Chicken and dumplings with herbs...

...in the slow cooker.

Winter is coming on and young men's fancy turns to comfort food. Warming the cockles of the heart today, I present an all time favorite, Chicken and Dumplings. This will serve 4 really hungry young'uns or 6 not-so-hungry ones. I, like my late father, am not fond of boiled chicken and, since that is the basis of most recipes for this dish, we don't have it much. I think he would approve of this variation as it's boosted with garlic, herbs and pearl onions. Use as much or as little garlic and herbs as you like as this is an individual judgment call on the cook's part. This recipe is a combination of ideas and ingredients from several sources. I would like to thank Annie for the sour cream/yogurt idea, in particular.

Unlike many recipes I have seen, this one doesn't have cream of chicken, mushroom or celery soup. It's thickened at the end (if it needs to be thickened at all) with either sour cream or a nice smooth yogurt. If you don't like that idea, go ahead and remove your dumplings, chicken and everything, plate them up and make gravy from the liquid in the cooker. After all, it's your table and your crew, do what makes your eaters happy...

Herbed Chicken and Dumplings

• 4 - 5 pound chicken, whole
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 - 3 garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried sage, crumbled
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 pound pearl onions (I use the frozen ones)
• 24 ounces water
• 1/4 cup fine lard
• 1/4 cup dry vermouth (optional)
• 1 cup sour cream or yogurt, room temperature
• 2 cups all purpose flour*
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon solid fat or shortening
  
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 3/4 cup buttermilk or soured whole milk**

In a heavy pot, heat the lard until sizzling. Using tongs, add the whole chicken, turning to brown well. Add water, cover and simmer until partially done. This takes about an hour or so and it's more like steaming the bird than boiling since the water will only partially cover the bird. Turn off heat and remove chicken from pot, let it cool enough to handle and cut thighs off, remove backbone and cut through the breastbone into halves. Place chicken in cooker, turn to high to preheat. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs. Add onions around the bird.

While chicken is cooling, return pot to stove top and bring to boil. Add thighs to pot and contents of gizzard bag if you want to. Add vermouth. When liquid has come to a full boil, carefully pour over the ingredients in the cooker then cover.

Cook for 5 - 6 hours, depending on your particular cooker's settings. When chicken is done and falling from bones, strain all ingredients through a colander. Pick chicken from bones, return to cooker with onions. I don't put the bay leaves back in but you can if you want. If you think there is too much broth to leave room for dumplings, don't use all of it. Just jar it up and put it in the freezer for future use.

Your broth will have cooled some so pour the broth over the chicken, turn the cooker to high and proceed to dumpling making. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Work fat in until the consistency is like coarse meal. Add milk, gradually stirring with a fork until just moistened. When broth is bubbling, pinch off hunks of the dumpling dough and drop right in with chicken, onions and broth. Recover and cook on high for about 30 minutes or until dumplings are done.

Remove dumplings, chicken, onions, plate and cover. At this point you can either stir the sour cream into the broth and dress the plated food or make gravy. It's up to you.

* Or use equivalent baking mix.
** You can use evaporated milk, too. Just proceed as usual, sour the e.m. and add to the dry.

Jamaican-style jerk brine

The chicken turned out beautifully, crispy golden, tender and savory. This is an approximation of the combination of ingredients used in the brine solution. (I really must start writing things down as I go along 'cause I forget what I've done and must cast about to redo it.)

• Chicken sufficient for the number of eaters, cut up or whole
• 3/4 cup kosher salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 quarts broth, vegetable or chicken
• 1 tablespoon hickory smoke flavor if not grilling
• 1 cup white vinegar (optional)
• 4 scotch bonnets, stemmed and minced (don't forget the gloves)
• 1/2 cup green onion, minced (sub same amount of finely chopped white onion if you wish)
• 1/2 cup lime juice (if you can get it)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons thyme
• 2 tablespoon allspice, crushed berries or ground
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 3 teaspoons rubbed sage
• 2 teaspoons ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground

Combine all ingredients except scotch bonnets, in a large stock pot, bring to boil. Reduce heat, give it a good long smell to see if you have enough spice, if not add some more. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Place chicken in pot and add enough cold water to cover the bird totally. Keep it submerged during the brining process by using a plate inverted over it. Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Remove chicken from brine. Discard brine.
Pat bird dry, rub all over with butter. Add another layer of flavor by using a paste rub after the butter. (Busha Browne's is really, really good and you can get it online.)
Cook bird in whatever manner you wish. I did it in the oven, 450F for 15 minutes, 375 for another hour or so, until done. Grilling is also good.

Sopa de Tortilla

In the age-old tradition of "make it up as you go along and see if it works," I present to you my made-up tortilla soup. I read through numerous sopa recipes, looking for one that would fit our tastes and not take 3 days to make. Not finding quite what I was looking for and being constitutionally unable to just follow a savory recipe with exactitude, I borrowed a bit here, a piece there and added a lot of my own ideas.

This should feed about four people but it's easy to increase the servings without increasing the meat. Just add tomatoes, beans and seasoning until you have the approximate amount you need and a flavor you like.

4 dried New Mexico chilis, stems and some seeds removed.
Roast the chilis until their aroma is released. Remove them from heat immediately and submerge in cold water in a small bowl. Let steep until skins have softened. Chop finely.

2 cups yellow corn, fresh, canned (drained) or frozen (thawed)
Heat the oven to 400F. Place a shallow pan on the oven bottom. When preheated, dump the corn into the pan. Stir every couple of minutes until you see color, turn off oven and remove pan. Set aside.


