Posted on 10/05/2016 4:46:42 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
I have a young friend at work who is a wonderful baker, and dreams of having his own bakery someday. He lost his Mom to cancer several years ago, and often reminisces about her and things they did together. One of his favorite memories is of the two of them making this Ina Garten recipe for Pumpkin Roulade, and it has become one of his specialties:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/pumpkin-roulade-with-ginger-buttercream.html
Another co-worker has recently retired, and we are having a party for him at the end of the month. Whenever we had parties and I asked Nate what he wanted me to make, he always asked for 'Chicken and Dumplings'; so that's what he's getting for his retirement party.
The recipe I've always used comes from America's Test Kitchen. There are many easier, less time-consuming recipes; but in my experience, this one gets the raves.
You can do the chicken stew ahead of time and freeze it; and then thaw it and heat it up, to make the dumplings the day of serving, or the night before. (I think the dumplings would come out poorly if you make them also ahead of time, and froze them.)
When I take this to a potluck, I take the stew in an electric crock pot, and the dumplings in a separate container. At the party, heat up the crock pot, and add the dumplings about 1/2 hour before you expect the folks to eat. (Sometimes they don't all fit; so just add more to the crock pot as the people eat.)
Important Note: Using the Chicken Fat is what really makes these dumplings, so don't 'shortcut' by using another fat. If you're doing this ahead of time, you can skim off the schmaltz after you've cooked the chicken, and freeze it until it's time to make the dumplings.
(I'm not sure if ATK would approve of my system of doing some of this ahead of time - they make a point of having the dumplings made immediately before serving; but 'needs must', and all o' that :-)
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/2295-chicken-and-dumplings
-JT
Oh, and with a side of coleslaw .... forgot that.
Um...yes? But I haven’t made the recipe, so....
*thing
Maybe taste before finishing batter?
Add moreorless to your taste.
We have a lot of spinach right now. I’ve been taking and mixing it with pasta sauce serving it over shell pasta topped with a little bit of grated cheddar. Does that count?
I made a variation of this Linda Evans recipe a couple of days ago. It’s not bad, but I think it’s rather bland. I wouldn’t make it again.
Our two fall traditions are:
- A big pot of Pork Chili Verde to fuel the beginning of deer season. Diced pork butt, potatoes, jalapenos and onions slow cooked in salsa verde. We cook it in the garage on induction cooktop and use the beer fridge to keep the fixins and leftovers. It’s a perfect hunting food. Definitely need to be mindful of wind direction in the woods.
- Once/if venison is available, we begin making Venison Sauerbraten and Venison Stew to fuel the hunt.
Just a few weeks away!
Actually, my husband questioned the amount; but then we thought about it. He likes to say ‘a pint’s a pound the world around’; so I guess it’s just two cups or so. Since, as I said last week or so, I’ve never made a cheesecake, maybe I’ll have to try this one to prove the argument out ;-)
Thanks for the chicken and dumplings recipe - I’m definitely going to try it! I love the Test Kitchen recipes. Wish I’d gotten my grandmother’s recipe for chicken and dumplings, she made the best I’ve ever had! Suspect one of the reasons was that she raised her own chickens and after reading this recipe, I’m sure she used chicken fat in the dumplings too.
Certainly counts, if it comforts :-)
Spinach is one of those things you can throw into any recipe with good results. My favorite uses are in quiche and soup; but I have a vegetable lasagna recipe somewhere that uses a lot of spinach.
Bought a peck of apples (Harlson) at the farmers market last week, kiddos ate them too quickly for me to bake anything. Thankfully, someone brought their extra apples to church this week so I had more for baking. I made an apple tart tonight and the family loved it. I think it’s a new fall tradition:-).
Life is so crazy busy now, that between homeschooling, running to football games, dance classes, music lessons and working part time almost all our meals are made in the crockpot. The only fall traditions we have are easy things: apple cider, pumpkin scones and pumpkin spice lattes.
As lovely as fall is, I usually get a bit depressed because summer is over and winter is around the corner. This year I’ve decided to embrace the coziness of the seasons and enjoy them. Good food helps :).
You can also make your own crystallized ginger. Just get the fresh ginger root and crystallize it in a sugar solution, just like you do lemon or orange peel.
I like putting fresh spinach in an omelette or tossing some fresh/chopped spinach in scrambled eggs.
I'm so glad your young friend Nate has some of the special recipes he made with his mother. I've often wished I'd had my mother write down some of the wonderful things she made from memory.
Try that recipe with a gingersnap crust.
Time for de chili cook off, soups and stews.
Made a chicken, tomato, garlic & spinach sauce w/ vermouth & cream over veggie rotinis (.40 cents in the mark down cart at Kroger!) My go to for Friday, but made it tonight. Long day, pretty easy meal. And I have enough sauce to heat up for hub tomorrow night.
We love, love, love pumpkin pie w/ fresh whipped cream! Yum!
The gingersnap crust sounds very good! Thank you!
Where I am from we make a thing liked that that has chopped walnut, sugar and butter in it, it is only made at Christmas time, sometimes it has apricot or poppyseed filling. in recent decades pineapple and cottage cheese.
Kolache
http://www.food.com/recipe/hungarian-kolache-nut-roll-250520
Slather with butter and serve with coffee.
I always start to miss Summer when it wanes. But I love the Holidays, so there’s compensation. And, I love seeing the birds start to move, and the trees going into dormancy, in search of rebirth.
(We had a little hummingbird who kept coming to our feeder everyday, after all the others had gone. I started to worry about him - the ‘bug buffet’ was drying up, it was getting colder, and the days shorter - and I worried that his little ‘instincts’ hadn’t kicked in. All of the other hummers had left almost two weeks before.
Finally, on Sept 29, I didn’t see him anymore. He got the clue - and before the storm that would probably have faced him on his journey to SA. Hubby and I figured that he’d ‘heard the weather report’ :-)
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