Chicken and Dumplings

"Winter is coming." Well screw you Ned Stark. I say winter doesn't need to be a cold barren wasteland of ice, snow and family gatherings. It can be so much better and warmer with Chicken and Dumplings, which is basically like a hug in a bowl. Just remember even if there's no one to keep you warm this winter at least there's this soup to keep you warm, and hell you can even bring it to your office's Holiday party! But don't let Tim hog all the dumplings.

I had never made Chicken and Dumplings until someone on the Cooking with B.S. Facebook page suggested I make it. I'm glad I did, because this is one delicious dish and perfect for any winter day. So I before I made this dish I did a little research on the dish. It turns out that this dish originated from the Chinese province of Hunan when a village came together one freezing winter day, each farmer giving up a piece of that year's crop to the soup that would feed the village and give the soldiers stationed at the village to fight off the invading Mongols. 

Well it turns out I was on the Sweet and Sour Chicken Wikipedia page and this dish actually originates from, I dunno the South? Maybe some place in Europe? If you really want to know, you're at a computer look it up yourself! I have a recipe to write! 

Big news coming from Grub NorthWest and their line of salts. We'll keep you posted!

Chicken and Dumplings

• 3 Chicken Breasts
• 1 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Buttermilk
• 1 Egg beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• Salt & Pepper
• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Leek sliced
• 1 Carrot stick sliced
• 3 stalks Celery chopped 
• 1/2 medium Onion diced
• 4 Chanterelle Mushrooms chopped
• 52 oz. Chicken Stock
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 cup water

Dumplings

• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 cup Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1. Get out your Dutch oven, and no I don't mean that dutch oven. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the Dutch oven over medium heat. 
2. In two separate pie pans, create a buttermilk and egg bath, and a flour mixture of well flour, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. 
3. Coat the chicken in the buttermilk bath then coat it in the flour and place in the dutch oven. Evenly cook all three breasts until the middle of each is fully cooked. Should take 10-15 minutes. 
4. Remove the chicken from the pan. DO NOT GET RID OF THE DRIPPIN's! 
5. Let the chicken cool enough to handle.
6. Add the onions, carrots, mushrooms, celery and leek to the pan. Sautee for a good 7 minutes. 
7. Then add the chicken stock, bay leaves, and other seasonings to the pot. Tear apart the chicken breast into small pieces, and dump into the pot. Continue cooking while you prepare the dumplings.
8. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. 
9. Melt the butter in a microwaveable safe bowl. Let the bowl cool down a skoch. Stir the buttermilk into the butter, which will solidify the butter. 
10. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture to create a dumpling mixture. Let's take a moment to thank this week's sponsor's mixtures.
11. Using two soup spoons make little dolops of dumpling mixtures, and drop them right into the soup! Be sure to spread them out in the pot as to avoid clumping. Make as many dumplings as possible with the dumpling mixture. 
12. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover with the lid until you're ready to serve it up! Enjoy!

So, go start a fire and curl up with some chicken and dumplings this winter and you'll fight off the cold at least for awhile.

All phantastic photos by Katy Weaver. Give her a Like would ya!

Yam and Marshmallow Whoopie Pies

Thanksgiving is already upon us. If you follow this blog then you know we've been making Thanksgiving inspired recipes all month and there's no better way to end November than with something sweet. Yams with marshmallows are usually pretty delicious, but the yams turn out too soggy half the time. Instead of making those soggy tubers, make the stickiest damn cookies EVER. If you have kids I highly recommend giving them these cookies. They'll be so sticky that you can just kind of stick them to a wall and not have to worry about them for a while. Or they'll just make everything in your house sticky. Do whatever you want, they're not my kids.

Despite being so sticky that NASA uses the filling to patch holes in the space station, these cookies are pretty damn good to be honest. They're a nice break from the traditional pumpkin and pecan pie and they still feel extremely seasonal too. So now is the time to bust out this new recipe and finally show grandma who's really in charge of the kitchen.

Yam and Marshmallow Whoopie Pies

• 1 1/2 cup Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 cup pureed and cooked Yams
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 3 Eggs
• 1/4 cup Butter melted
• 1 tablespoon extra
• 1/4 cup Shortening 
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 3/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 package Big Marshmallows

1. After boiling your cubed yams in water, preheat your oven to 375°. 
2. Using a mixer mix the sugar, eggs, butter, shortening and vanilla together. Add the yams. Sift in the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Fold in all ingredients together with a rubber spatula.
3. Scoop the batter onto a baking tray using soup spoons. Don't worry about making them perfectly circular, the stickiness of the marshmallows will distract any naysayers. 
4. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown slightly.
5. Let the cookies cool on a cooling rack while you make the marshmallow filling.
6. To make the marshmallow filling use a medium sized sauce pan. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add all the marshmallows. Constantly stir until the marshmallows are just slightly melted. 
7. Spread on the bottom a cookie and then add another to the top. Dip in chocolate if you're feeling ambitious.

Everyone enjoy their Thanksgiving and be sure to make all my Thanksgiving recipes this year! All delicious looking photos by Katy Weaver!

Bacon Granny Smith Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Everyone loves a good grilled cheese sandwich. It doesn't matter if you're young or old, sometimes a grilled cheese sandwich is the perfect lunch. Yes, even lactose intolerant people love grilled cheeses, though their colons don't. So get out your holy cheese and pray to Cheezus Crust, and make this divine grilled cheese sandwich or are you a naan believer?

In the words of Buster Bluth, "I was told there would be grilled cheese." This isn't any old grilled cheese though, it's a grilled cheese that puts all others to shame. Sure, you could go with something simple and safe, but what's the fun in that? I personally don't understand people who take the safe route; life is for living, so add some apple and bacon to that sandwich! Some people will say apples don't belong on a sandwich, but let them talk and have their wrong opinion. They don't know the joy of something weird and different, so they can enjoy their meal of quiet judgement while you eat one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches of your life.

Bacon Granny Smith Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Yields one sandwich

• 2 slices of Sourdough Bread
• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 3 oz. Tillamook Cheddar Cheese grated 
• 2 oz. Gruyere cheese grated
• 1.5 Bacon Slices cooked
• 1 Granny Smith Apples thinly sliced 
• 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper freshly ground

1. Heat up two CLEAN skillets over medium heat. That's right two. 
2. Butter one side of each slice of yo' bread. 
3. Add the mustard and pepper to one slice of bread (on the non-butter side, but you're clever so you probably figured that out on your own). 
4. Pile on the cheeses. Stack 2 apple slices and the bacon strips to the pre-sandwich. Top it off with the other slice of bread, butter side up.
5. Place in one of the hot skillets. Let cook for 30 seconds. Take the other hot skillet and place on top of the sandwich and press down. This will help melt the cheese and make it easier to flip. After a minute or so, flip the sandwich over and continue cooking until both sides are golden brown. 
6. Serve with a little salad or some tomato or  butternut squash soup. 

It's that easy to mix up the everyday routine and make something different and delicious. Don't be afraid of people judging your fruity sandwich. Go ahead and make this great sandwich, because if you don't I'll be judging you.

Say cheese, all photos by Katy Weaver