1 large white onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1/2 tsp oregano (Mexican or Greek, doesn't matter)
1 tsp chili powder
1 T ground cumin (if you can grind your own seeds it's a lot better)
1 1/2 quarts home canned tomatoes or equivalent commercial (fresh tomatoes? use about 7)
2 cups black beans, cooked and drained.
8 cups chicken stock
In a large stockpot, place all the above ingredients, including the chilis and the corn. Stir well. Bring to boil, place pot on heat diffuser over medium-high heat and let it simmer until you like the taste and consistency.


8 6" corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
2 T vegetable oil or manteca
While the soup is simmering, heat the fat in a heavy cast iron pan. Add the cut tortillas in batches, sauteeing for 2-3 minutes per batch until strips are crisp. Be careful not to burn them!

4 cups cooked chicken, diced
Add chicken to soup pot, stir well. Return to simmer until chicken is heated through.

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Just before serving, stir in the cilantro and half of the tortilla strips.

1 cup grated jack cheese or equivalent mild white cheese
1 c grated sharp cheddar
sour cream
Cubed avocado (optional)
remaining tortilla strips

Set out serving bowls. Add cheeses to each bowl, ladle soup over. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream, avocado cubes and the remaining tortilla strips.

How many people this will serve depends on how hungry they are and what else you serve.

Curmudgeon's note: I have seen sopa de tortilla made with everything from canned salsa to roasted squash. Sometimes it's been thickened with some starchy stuff and more resembles a weird pinkish gelatinous mass than soup. To that I say, "YUCK!" I don't worry about the black hunks of the roasted chilis in the soup, it's just one of those things and the chilis add real depth of flavor to the soup. My personal preference is for roasted corn, too. If you don't like that, use plain corn. You could, if you're feeling ambitious, roast the onion, garlic and, if using fresh tomatoes, the tomatoes. Or, alternatively, use half roasted tomatillas and half roasted tomatoes. Lime juice makes a nice addition and adds a freshness to the soup. Epizote can also be used with the other spices if you can find it. For a vegetarian? Leave out the chicken stock and chicken and use vegetable stock instead. It's all good. I've probably forgotten something, I usually do.

Make it up as you go along and see what kind of wonderful variations you can come up with.

After all, it's your palate you are pleasing!

Chicken with red wine and mushrooms

This is a sneaker recipe. Goes together in a flash, no messing while it cooks, and the results are great. For those who don't like red-wine tinted chicken, use white wine... Don't put oil in the pan and don't grease it. It isn't necessary and will just make your sauce greasy.

1 whole chicken, 3 - 4 pounds, cleaned well.
1 large onion, sliced very thin.
1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, sliced.
4 garlic cloves, mashed.
3 tablespoon crushed dry oregano
1 cup dry red wine

Preheat oven to 375.
In a heavy dutch oven with lid, layer the onions, then the mushrooms, scatter on the garlic and oregano. Place chicken, breast side up, on top and pour the wine over all.

Put the d.o. on the cooktop on low to start heating the contents up. After 15 to 30 minutes, turn chicken over. Cover.

When oven is ready, place covered d.o. on middle rack. Don't remove the cover for 90 minutes then check chicken for doneness. If necessary, recover and return pot to oven.

When chicken is done remove it, placing on serving dish. Cover and let rest.

Return the pan to the cooktop, simmer remaining sauce down to desired consistency. Skim any fat. Serve beside the chicken.

Chicken Vesuvio

Another standby. This is a slightly simplified version which works nicely for me when it's been a busy day. Or when I'm totally disgusted with the world.
This will serve around 4 people as a main.

4 1/2 pound chicken, quartered and backbone removed
salt/pepper
1 T dry oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
olive oil, as needed for browning
2 pounds russet potatoes, each cut into 6ths.

6 large garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
1/2 tsp (minimum) red pepper flakes
1/2 c (as needed) chicken broth

1 C frozen peas, thawed
fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

Oven to 450.
Salt and pepper chicken pieces. Sprinkle oregano and garlic powder on chicken.
Heat oil in heavy braising pan.
Saute potatoes until golden brown.
Remove potatoes, add chicken to braising pan and brown on all sides. (I put bacon weights on the chicken to make sure all the skn gets browned.) Add cloves garlic and red pepper, stir until aroma is released.
Return potatoes to pan. Remove pan from heat and stir in broth. Return pan to heat and bring to boil.

Cover pot tightly, move to oven and bake until chicken is fully cooked. Add peas to pot, recover and cook for around 5 minutes until peas are done.

Serve, garnished with peas, potatoes and parsley. Pour sauce around chicken on plates.

Good stuff.

Since I discovered that there were no potatoes in the house, I ended up using canned new potatoes. This made it necessary to change things around a bit. I browned the chicken first, then deglazed the pan with a little chicken broth. Cooked that down and added the canned taters. Browned them up nicely and set them aside. Added a little more chicken broth and the garlic cloves and pepper flakes. Stirred until aroma was released and removed the garlic. (Since my chicken was about 1/2 again as large as called for I figured the cooking time would need to be lengthened so I increased the amount of broth to 1 cup.) Put the broth in the pan, brought it to a boil, added the chicken pieces and stuck the garlic down into the broth around the meat. Covered it and put it in a 425 degree oven for an hour. Removed the pan, added the browned potatoes, recovered and returned to the oven for 30 minutes. Pulled the pan partway out of the oven, lifted lid and dumped in the peas. Slid cover back on and let cook for another 10 minutes.
Removed pan from oven, put chicken on a platter, peas and potatoes in bowls and set them aside under a towel. Returned the pan to the cooktop and cooked and stirred the sauce down to a 1/2 cup.
The intensity of flavor we got using this variation we found to be a real "wow" factor.