Chicken and Dumplings

About two years ago we got satellite TV for the first time in our married life. Even better is the DVR!!! We always just had the old rabbit ears system, with a timer set on our VCR for our favorite shows. Wow! I will never watch TV again without my DVR! I could go on and on, but that's another post.

What I want to tell you about is FOOD NETWORK!! I LOVE it! I never understood how people could watch it so much, but now I'm a believer. It has revolutionized the way I cook. I have learned so many techniques, how to cook with different ingredients, healthy recipes and just a passion for cooking. I started to get more creative in feeding my palate challenged hubby (formerly unfairly labeled as "picky eater") and our recipe folder for "regulars" has multiplied by at least 200%. I've even gotten to the point where I don't always measure everything exactly and I'm learning how to better season my food and taste as I go. It's so fun!

I've been wanting to share some of the best recipes I've found (allrecipes.com and foodnetwork.com are my favorite sources) and old family favorites. The following is a family favorite from my Mom that I've tweaked according to my new found knowledge:

Chicken & Dumplings

This recipe is more of a concept than a stick to it recipe. These measurements will turn out well, but you can use different cuts of chicken, different quantities of chicken and/or dumplings, soup, all according to your tastes and what you like the best and what you want to have the most leftover. You might want more gravy if you’re serving it over noodles for example. Jason likes the chicken in decent size chunks. I like it smaller – chopped or shredded almost. One time I sautéed some onion, celery, and carrots in a bit of oil and then simmered it in the skillet with a bit of chicken broth. I pureed this mixture in a blender and added it to the pot. It added a nice bit of flavor and hopefully nutrition and Jason didn’t mind it at all. If it he was not eating, I would add chunks of vegetables. He also likes occasionally to crunch up some cheddar sun chips or Doritos and put them on top.

I usually serve with Mashed Potatoes or Egg noodles, and then hopefully some other vegetables.

3 T olive oil.
1 - 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into whatever size pieces you’d like – or boneless skinless tenders
Paprika to taste
Pepper to taste
1 can cream of mushroom
2 cans cream of chicken or 1 family size can
low sodium chicken broth & water to cover chicken by an inch or so for boiling.
Bisquick and milk for dumplings ( you can add some chives if you like)
Fresh or dried parsley to sprinkle over the top. (optional)

1. Coat the bottom of a large soup pan with the oil and allow it to heat up to medium high.
2. Season chicken with pepper and paprika and then brown chicken in the oil (I don’t use salt because there is so much in the canned soups). Do not cook it all the way through as it will get completely cooked later in the stew.
3. Add chicken broth and water. Cover. Let boil on Medium High until chicken is no longer pink in middle.
4. Add the soup. Return to boil Reduce to medium heat!!!! and cover. Be careful of having the heat too high as it will burn on the bottom of the pan and/or it will boil over.
5. Mix up dumpling batter (measurements are on side of bisquick box. I just add mix and milk together until it’s the right consistency, a little thinner than biscuit dough).
6. Drop large spoonfuls (2-3TBS. for each spoon) of dumplings into boiling liquid.
7. Mix gently, trying not to break up the dumplings. When they get a little more cooked I give them a light dunk into the boiling liquid, maybe gently flip them over.
8. Let simmer about 10-15 minutes.
9. Sprinkle on parsley and serve it up.