Monday, December 28, 2015

Chicken and Dumplings


 Chicken and Dumplings

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)
kosher salt and black pepper
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
10 cups of water

Dumplings: 
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, plus more for serving

1) Heat olive oil in large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Brown in batches, 4-6 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, reserve the pot.
2) Add the celery, carrots, onions, thyme, and garlic to the drippings in the pot and cook, stirring until the vegetables begin to soften. (About 5-7 minutes) Add the chicken, bay leaves, and 10 cups of water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the chicken is cooked through, 25-30 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and transfer the chicken to a plate; let it cool. Shred the chicken with two forks and return it to the pot. Discard the skin and bones.
3) Whisk together 1/2 cup of the flour, and 2 cups of the cooking liquid, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk the flour mixture back into the pot and simmer until slightly thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pot.
4) Make the dumplings: Whisk together the remaining 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter. Add buttermilk and mix with fork. Add flour as needed, and kneed dough.
5) Roll & cut dumplings into squares. Place dumplings in simmering pot, stir to submerge as needed. The dumplings will float to the top when they are cooked.
6) Serve with chopped parsley on top for garnish, if desired.
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Italian Ricotta Cookies









Italian Ricotta Cookies

Cookies:
2 sticks of softened butter
1 ¾ cups sugar
15 oz Ricotta Cheese
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Glaze:
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
4-5 tablespoons milk
Sprinkles

Instructions:
Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined. Add in the ricotta, eggs, and vanilla and mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, mix your flour, baking powder, and baking soda together – mix well before adding it to the wet ingredients. Add about ½ cup of the flour into the wet mixture, and mix until combined. Repeat, until all of the flour is mixed into the wet ingredients. The original recipe says to use a small cookie scoop to make balls roughly 1 teaspoon in size. I used my medium sized scoop so they are slightly larger. The 1 tsp size baking time is 8-10 minutes, and for my larger ones it’s about 15 minutes – I have a gas oven which tends to need a little more time than electric ovens. You want the cookies to just barely be brown on the bottom… just lightly brown. 

After they are all cool, mix your ingredients for the glaze. Use a cookie rack, and dip the tops of each cookie in the glaze – then top them with sprinkles. Work quickly, and sprinkle after glazing because it dries really quickly. Enjoy!
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Christmas Punch






Christmas Punch

1 bag fresh cranberries (frozen)
1 container frozen limeade concentrate
2 liters ginger ale
64 oz cranberry apple juice
1 bottle of sparkling apple cranberry cider

Mix all together. We used our punch decanter rather than the punch bowl I used last year. The entire thing was gone by the end of the day - with just 6 people in the house. If you're making for a larger group, I'd double or triple everything. The cranberries are really festive, and help keep everything cool.
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