Chicken and Dumplings

This is my mom's recipe for homemade Chicken and Dumplings. The thin dumplings are what I believe sets this recipe apart from other dumplings I have eaten. i don't like the thick, doughy dumplings most people serve.  This is a great example of simple, homemade, southern cooking. There are few ingredients involved in this recipe. Although, this recipe does take some time to prepare, it is not difficult to make. Most of the time is spent waiting for the dumplings to dry.

• 1 Whole Chicken, rinsed
• 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Cold Water
• 2 T Salt
• 2 t Pepper

Place chicken in a large stock pot and cover with water. Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the water. Boil chicken until done and falling off the bone (aprox 1 hour). 

While your chicken is cooking, you can start making your dumplings. With a dough hook and electric stand mixer, combine the flour, water, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 2 teaspoons of pepper. Let the dough hook do all the work for you. Start out on slow speed and slowly increase the speed to medium high. The flour and water should start to form a firm ball of dough. Once you have a firm ball of dough, remove it from the dough hook and place the dough ball on to a floured surface. Kneed a few times and then with a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/8", cut the dough in to 1" strips and allow to dry on the counter for at least 4 hours. Once the top side of the dumplings have dried, flip them over and allow the underside to dry as well. 

Once your chicken is done, remove it from your stock pot and place on to a platter where it can cool. With a sieve, strain the remaining liquid in the stock pot to remove any bits from the broth. (This will be your chicken broth that you will cook your dumplings in.) Measure the broth you have strained and add enough water to the broth to equal 16 cups. Pour the strained chicken broth/water back in to your large stock pot. 

Once the chicken has cooled enough that you can handle it, pull the meat from the bone and discard the skin and bone.

Bring the chicken broth to a rolling boil, drop the dumplings in one by one making sure to stir the broth frequently. This will prevent the noodles from sticking together and forming one big dough ball. Boil the noddles until tender and broth begins to thicken, aprox 25 mins. When the noddles are tender, stir in the chicken. Simmer for 30 minutes and stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Yeast Bread Starter

I begged a friend for this starter recipe after having her amazing bread a few years ago. The bread that she served was made from this starter It is a bit sweet and very versatile. I have made loaves, dinner rolls, hamburger buns, and cinnamon rolls with this starter. If you have ever had the yeast rolls at O'Charley's or Logan Roadhouse, the rolls made with this starter are really close to theirs. But, before we can bake bread, we have to prepare the starter..................

Day 1

• 1 Cup Warm Water
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 1 Package (2 1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
• 3 T Instant Potato Flakes

Mix the above ingredients in a glass jar and allow to sit on your counter at room temperature for two days.

Day 2

• Stir starter with a wooden spoon

Day 3 - "Feed" Starter

• 1 Cup Warm Water
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 3 T Instant Potato Flakes

Add all the above ingredients to your starter. Stir with a wooden spoon. Allow to sit on counter at room temperature for 8 hours. Then refrigerate 3 - 5 days. (A minimum of 3 days and a maximum of 5 days)

Day 3, 4, or 5 (whichever you choose) - Bake Bread

Remove the starter from the refrigerator on the morning you choose to bake bread. Allow starter to sit on counter and warm to room temperature. Stir with wooden spoon. Measure 1 cup starter to bake bread. Return remaining starter to the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

To Make Bread

• 6 Cups Bread Flour
• 1 t Salt
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Corn Oil
• 1 1/4 Cup Warm Water
• 1 Cup Starter

Add flour, salt, sugar, oil, and water to starter. Mix well. Knead on a floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Put  dough into a greased bowl. Cover and put in a warm place to rise overnight or all day (about 12 hours). I like to put mine on top of the refrigerator.

The Next Morning (or 12 hours later)

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease three loaf pans. 

Punch down the dough. Knead on a floured surface to get out any air bubbles.

Divide dough into three equal parts. Take one part of the dough and roll to 1/2" thickness with rolling pin. Then, roll the dough up into a log, like a jelly roll. Then place in to greased loaf pan. Repeat for the other two pieces of divided dough. Brush the tops of each loaf with corn oil. Set the pans of dough in a warm place and cover loosely with a towel to rise again. This rise will take 6 to 8 hours.

Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes or until the tops of the loaves are golden brown.

Wait 3 - 5 

Remove starter from refrigerator and feed

• 1 Cup Warm Water
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 3 T Instant Potato Flakes

Allow to sit on counter overnight or about 12 hours. Then, the next morning you are ready to bake bread again. Use one cup of the starter and return the remaining starter to the refrigerator for 3 - 5 days. You will repeat this step every 3-5 days.

Your remaining starter will start to grow in volume. You can either give a cup away to a friend, or make multiple batches of bread to use your extra starter. If you choose not to bake every 3 - 5 days, just measure out one cup of starter and throw it away. But, make sure you keep feeding your starter every 3 - 5 days or it will "die".

Sour Cream Banana Bread

I found this recipe on line a few years ago on allrecipes.com and it is absolutely divine. I usually find recipes and then change them to my taste. This recipe is perfect, I changed absolutely nothing.

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 300*. Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.

In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. 


Divide into prepared pans.

Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

7 Day Pickles

Look at these gorgeous little cucumbers from my mom and dad's garden. My dad always plants a few extra cucumber plants just for my pickle making.

If you are looking for a crisp sweet pickle, look no further. These are absolutely the best sweet pickles I have ever eaten. This is another recipe given to me by my wonderful mother-in-law. Although these pickles do take some time (7 days) to make, the recipe is not difficult.

7 Day Pickles

• 8 Cups Sugar
• 3 t Salt
• 3 Cups Apple Cider vinegar
• 2 T Pickling Spice, wrapped in cheese cloth and tied

• Gallon Size Glass Jar

Wash cucumbers and glass jar well. Place enough whole cucumbers in the jar to fill it, but do not stuff the jar. 

Day 1: Boil water and pour over cucumbers in jar until they are completely covered with water. Jar will sit out on counter at room temperature uncovered.

Day 2-4: Pour all of the water out of the jar and rinse the cucumbers (sometimes a slimy film covers the cucumbers and needs to be rinsed off, but its a good idea to rinse the cucumbers even if the film is not present). Then repeat Day 1.

Day 5: Pour all of the water out of the jar, remove the cucumbers, rinse them, and slice them to your desired size. Clean out the jar really well and return the sliced cucumbers back to the jar.

Take a 6 x 6 piece of cheese cloth and place 2 T of pickling spice in to the middle of the cloth. Tie the the cheese cloth in to a little bundle, cut away any excess cloth, and place in the jar with the pickles. This allows the pickling spice to flavor the pickles without having bits and pieces of the spice floating around your in your pickle jars.

Then, in a large stock pot bring the sugar, salt and vinegar to a boil. Pour this mixture over the sliced pickles and the cheese cloth bundle in the jar. These cucumbers will sit out on the counter at room temperature for two days. I usually cover the jar at this time with a salad plate to prevent anything getting in the jar.

Day 7: Pour the entire contents of the jar in to a large stock pot. Heat the syrup and cucumbers until very hot, but not boiling. (I use tongs to fish out the pickles, divide them between my jars, and then use a laddle to pour the pickle juice to the top of each jar.) Pour in to clean jars and seal. Once the cans are sealed and cooled you can store them in the pantry for 1 year. Keep one jar in the refrigerator. Once the pickles are chilled, they will crisp.

 

I use these pickles in any recipe that may call for sweet relish. They are wonderful on a sandwich or just by themselves.

Squash Casserole

Squash Casserole

• 8 Cups Yellow Squash, sliced
• 1 Large Vidallia Onion, chopped
• 6 T Salted Butter
• 3 T Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to Taste
• 3/4 Cup Sour Cream
• 1 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 Sleeve Butter Cracker Crumbs, crushed
• 2 T Salted Butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350*. In a large saute pan, heat butter and olive oil over medium high heat. Saute squash and onions until lightly caramelized and tender.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Then, stir in sour cream and cheddar cheese until cheese has melted and all ingredients are incorporated well. Spoon in to buttered casserole dish. In a separate bowl, combine crushed crackers and melted butter. Top the squash with crackers/butter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crackers are golden brown and squash is bubbly.