Yes please!

I’ve only used pink peppercorns a few times in my cooking life so I was excited when they won the poll last week.

These things can be kind of tricky to find. I wasn’t able to find any in my local grocery stores, but luckily I had some that I ordered online a while ago. If you’re in the market, I recommend getting them from Penzey’s. They have a very high quality product and they are what I used for this dish.

It’s really hard to describe the flavor of pink peppercorns. Before you cook with them, I recommend trying one by itself. The flavor is kind of sweet with an almost anise tone to it. It’s honestly a pretty subtle taste, especially when you compare it to a black peppercorn.

I figured that the light sweetness would go really well with a pork dish and I was very right. By stirring the peppercorns into a light pan gravy at the very end of cooking, they give the whole dish this really interesting flavor.

Pink Peppercorn Pork Milanese

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops, butterflied and pounded thin
2 cups flour, seasoned well with salt and pepper
2 large eggs
3 cups panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated and mixed with Panko
1 cup oil for frying

Gravy:
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 - 3 cups milk
3 Tablespoons pink peppercorns
Salt and pepper

Directions:

1) Use a sharp knife and slice the pork chops down the center, butterflying them open. Try not to cut all the way through them.

2) Cover the chops with plastic wrap and pound them thin with a mallet or heavy pan.

3) Dredge the chops in flour that's been seasoned with salt and pepper. Then move to egg wash and finally move to the breadcrumb/parmesan breading.

4) Let the chops rest for 5-10 minutes before cooking them so the breadcrumbs can dry a bit.

5) Heat oil in a large heavy pan or skillet over medium high heat.

6) Add chops and cook for about 3 minutes per side until the chops are crispy and golden brown. Move finished chops to a 250 degree oven. Work in batches and don't over-crowd the pan.

7) Once chops are done, pour out most of the oil from the pan (you can save it for later). Add diced onion to pan and use oil and onion to scrape up any bits stuck to pan.

8) Whisk in flour and turn heat down to medium. Cook for a few minutes.

9) Slowly whisk in milk. As milk begins to simmer it should thicken. Feel free to add more milk if the gravy gets too thick.

10) Finally stir in peppercorns and a pinch of salt.

11) Pour gravy over pork chops and serve immediately.

Prepping the Pork

I love pork milanese when it’s made correctly. A good one will have a nice, crispy crust and juicy pork. Most people over-cook them though which is a travesty.

To start the pork, you need a few really good boneless pork chops. Using a sharp knife, butterfly them open, being careful not to cut them in half.

Don't cut all the way through it.

Cover each piece with plastic wrap and use a mallet or something heavy (pan will work) to lightly pound the pork into a thin even piece. The plastic wrap just keeps pieces of pork from flying all over your kitchen.

Thin is good.

Once you have all your pork chops butterflied and pounded thin, take each one and run it through the breading process.

For review, that means you start it in some flour that’s been well seasoned with salt and pepper. This step just helps dry out the pork and makes it easier for the other layers to stick to it.

Season that flour!

Then move the pork to the eggs. Turn it over a few times and make sure that each side is well-coated with egg.

Then in the egg!

Finally, move the pork to your breadcrumbs. I like to use Panko for this because they are really nice and light, but you could use any breadcrumb really. Be sure to mix some Parmesan cheese into your breadcrumbs to give it some salty flavor.

Really pack the breadcrumbs onto the pork so it sticks well.

Pack it on there.

Once your pork is breaded, let them rest for at least 5 minutes while you prepare your pan and stuff.

This is actually a really important step because it’ll give your breading a chance to kind of dry onto the pork. If you don’t do this, you’ll run the risk of having all your breading pull off when you cut into your pork.

Most important step.

Cooking the Pork

When you’re ready to cook the pork, add about a cup of oil to a large heavy pot or skillet. You just need a small amount of oil over the whole pan. Crank your heat up to medium-high and once your oil is hot, gently set your pork chops in the pan.

Be sure not to over-crowd the pan. If you’re doing more than two pork chops, you’ll want to work in batches. You definitely don’t want to have the chops overlapping or even touching.

Cook the chops for about 3 minutes per side. They should be awesomely browned when you flip them.

Not sure that olive oil is essential...

When the chops are done, move them to a 250 degree oven to stay warm and crispy while you cook the rest of the chops and make the gravy.

The Pink Peppercorns

These things are really pretty actually. Love the color!

Not really peppercorns.

Once your pork is done frying, whatever you do, don’t wash your pan! You can use the same pan to make a very delicious gravy.

Start by pouring out most of the oil that’s in the pan. You can save it for frying something else later if you want. You’ll have lots of little bits of breadcrumbs and pork stuck to the pan which is great.

Add your diced onion to the pan and turn the heat down a bit to medium. Use the onion and leftover oil in the p an to scrape up any bits of stuff stuck to the pan. Then stir in your flour. The flour will stick to the onions and breadcrumbs and form kind of a oil-breadcrumb-onion roux.

