Monday, January 17, 2005
Chase away the chills with chicken and dumplings
Few things are better suited for a cold winter night than stew, and few stews are as satisfying as chicken and dumplings. The following recipes are healthy to warm you up without packing on the pounds. And since they start with canned cream soup and boneless chicken, they are as simple as they are tasty.
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The vegetables in this dish turn a hearty stew into a complete meal.
Hearty Chicken and Dumplings
2 10.75-ounce cans condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3 cups water
1 cup chopped celery
2 medium onions, quartered
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
5 medium carrots, sliced
1 10-ounce package frozen green peas
4 potatoes, peeled and quartered
3 cups baking mix, such as Bisquick
1-1/3 cups milk
In large, combine soup, water, chicken, celery, onion, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat about 1-1/2 hours. Add potatoes and carrots; cover and cook another 30 minutes. Remove chicken from pot, shred it, and return to pot. Add peas; cook 5 minutes longer.
In a medium bowl, mix baking mix and milk until a soft dough forms. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto boiling stew. Cover; simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover; simmer an additional 10 minutes. Makes 6 servings.
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In this soup, tortillas provide the flavor of dumplings without the work.
Chicken and Dumplings
4 4-ounce chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
6 cups water
1 13.5-ounce package flour tortillas
1 10.75-ounce can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup water
Cover the chicken with the 6 cups of water and boil until tender. Remove the chicken from the broth and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Cut the tortillas into approximately 2-inch square pieces. Bring the chicken broth to a boil and drop in the tortilla pieces, one at a time, stirring frequently to keep the tortillas from sticking together. In a small bowl, combine the cream of chicken soup with the 1/2 cup of water. Add to the pot along with the chicken pieces; stir. Cook until heated through. Makes 6 servings.
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Pantry Pointers
For lighter and tender dumplings, do not over mix biscuit dough. When forming dumplings, handle dough as little as possible.
Cooking fresh chicken for chicken and dumplings provides flavor to the stew. If you substitute leftover cooked chicken, consider adding a teaspoon or two of instant chicken bouillon to flavor the water used in the recipe.
The Practical Pantry ©2005 Tammy P. Olson
http://www.practicalpantry.com