Recipe #1 - Chicken & Dumplings

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My mother walked in yesterday while I was writing the first post (oblivious to what I was thinking or writing) and said, "You know, we haven't made Chicken & Dumplings in a long while. That would be the perfect winter dinner during the snow storm tomorrow."

So I went to the store this morning and, just as she said, there is already 3 inches of snow on the ground (they are predicting up to 7!).

On my lunch break, I began stewing the organic chicken (on the bones). I put the chicken in a large pot filled 3/4 the way with water. Added fresh cut celery, onions, and carrots. Then brought to a mild boil for 2 1/4 hours.

First time making chicken broth from scratch.

So after the allotted time, I pulled the chicken from the broth and deboned (I don't think that's a word, oh well) it. Deboning took a lot more time than I expected. I had to make sure I removed all the vains, knotted and spikey bones from both the chicken and the broth.

I ran into two problems. Problem one, the broth was very bland. So I looked up a Paula Dean recipe for chicken broth and I was apparently missing an ass load of salt. Added and wala! Yummy broth. That Paula Dean knows her shiz.

Dropped in the dumplings.

Problem two, I didn't have any baking powder. So I Googled it. Apparently, baking soda and baking powder are two completely different things. They both have the chemical that makes dough rise, but they taste different.  If you mix 1 part baking soda and 2 parts cream of tarter you have baking powder. Pretty neat.

With the problems solved, I moved on to making the dumpling batter. Easy enough.... mix flour, baking powder, parsley leaves and salt in one bowl & mix an egg, oil and milk in another. Combine the two bowls. Let them sit for a second.

Now time to thicken the broth. By thickening it, it's not called broth any more, it's called sauce. So. I mixed cold water with 1/2 flour then poured it into the broth through a strainer while mixing (if you don't mix, then it gets lumpy as it's going in).

Next. scoop out the dumplings in tablespoon size portions and drop them in to the sauce. Cover for 15-17 mins without removing the cover.

Not really to be served with red wine. We were out of white!

Complete!

Now after  reviewing it with my colleagues (aka Mom and Dad).  We decided on a 6 out of 10. Still very bland. I think it needs a kick of some sort.

I picked a hell of a first recipe to work with. This one took nearly all day. Whew. Now for that glass of wine...