Yummy Mummy Dumplings

Red Mummy is proud of her roots as a New Englander. However, a large part of her cooking skills (such as they are) were learnt from a born and bred Southern Mummy. Given this neat-o mixture of culinary backgrounds, R.M. has a deep love for comfort food, and even more so southern comfort food.

Hence, Red Mummy set out to prepare a favorite southern comfort food, using the recipe of perhaps the most famous of the culinary/domestic Blondes, Martha Stewart.

NOTE: Chicken and dumplings tend to be one of two ways - more on the soupy side, or more on the gravy side. This particular recipe is more on the gravy side. But more on that in a moment.

You will need:

3 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
5 medium carrots, cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces (TNB then sliced again lengthwise)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 cup spooned and leveled all purpose flour
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
course salt and freshly-ground pepper
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into about 2 inch pieces
2tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup, plus 2tbsp milk (TNB used 2%....full fat, baby)
1 package (10oz) frozen peas

Anyone with two pins of good sense knows that good chicken and dumplings starts with two things:

Super chill music,

and a quick hair check in a dirty kettle.

Now chop your onions,

like dis

and your carrots,

like dis

until......

dey look like dese!

Since TNB does not (yet!) own a dutch oven, Red Mummy used her beloved cast iron skillet instead. In said skillet, melt 3 tbsp of butter.

Somewhere out there, Paula Deen just pricked up her ears.

Add the vegetables to the bubbly melted butter, then add 1/2 tsp of dried thyme.

Looks like ants, smells like heaven.

Once the veggies have gotten tender, but still retain some bite, stir in 1/4 cup of all-purpose flower,

then add the chicken broth, and whisk everything together to incorporate.

TNB recommends adding about 1 to 1 1/2 cups more broth if you prefer a soupier chicken and dumplings. If you follow this recipe precisely, the liquid thickens quite a bit to a gravy-like (read: DELICIOUS) consistency.

At this point, Annabel decides she's had enough City & Colour.

We can putz on Killerz, Mummy??

Meow, er......NOW, cube the boneless, skinless chicken thighs into roughly 2 inch chunks, and nestle into the skillet.

Let that bubble away at a very low simmer (remember cast iron gets VERY hot and conducts heat VERY well, so don't accidentally bubble away your liquid!! Keep an eye on it and make sure to stir regularly. A dutch oven will eliminate this problem but WE DIDN'T HAVE ONE OKAY??!!)

Begin the dumpling dough by combining remaining 3/4 cup flour, 1 3/4 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt,

2 tbsp fresh, chopped dill

 Don't forget to stir your chicken mixture! Also, Red Mummy forgot to add peas, so stir in your frozen peas. I've no idea WHY this recipe calls for an entire 10oz bag of the things. That's WAY too much. Cut that amount in half, so as not to have peas ALL UP IN YO FACE.

non-up in yo face peas.

 Back to dumplings. Add 1/2 cup of milk. TNB found we didn't need the additional 2tbsp.  It should be a little thicker than pancake batter, and fall reluctantly from a spoon.

 

Bloop a healthy spoonful into the gravy/broth, cover, and let them do their thang.  They will puff up in about 15 minutes and be firm to the touch. Then they're ready!

doin' their thang 

firm to the touch

Serve in warmed bowls, and discuss your day with the cats.

Ya know, sometimes I feel like you guys aren't even listening.

Tip #5: How to make buttermilk.

Lots of recipes call for buttermilk, and grocery stores sell buttermilk, so one often simply BUYS buttermilk from the store.

*THIS IS A MISTAKE*

After lengthy conversation with our favourite Tall Blonde, TNB now *make* their own buttermilk. And you can too ;)

You will need:
A glass
A fresh lemon
Some milk.

Squeeze  approximately one tablespoon of lemon juice (beware the pips!) into a glass.

Measure just under one cup of milk in a measuring glass.

Pour into the lemon juice.

Wait five minutes and... Done!
You can now use as much of this 'buttermilk' as your recipe requires. [You can also use white vinegar instead of lemon juice, but I really like squeezing lemons, so...]

Disastrous Dissertation Dessert (aka Summer Fruit Cobbler)

This cobbler is perfect:
a) when you have writer's block
b) when you're berating yourself for writer's block
c) with a scoop of vanilla icecream.

Borrowed from Self Magazine (so you know it's good for you) and tweaked (so it's not *that* good for you), the best thing about this recipe is the smell. Truly heavenly aromas.

Start with a fancy new summer haircut...

...and, in stark contrast to our normal beverage selection, Bostonian summer called for a large glass of H2O:

This recipe can be made with a variety of summer fruits. Try my strawberry-nectarine combo, or whatever else is growing in your back yard.

You will need:

- 5 tbsp unsalted butter, sliced
- 4 cups (6-8) sliced and peeled nectarines
- 1 pint strawberries
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
- Half a cup fine cornmeal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Half a tsp baking soda
- 6 tbsp lowfat buttermilk [you can make this yourself]
- 1 tbsp raw sugar

Preheat your oven:

Run hot water from the faucet over the nectarines, to encourage them to give up their skins.

