Can it really be a week away from Thanksgiving? My favorite holiday, especially for food, is Thanksgiving! Turkey is more than just the one meal, it lends itself to all kinds of left overs and spells creativity for this foodie! The following is a recipe for Chicken and Dumplings, this year, I am going to make Turkey and Dumplings. I will use leftover turkey and gravy and I may need to add broth to the mixture.

My advice, do not be afraid to change recipes to fit your needs! This should work well and there will be less preparation as the meat part of the recipe is already cooked, it will be a matter of throwing it all together! Be sure to check out the Nebraska Extension food website for all your Thanksgiving food preparation tips. Also, my recent blog, Turkey 101 will walk you through the basics of preparing your Turkey.

 
Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:   Soup
2 tbs. butter
1 medium onion chopped

1 stalk celery chopped

2 small potatoes chopped
1 16 ounce frozen mixed vegetables
2 medium chicken breasts chopped (un-cooked)
4 cups water
4 cups chicken broth ( chicken base works well, read directions for amount)
1 tsp. sea salt or regular table salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Ingredients:  Dumplings
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbs. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 tbs. canola oil
3/4 cup milk

Directions: Soup
In large stock pot, sauté onion and celery in butter until vegetables are translucent in color. Add frozen vegetables and chicken breast, water and chicken broth. Cover pot, stir occasionally until vegetables tender and chicken is no longer pink. While the chicken and vegetable mixture is cooking, you can then put together the dumplings.

Directions for the Dumplings:

Whisk milk and oil together in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and herbs together. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the milk and oil mixture into the flour. It will be crumbly. Shape the dough into tablespoon sizes and place on top of the soup mixture ( you will want the soup mixture to be almost to boiling, small bubbles rising to the top). When all of the dumplings are placed on top, cover and simmer ( keep it at a gentle boil) for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not lift the lid. To check for doneness, place toothpick in center of dumpling and if it comes out clean, the dumplings are ready.

At this point, take a cooking sheet and place a cooling rack on the sheet. Carefully take the dumplings out and place on cookie sheet with a slotted spoon. Mix 1/4 cup flour with 1/2 cup milk until no lumps, bring the soup mixture to a light boil and add the flour and milk mixture, cook until desired thickness (If you like more of a soup consistency you may skip this part of the recipe). When the soup is thickened, serve up in bowls and add the dumplings on top.

**I always double the dumpling recipe as we like a lot of dumplings.

 1. Chicken or left over turkey and vegetables

2. Chicken or turkey soup mixture

3. Dumplings

 4. Testing the dumplings for doneness

From my kitchen to yours, enjoy the holidays! Keep it fun, and don’t worry about things being perfect. In the words of Julia Child, “This is my invariable advice to people:  Learn how to cook-try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun!” ~Julia Child

And if you’d like a ‘Crock Pot’ version – Check this out.