Conference turris::cooks

Dumplings:  the very best I've ever made were from the back of the
bisquick box.  Really, you just can't do better than them no matter
how hard you try.  For chicken and...

Get a good sized stewing bird and clean and dry.  Place in large
pot along with water or chicken broth to cover, a cut up onion,
one or two cut up carrots, and a sack of boquet garni (I buy at
the gourmet shop already made) and black pepper to taste.  YOu
can also add garlic if you like.  Bring to boil, lower to simmer
and simmer until tender, skimming fat as you go. How long depends
on the size of your bird.

when done, remove bird from liquids, bone and skin and set meat
aside.  Bring broth back to simmer and cook down a little while
you make a very thin flour and water mix.  Add this to the broth to
thicken it just a little, add salt and lemon juice to taste, and
add chicken back to broth.  Drop dumplings into simmering broth
and turn once with fork after they are nice and fluffy looking.
Keep pan covered while cooking dumplings and don't boil the liquid,
just simmer it.  They cook up in just a few minutes per side so be ready
to serve dinner when you start cooking them.

                             -< CHICKEN FRICASSEE >-
    
    Here's one my mother-in-law recently taught me ... It's simple and
    good.
    
    Ingredients:
    
    1 whole chicken 
    Celery
    Onion
    Bisquick Baking Mix
    Milk
    
    First you clean the whole chicken and place in a large, deep pot.
    Add enough water to pot to cover about half of chicken.  Slice up
    some celery (inlclude the leafy parts if possible) and onion into
    large chunks and toss into pot.  Simmer this for several hours --
    until chicken is thoroughly cooked & tender (timing depends upon
    size of chicken).  When the chicken in finished, prepare the dumplings
    according to the directions on the Bisquick box (just the right
    amounts of bisquick and milk).  Drop the dough mixture by spoonfuls
    into the simmering pot (try to place them around the chicken and
    in the liquid as much as possible).  They cook for 10 minutes uncovered
    and then 10 more minutes covered.  Remove dumplings with slotted
    spoon and keep warm in a dish with cover.  Remove chicken (which
    usually falls apart by itself by now) and arrange chicken pieces
    on a serving platter discarding skin and bones.  Strain the broth
    (discarding vegetables) and add a little bisquick or flour to it
    to thicken it.  Heat the broth until thickened to desired consistency.
    Serve chicken slices & dumplings , covering both with broth sauce.
    
    NOTE: This is a great dish to throw together into a pot on a cool
    Saturday or Sunday morning.  The whole kitchen smells wonderful
    by lunchtime!
    

I've never used the Bisquick mix for dumplings before.  I was always taught
to make them from just flour, water, and shortening.

For the chicken,  I  put the chicken in some water with salt and pepper and
boil it until it's  done.    The  amount of chicken and water depend on the
number of people you have  to  serve.    Be sure that the boiler you use is
large enough for the dumplings or  you'll  have  to  move the chicken broth
later.

When the chicken is done, remove it  from the broth.  Add pepper (to taste)
to the broth with about 1-2 tablespoons of  butter  and some milk.  Let the
broth  return  to a slow boil.  (Watch it  carefully,  it  will  boil  over
quickly).

While the broth is coming back to a boil make  up  the dumplings.  I take a
large bowl and sift some self rising flour into it.   I  then  make  a well
(large  dip) in the center and add some shortening (about 3 fingers  worth)
and some water and work this into a dough that is the right consistency for
rolling  it out (is you get too much water or shortening, just add more  of
the other until everything works out right).

Once the dough is made up, roll it out (can be done in several pieces) on a
cutting board, cloth,  or  whatever.    Take a knife and cut the dough into
strips.  Lay these  strips, one at a time, into the boiling broth (now it's
very likely to cook over  if  not careful).  Keep going with this until all
of the dumplings are in the  broth.    They  will need to cook for probably
only about 5 minutes before they're done.

Be warned that the liquid will cook over  VERY easily and that if the stove
is too hot the dumplings may stick to the bottom of the pan.  Also, be sure
that  you  have  enough  liquid  for the dumplings to move  about  somewhat
freely.  If you don't have enough you will end up  with  one  huge  clob of
mess instead of dumplings.

Irene

Re < Note 789.3 by WINCH::MCCARTNEY >:
                         -< Dumplings from the south >-

>I've never used the Bisquick mix for dumplings before.  I was always taught
>to make them from just flour, water, and shortening.

  Ah, but that's basically what Bisquick is. Actually, the important
  ingredients in Bisquick are flour, baking powder, and shortening. It's
  advantages are that the ingredients are very well-blended in useful
  proportions. It's convenient, and always gives great results. The
  disadvantage is mainly that it's more expensive than starting from
  scratch.
  
  If you've always used Bisquick and would like to try "from scratch"
  (or if you can't get Bisquick), the proportions are roughly 1 cup
  flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tbs shortening. In Europe, add another
  1/2 tsp baking powder - the flour's different. By the way, baking
  powder can be made (if you can't get it) from baking soda and cream of
  tartar, the proportions being roughly 2.5 to 1. I haven't gotten this
  to work exactly, though, since we discovered the French word for it
  and stopped experimenting.
  
  On the other hand, if you've been always doing it from scratch, and
  would like to save some time and get extraordinarily good results, try
  Bisquick in place of your usual flour-shortening in almost any recipe.

    My mother came from Arkansas and made the world's greatest chicken and
    dumplings.  The chicken broth has to be very rich (that means leave in
    the fat folks).  I add whole carrots, an onion, fresh parsley and sage
    and some celery stalks to the broth as it cooks, and remove the veggies
    before serving.  To make the dumplings, I don't really measure, add
    about three cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, approx 1 tsp baking powder, 3 or
    4 whole eggs and just enough milk to make a soft dough, about the
    consistancy of biscuit dough.  Place on a heavily floured board and
    roll to about 1/4" thich and cut into 1" x 2" pieces.  Drop into
    boiling broth and let simmer until the broth gets nice and thick.  I
    like to cook mine at least an hour.  These are definately better the
    next day, so you might want to double up on the amount you make.

    Since I'm new at this, I (OOOOPPPPSS) added a new note, but for really
    great chicken and dumplings try the one I entred in note 3657.  The
    secret is to simmer in a cast iron pot at low heat for several hours. 
    Good for what ails ya!!!