Heat 'em up.

Givin' up dem skins.

Chop up the nectarines into 1/2in. pieces, and then wash, top and core the strawberries:

Cut off top.

Halve.

'Core' - removing the bitter white part.

In a large bowl, toss nectarines and strawberries with 1/3 cup sugar, the cornstarch, some freshly squeezed lemon juice and a smidgen of salt:

Cornstarch. The anathema of parents everywhere.

Just squeezing a lemon. That's how we roll.

Then pour into a prepared (i.e. buttered) 9" pie pan or square baking pan.

Smell it. It's SO good!

In another bowl, whisk remaining sugar, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

All the dry stuff.

Add sliced butter and mix until pea-sized:

Then add buttermilk:

When mixture looks just about combined...

Like this :)

...get your hands dirty, and form about ten 1/3-cup portions of dough. [You don't have to use a 1/3-cup measurement, just approximate.] Feel free to smell this too. TNB told you this was an aromatic recipe!

Place biscuits atop fruit so that 80% of the surface is covered. Lightly press with your fingers to flatten dough rounds.

The biscuits will expand in the oven to cover 90% of the cobbler. Now simply sprinkle with raw/brown sugar...

...and place onto middle shelf of oven.

 Bake for about 50 minutes, until fruit juices are bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown.

Tastes much better than a day of writer's block!

Tip #4: Homemade Incense.

For those times when you need to cook and don't want to smell whatever's lingering in the air while you do it...

In a small saucepan, combine whatever's left over in the pot from this morning's coffee, a tablespoon of vanilla, a generous shaking of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg (don't waste the good fresh-grated stuff, it's just for aromatics), ground cloves, and a teaspoon of cocoa powder. Whisk thoroughly, and let it bubble away on medium heat.

It will smell like all your hopes and dreams come true, a child's laughter, kitten kisses, and
laundry fresh from the drier.

Karaoke de Curried Carrot Soup

One day, Brown Mummy opened the refrigerator door and shouted:
"Holy Norse Mythology, Batman, the carrots are multiplying!"

To which, Red Mummy replied:
"Franklin Delano, they're everywhere!"

Whenever we have too many vegetables (especially when Brown Mummy goes crazy at the Farmers' Market and buys *all* the scallions), the only thing left to do is drink...

S'up, Internet.

...and make soup.

Rachael Ray likes to call thicker soups "stoups" (in between a soup and a stew), but aside from her attempts at amateur neologism her recipes are really quite good.

Mummy, don't be mean about Rachael.

You will need:
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 medium white onion
- ALL the carrots (we used about a pound of baby carrots to save on peeling and chopping)
- 1 head of celery, threads removed
- 1 cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
- Curry powder or paste, to taste
- 6 cups chicken stock
- Coarse/Kosher salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- Scallions and/or chives for garnish

You will also need some killer music to accompany you.

Carly Rae Jepsen kept asking us to call. Maybe.

Add a squiggle of olive oil and the butter to a large heavy saucepan.

A whole lotta delicious fats.

While that's heating up, roughly chop up the onion (you don't need to be too careful, it's all going to be blended) and the cayenne pepper.

Once the pan is hot, add the veggies to the heat. Prepare next tune...

Toniiiiiiiight! We are YOUNG!

...so you can deal with chopping celery. This is one of Brown Mummy's least favourite veggies to chop. The benefit of this recipe is that everything gets blended at the end, so you don't have to cut with too much care. Simply rip the head of celery apart, cut off leaves and any weird brown bits. Pull threads off...

...party in the USA...

...and chop roughly!

Add celery to pan, and throw in carrots. This is also a great time to throw in any other veggies you might like to use up after losing your head at your local Farmers' Market... (garlic, peppers, squash, zucchini, etc).

If you don't have chicken stock, you can crumble a couple of bouillon cubes onto the carrots, and then pour boiling water into the pan.

Add curry powder...

...and boil for 15-20 minutes, until carrots are tender.

In the interim, TNB suggest singing along to Jay Sean...

Apparently, he's not up. He's down.

...some Bieber...

All together now: "baby, baby, baby, woooooaah!

...and New Kids On the Block...

Truly awful to see 40-year-old men doing this.

...as well as the OLD kids on the Block.

Much better. The right kind of stuff.

We recommend finishing up the boiling process with some 'old school' Britney (there's a reason for the title of this post).

She drove herself crazy.

Once tender (pick out a cuke or two and bite), the veggies are ready for blending. Taste for salt, spiciness, and general flavour. Adjust accordingly. If you don't have a hand-held blender, you'll have to blend in batches. Luckily I have the best immersion blender EVER.

From chunky...

...to monkey. I mean, Delicious.

Serve in warmed bowls, complete with a swizzle of sour cream, and scallions cut on the diagonal (or chives) to garnish.