Chicken and Dumplings

I realized I have been completely converted over to the "from scratch" and "no preservatives" cooking.  A bit of a food snob if you will.  I didn't realize how bad it had gotten till I was perusing recipes for dinners and stumbled on an easy, fairly healthy chicken and dumpling recipe (from pinterest) but I debated for way too long over whether I should make it because it called for a can of cream of mushroom soup and Bisquick.  I decided to make it anyways.  Then I went to the store and struggled again.  I stood there and looked at the mushroom soup can and considered making it from scratch.  Did the same thing in front of the Bisquick.  I gave in and bought the ingredients.  Recipe turned out quite well after a little tinkering...even if everything wasn't homemade :P

If you can get the fresh dill, use it! It gives such a lovely background flavour that the dried stuff just doesn't do.  But I've used both.

Yields 4 servings.


Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
3-4 cloves garlic, grated/minced
1/4 c apple juice (or sherry or white wine if you have that in your house)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
good pinch of dill and thyme
1-2 cans of chicken broth (I used one condensed can of broth and then 1 1/2 cups of stock in a box- worked fine)
1 can condensed mushroom soup (gulp)
4 chicken thighs (or some version of this)
1  cup peas
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 c bisquick (oh dear)
1/3 c milk
1/4-1/2 c parsley

Directions:

-saute chopped onion and carrots for 5-7 minutes in a big soup pot or a dutch oven
-grate garlic over pot and saute for another minute or so
-deglaze with 1/4 cup of apple juice or sherry
-add salt, pepper, thyme and dill
-add chicken broth + 1 cup of water
-add 1 can of mushroom soup
-bring to boil and then add your chicken thighs and simmer for 30 minutes
-take chicken out and shred or chop up into bite sized pieces, return to pot
-add 1/4 cup of water with 3 tbsp of cornstarch dissolved in it
-stir well
-bring to gentle boil again
-mix bisquick and milk and add 1/4 cup parsley (finely chopped)...some extra fresh dill or chives or even scallions is a nice addition as well
-drop biscuit mixtures into liquid (makes 12 smallish dumplings or they won't cook through properly)
-simmer for 20 minutes then put lid on and simmer for another 10 (to let steam cook the dumplings all the way through)
-make sure to stir every so often throughout so bottom doesn't burn
-taste and decide if it's too concentrated or if it needs to reduce more to get a richer flavour or if you need more seasoning
-if you add more water, let it reduce a bit so you still get a nice thick consistency (sort of like gravy)

It doesn't photograph well but trust me....
it's what you want to be eating on a cold, rainy day!

Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake

My daughter had her second birthday last week so obviously cake was in order.  I chose to make this raspberry chocolate layer cake.  I got my inspiration from this RECIPE but changed it to work for me.  I was a tad lame and used a box cake mix.  I just didn't think I'd have the time with a 3 month old and a 2 year old in the house.  I decided to try out a Pinterest pin I had seen about making box cake taste like it came from a bakery.  So I used a box cake called something like Fudgey Chocolate.  I added 5 eggs when it called for 3; I switched out whole milk for the water; I used melted butter instead of oil and I meant to add vanilla but I forgot.  When I tasted it I thought it could have used the vanilla, too.  So add 2 tsp.  It was much more impressive than regular box mix and I'd do it again....but only if I'm lacking time for making it from scratch. 

Below find my version of the recipe above.  It turned out delicious and everyone loved it, kids and adults.  I consider myself more of a cook than a baker so it's fun to tackle these bigger baking projects.  I'm still completely a novice when it comes to decoration and presentation BUT I have a decent handle on taste. So you can trust if you follow the recipe your cake will be delicious.  I just can't help with decoration tips....

I forgot to take a picture of the inside.  It had 3 filled layers (I cut the 2 round cakes in half so I had 4 pieces of cake).  2 creamy raspberry layers that looked like the ones from the recipe above and 1 layer that was kind of like raspberry jam that sat in the middle.

Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

box of fudgey chocolate cake mix or a recipe for your favourite chocolate cake
1 bag of frozen raspberries
1 lemon
cornstarch
1/3 c white sugar
3 tbsp flour
6 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp salt
9 tbsp butter
5 c icing sugar, divided into 2 cups and 3 cups
1 pkg cream cheese
1/3 c butter
1/2 c cocoa

1/4 tsp salt
Optional: fresh raspberries and a bar of chocolate to shave for garnish


1. Bake and cool your cake completely.  I used 2 9" round pans.  Remember to grease and flour your pans so the cake comes out easily.

2. Cook down entire bag of raspberries stirring constantly over medium heat.  Pour and push raspberries through a fine mesh siv to remove seeds.  This is slightly labour intensive.  Just keep running your spoon over the raspberries pushing through the seedless pulp into a bowl.

3. Pour seedless remains back into pot and put back on heat.  Add 1/3 c of sugar and stir till dissolved. In a small bowl, add the juice of half a lemon with a spoonful of cornstarch.  Mix till smooth.  Add to raspberries and stir constantly till thickened.  If it's not as thick as you'd like, add more cornstarch to some water in a bowl and then add to your raspberries.  Never add dry cornstarch to a wet substance, it will clump.  Always add it to a small amount of liquid first.  Once you've achieved the thickness you'd like (thick enough you can spread it on a cake- remember it will thicken a tiny bit more once it cools), put in a container with plastic wrap right on top of the raspberry filling to avoid that chewy skin that can develop (like with pudding).  Into the fridge it goes.  This is your middle raspberry filling.

4.  In another pot, combine 3 tbsp milk with 6 tbsp milk and cook over medium heat stirring constantly till thick.  Remove and let cool.

5.  Cream together the 9 tbsp butter with 2 c icing sugar.  Mix in cooled thick milk and 1/4 tsp salt and then start adding in your cooled raspberry filling from the fridge until you achieve a nice raspberry taste.  Put both raspberry fillings in fridge till ready to assemble your cake.

6.  To make the chocolate frosting, cream together the cream cheese, 1/3 c butter, cocoa, 3 c of icing sugar and salt. 

6.  When ready to assemble the cake, cut the two cakes into four very carefully by making a horizontal cut through the middle of each cake. When you have different coloured filling from your icing in a filled cake, you want to avoid the fillings spilling out to the icing so spread or pipe some of your icing on the very outside of the inside of all your layers to create a barrier for your filling.  On the bottom layer spread half your creamy filling inside your icing barrier.

See the pictures in this recipe if you are confused about the icing barrier.  Look at the pictures of the filling: http://www.beantownbaker.com/2010/04/lemon-raspberry-layer-cake.html.  (This is the inspiration for my next cake baking endeavour).

Top the filling with cake and then on that piece will be the non creamy raspberry filling- all of it.  Top that with cake and then fill that layer with the rest of your creamy raspberry mixture.  Top that with cake and then ice the whole thing with your cream cheese frosting.  You can youtube demos on successfully icing cakes if you don't do this often and need some tips.  Garnish however you please.  Keep cake in fridge until an hour or 2 before you want to eat it.

To clarify since I don't have a picture of the inside: cake, creamy filling, cake, non creamy/jammy kind of filling, cake, creamy filling, cake.

ENJOY