Fall Comfort Food

The trick-or-treating is over.  The pumpkin seeds have lost their crisp.  The pumpkins' faces are turning black and caving in on your porch.  Time to put away those Halloween decorations and make some comfort food to help move you forward into the fall season.  My family loves homemade chicken and dumplings.  And it is easy to prepare, as all comfort food should be.

Chicken and Dumplings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1tablespoon butter

1 whole chicken breast, chopped

3 large stalks celery, diced

½ onion, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced

4 c. chicken broth

4 c. water

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black paper

¼ tsp. garlic powder

3 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

 4 ½ tablespoons butter

1 ½ c. buttermilk

extra flour for rolling dumplings

Heat oil in large Dutch oven or other large pot.  Melt butter in oil.  Add chicken and brown.  Add celery, onion and carrots and sauté several minutes to soften.  Add broth, water, salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Bring to a boil. 

Meanwhile prepare dumplings:  combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is the consistency of coarse meal.  Add the buttermilk, and stir just until ingredients are moistened.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface and sprinkle with flour, knead 4 or 5 times, no more or biscuits will be tough.  Roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness.  Cut into strips about 2 inches by 2 inches.

With the pot at a low rolling boil, drop in the biscuits one or two at a time.  Stir in some of the flour from the board, too.  Reduce heat to medium and occasionally gently stir so dumplings do not stick together.  Cook dumplings for 10 minutes.  The flour in the dumplings will thicken the broth.

Serves 4

Another Fall ritual:  don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour when Daylight Saving Time ends this Sunday, Nov 6.