Chicken and Dumpling Recipes - Country Recipes Style

If there were a recipe out there more American country recipes in nature than chicken and dumplings, you would be hard pressed to name it. Perhaps apple pie would be a strong contender, but there are precious few others that say down home country cooking like chicken and dumplings. And isn’t that what America has always been about? The pace of life may quicken, technology expands and cities grow larger, but this recipe will always bring to mind a simpler time filled with family, love and the American way. There are many ways to make chicken and dumplings, as country recipes go this is one of the most diverse meals you can fix. Onions, vegetables and even a hint of garlic are all perfectly acceptable additions to the basic recipe.

3 Lbs. Chicken- you can use any type of chicken for this. Breast meat is the best, however thighs, backs and even an entire broiler is fine.
2 qts water
Chicken Bullion- (optional)
2 cups Self-Rising Flour
3/4cp Milk
2-Eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Your first order of business is to prepare your chicken. Boil 3 pounds of chicken in two quarts of water until done through. Bone in chicken will begin separating. If you are using an entire broiler or similar bone in chicken you will need to remove it from the stove, allow it to cool completely and then remove chicken from the bones. Shred or chop chicken into bite-sized pieces. Discard any skin and all excess bones. SAVE the broth! You may need to remove a bit of white froth from the top of your broth, particularly if you have used chicken with skin on. A slotted spoon or cheesecloth can be helpful to this end. At this point taste your broth, if it lacks flavor season with chicken bouillon to taste. Place boneless chicken in broth and return to the stove and high heat. Bring chicken and broth to a rolling boil, and then drop your dough mixture by the spoonful into the broth. Reduce heat to medium low and allow all to simmer for approximately 8-10 minutes.

Dough: Some recipes will call for creating a dough by kneading, rolling and cutting, but in today’s world who has the time? This is a much simpler method and results in tasty dumplings the way grandma used to make them! Mix self-rising flour, eggs and milk together in a large bowl. Stir until all flour is completely mixed in, do not over mix your dumplings. Remember they do not have to be perfect! For added flavor, you can use your chicken broth in place of milk.

Final Thoughts: As stated above, you can dress this recipe up in many different ways. Some people enjoy adding different vegetables to the mix as well as onion or even a bit of garlic. This is a recipe you can enjoy experimenting with! If you are extremely short on time, you can skip the dough-making phase by using store bought canned biscuits. Simply tear them into smaller pieces and drop into boiling chicken and broth.

Read More...

Turkey Stuffing - Country Recipes Style

Many people today make their stuffing from a box and there is nothing wrong with that if you like it, or want to. If you’re doing it because you simply don’t know how to make real stuffing from scratch, then let us help you figure out how to get it done.

Real stuffing isn’t actually a great deal more effort than the boxed variety. Along the way, you’re losing a lot of the salt that you will get in any boxed meal and picking up a little protein and other things from the use of turkey orchicken broth to cook the stuffing. We love the taste of sage and poultry seasoning. You may want to lower the amount that you use, based on your own tastes. Sage dressing tends to be something that is a favorite around our house so we use a bit of extra. Adjust it to suit your tastes by adding about half the amount that we use of a milder stuffing and then adding slowly until you get the flavor that you’re looking for.

Traditional Turkey Stuffing: For the turkey or chicken broth we normally make our own by boiling the neck and giblets of the turkey in a saucepan along with a whole stalk of celery, including the leaves, as well as five chopped green onions or one half a cooking onion which has been diced very finely. Smash one clove of garlic and chop about a third of the clove into the broth as well.

To make Traditional Sage Stuffing You Will need 3 cups of chicken or turkey broth, into which you have added one stalk of chopped celery and one half finely chopped medium onion. One loaf of homemade bread or one loaf of stuffing bread, cubed into one half inch cubes (5 cups of bread)

One half cup of butter
Salt and pepper to taste.
One teaspoon of sage
One teaspoon poultry seasoning.

Put the cubed bread onto a cookie sheet and drizzle it with melted butter. Sprinkle it with freshly ground salt and pepper and put into a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes to brown your bread cubes. Remove the bread crumbs from the oven and place them into the pot of broth and onion and celery. Add the sage and poultry seasoning and adjust to your personal taste.

May be cooked inside the turkey, so long as your oven thermometer reaches the appropriate temperature, or may be cooked separately in a roasting pan which has been covered. Cook approximately 30 minutes at 350 degrees if you are roasting the stuffing outside of your turkey or chicken.

Read More...

Country Fried Chicken - Country Recipes Style

When it comes to country recipes, there is no doubt that country fried chicken is going to be the most popular. This is a dish most people will consider country food and when you combine it with mashed potatoes, collard greens and even some macaroni and cheese, your family is going to be set for a great meal.

One of the nice things you will find about country recipes is that when you make them, you have the chance to make adjustments to easily meet your taste without too much concern. These recipes are typically made in a general style and have a lot of room for you to make the dish meet your needs. As you prepare this classic country fried chicken recipe, be sure that you handle the meat properly. You need to ensure that you are washing your hands as you handle the raw meat and ensure that you do not cross contaminate any items in this process. Keep in mind that you can also choose from a whole fryer chicken or one that has been cutup for you already. If you are new to the cooking process, the cutup option will make this dish a bit easier for you to create.

Classic Country Fried Chicken - Ingredients:
* 4 pounds of chicken pieces
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* salt and pepper to taste
* 3 teaspoons garlic powder
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon rosemary

How to Make Fried Chicken: Begin by mixing your salt, pepper, rosemary, and flour inside of a paper bag. Then begin to toss around each piece of chicken individually inside of the bag until they are well coated with flour. When this is done, you are going to want to place each piece a skillet with hot oil and let them turn a golden brown. Then you are going to want to remove the chicken and allow the oil to drain.

At this time, you can choose to bake the chicken for an added level of crispness. If you do this, place it in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes and ensure there is enough oil on the browned skin to help prevent it from burning. Be sure you keep an eye on it and remove it if the chicken skin is getting too browned.

Serve hot with your other favorite country recipes. There are of course no restrictions on the approach you can take to making this delicious recipe, just pay close attention to cooking times and ensure that your chicken has been cooked to a proper temperature. Then enjoy the country recipe that you have created. There really is no better choice than this chicken recipe when you are looking to make dinner for your family.

Read More...