiana also because, well, it's delicious.

Chicken and Eggplant Parmigiana

What you need:

2 chicken breasts (cut in half so they are thinner, then pounded very thin)

Eggplant (cut into approx. 1/2 inch thick rounds)

Bread crumbs (Italian style)

2 eggs (beaten)

Mozzarella cheese

Grated Parmesan cheese

Marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)

Pasta

Garlic bread

What you do:

Slice mozzarella cheese.  (I'm not sure why I felt the need to picture this, but I did.  So there you go.).  Preheat oven to 350*.  Coat chicken and eggplant rounds in eggs then bread crumbs.  Pan fry the chicken and eggplant until they are nice and crispy on each side.  Don't worry about them being fully cooked, we are going to finish them off in the oven.  Put a thin layer of marinara sauce on the bottom of glass baking dish.  Place the chicken and eggplant in the baking dish.  Pour a little more marinara sauce over the top of the chicken and eggplant, then top each one with a slice of mozzarella cheese and a bit of parmesan cheese.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is nice and bubbly.  While the chicken is in the oven cook the pasta.  Serve the pasta and marinara on the side of the eggplant and chicken.  And please, whatever you do, don't forget the garlic bread.     

I also made a yummy Caprese salad as a little appetizer because, you know, there wasn't enough cheese with dinner.  

Mini Mondays-Olympic Edition: Sliders Around the World

As has been well documented on this blog, I love anything that is miniature.  What you may not be aware of is my love of the Olympics.  I have been looking forward to the 2012 Summer Olympics  since pretty much the minute the Beijing Olympics ended 4 years ago.  My excitement reached a fever pitch in May or June of this year (just ask Cole, I did a little happy dance every time an Olympics commercial came on TV).

Anyway, I knew that for this month's Mini Mondays I had to figure out a way to somehow incorporate the Olympics.  So Cole and I brainstormed and we came up with the idea to make chicken sliders inspired by various different countries.  I went a little overboard with this, I'm not going to lie.

Sliders Around the World

Slider Rolls

What you need:

1/2 c warm water

2 1/4 tsp quick rise active dry yeast

1 tsp honey

1/4 c butter 

1/2 c milk

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

3 1/3 c flour

Sesame seeds (optional, but highly recommended)

What you do:

Stir together honey and yeast into the warm water and set aside.  Melt butter in microwave until it's completely melted.  Add milk and 1 egg to the melted butter and stir well to incorporate.  Pour the butter/milk mixture into stand mixer bowl.  By now, the yeast mixture should be foamy.  Go ahead and pour that into the mixing bowl too.  Add in salt and 2 cups flour.  Stir until the flour is fully incorporated using the dough hook for the mixer.  Add the remaining flour slowly.  The finished dough should be smooth, but still somewhat sticky (you may need a little extra flour).  Lightly oil the bowl and dough, cover and let rise for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size (if you let it rise for more than 1 hour it's not going to hurt anything).  After you let it rise, punch down the dough and form into golf ball sized balls (you should get at least 18 rolls).  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, or spray the cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.  Do NOT use wax paper thinking that it is the same thing as parchment paper (not like I've done that or anything).  They are not the same thing.  Trust me on this.  Let the dough rise for at least 30 minutes (or longer, like I said, a little extra rising time never hurt anybody).  When you're ready to bake the rolls mix 1 egg with a couple tablespoons of water and brush the egg wash over the rolls.  Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes.  They should be golden brown when done. 

Sliders

What you need:

Slider rolls

Various sauces and cheeses detailed below

Grilled chicken breasts (cut chicken into cutlets before you grill them)

Optional: Someone to grill the chicken for you when it's 107* out and you don't feel like standing over a hot grill.  And yes, I do have great creeper paparazzi photo skills.  

Today, we're featuring recipes from India, Thailand, Italy, China, Mexico and, of course, America (USA! USA! USA!  Sorry, I couldn't resist)

 America
Buffalo Chicken Sliders

What you need:

Frank's Red Hot

Bleu Cheese

This one's pretty simple.  I just put some Frank's Red Hot on top of the grilled chick and topped that with some bleu cheese.  Just please, please, please do NOT undersauce.  You will need more than you think.  

India

Ghost Pepper Chicken Sliders

What you need:

Ghost pepper sauce

Cheddar cheese

This one is also very simple.  Just put some ghost pepper sauce on top of the chicken and top with cheddar cheese.  Be careful with this one, ghost pepper sauce is deadly.  I would err on the sided of undersaucing this one (and I hardly ever recommend undersaucing)

Thailand

Thai Curry Chicken Sliders

What you need:

Sliced Jalapenos.

1/2 c coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)

2 tsp curry powder

2 tsp Sriracha (hot chili sauce)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp corn starch

Mix everything but the jalapenos in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking continuously.  Reduce heat and let the mixture simmer for another couple minutes.  

I used this sauce kind of like mayo.  I spread it on the bun and put a little extra on top of the chicken and topped with a couple slices of jalapeno.

Italy

Caprese Chicken Sliders 

What you need:

Sliced tomato

Mozzarella Cheese

Basil mayonnaise 

Spread basil may on the bun.  Top the chicken with mayo and tomato.  Simple.  Delicious.  Molto bene. 

China

Sweet and sour chicken sliders 

What you need:

Pineapple

Bell pepper

4 T brown sugar

1 T ketchup

1/3 rice vinegar (or white vinegar if that's all you have)

1 tsp soy sauce

4 tsp cornstarch dissolved into 4 tsp water

Mix brown sugar, ketchup, rice vinegar and soy sauce in a small sauce pan over medium high heat and bring to a boil.  Add in the cornstarch and water mixture and stir to thicken.  

Put the sauce on top of the chicken on the bun.  Top with pineapple and bell pepper.

Mexico

Enchilada Chicken Sliders

What you need:

Enchilada sauce (I used canned sauce and added some cumin and chili powder)

Sour cream

Tomatillo avocado salsa (or guacamole)

Cheddar cheese

Sliced jalapenos

Top chicken with enchilada sauce, salsa, sour cream and jalapenos.  Make sure you have a napkin for this one.

And now I know you're dying to know who the medals were awarded too.  These were all delicious, so it was not an easy decision.  We both agreed that Italy came in a strong third, and they were awarded the bronze medal without much debate.  However, the judges had a difference of opinion as to who won gold and who got silver.  Personally, my favorite for the Thai Curry Chicken Slider.  It was the perfect amount of sweet from the coconut milk and spicy from the curry and Sriracha.  Cole, preferred the Sweet and Sour chicken slider.  The sweet and sour sauce was, well, the perfect combination of sweet and sour.  The pineapple and bell pepper added a nice contrasting texture to the chicken.  However, since it's my blog, my opinion obviously reigns supreme (plus my brother agreed with me), therefore the gold medal is going to Thailand.  China was a dark horse for me.  I was not expecting to like it as much as I did and I am very happy to award the silver medal to China.