Cook this down for a few minutes.

Onions and Roux.

Then bring out your whisk and slowly start whisking your milk into the roux. If you work slowly you should be able to whisk in all the milk without creating any lumps. As the milk heats up, it should start to thicken.

The gravy might need to simmer for 5-10 minutes to thicken completely and feel free to add more milk to it in small amounts if it seems too thick to you.

As a final step, season the gravy a bit with salt and stir in those lovely pink peppercorns. To distribute their flavor a bit more, I recommend crushing the peppercorns with the side of a big knife before adding them to the gravy.

It's all about the gravy!

Stir them in and just pour the gravy over the pork. You can either do this plate by plate or make one large family style dish with all the pork and all the gravy.

Done deal.

This was a really delicious fall meal. The pork is nice and crispy and the pink peppercorns give the gravy this very unique flavor. It’s like no other gravy you’ll ever have!

It might seem like a lot of work, but really the dish only takes about 30-45 minutes to make start to finish because the pork doesn’t take that long to cook.

Has anybody else tried pink peppercorns? Do you like them? Leave a comment!

Home cookin'!

Comfort food got its name for a reason. After you have a good homemade meal like chicken fried steak, it’s almost impossible not to smile.

Now I know that there’s a few different ways to make this dish. Some people actually deep fry the steak and in some places you’ll see the steak fried and then simmered in the gravy.

I like to make mine like I always had it growing up and like I prefer my chicken: pan fried. It makes for a perfectly crispy crust and then you have the base for a really awesome white gravy.

So that’s how I made it for this post and, like I said, it’s hard not to be happy while you’re eating this meal.

Chicken Fried Steak

Yield: Serves 4.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound steak, I like to use a bottom round steak but you can use a lot of different cuts. Choose a leaner cut and slice it about 1/4 inch thin.
2 Cups all-purpose flour
2 Teaspoons paprika
1 Teaspoon cayenne
2 Cups buttermilk (or you can use a few eggs)
Salt and pepper
A few cups neutral oil for frying

For Gravy:
- 4 Tablespoons flour
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons oil from frying
- 2-3 Cups milk
- Salt and pepper

Helpful Equipment:
Cast Iron Skillet
Tenderizer

Directions:

1) Slice steaks about 1/4 inch thin and pound out with a tenderizer. Season well with salt and pepper.

2) Add flour to a large bowl and add seasonings. Don't be shy on the seasoning.

3) Add the steak cuts to the flour and shake off any extra. Then move cuts to buttermilk (or a few whisked eggs). Then move them back to the flour mixture to make for a nice even coating over the steak. Let cuts sit while you prepare oil.

4) Add oil to a large pan over medium high heat until hot. Test oil by sprinkling in some flour. It should sizzle immediately. You just need a small coating of oil in the pan. The oil should come up about halfway on the steaks.

5) Add steak cuts to the oil and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side. Work in batches and make sure the steaks are cooking evenly and not touching.

6) Remove steaks to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain. Let oil cool off a bit in the pan.

7) Pour off all the oil in the pan except about 2 Tablespoons and leave all the browned bits.

8) Add butter pan and scrape up any stuck bits of steak. Put pan back over low heat.

9) Sprinkle in flour and whisk to make a roux. Cook for about a minute until roux is lightly brown in color.

10) Whisk in milk slowly, adding milk about 1/2 Cup at a time. Keep whisking and any lumps should smooth out. Add milk and cook until thick and smooth. Season heavily with salt and pepper.

11) Serve steaks with lots of the gravy along with sides like potatoes, steamed carrots, or biscuits.

Prepping the steak

The key to a good chicken fried steak is making sure that the steak is thin and also very tender. When you get your steak, it’ll most likely be too thick to use as-is. I was able to butterfly my steak so I got two cuts out of one basically.

The nice thing about this meal is that a pound of steak feeds four people pretty easily. Cutting it thin like this makes for a lot larger portion than you’d think.

If you have a tenderizer, give each cut a good pounding and then season them well with salt and pepper.

Tenderized and seasoned

Next, add some flour to a large bowl and season it well with paprika, cayenne, and salt and pepper. You can go pretty heavy on the seasoning here since only a small amount of it will stick to the steaks.

Don't go light on the seasonings

As far as the coating goes, I used buttermilk for my steaks because that’s what I’d use for chicken, but if you don’t have any you could just as easily whip up a few eggs and use that to coat the steak.

Whether you use buttermilk or eggs though, dip the steak first in the flour, then in the liquid, then back in the flour to get a nice even coating.

The steak on the left is finished. The steak on the right is just dipped in the flour.

Floured. Buttermilked. Floured.

Let this sit for a few minutes while you get the oil hot in your pan. As far as pans go I think a cast iron pan is your best option for this meal. It has really even heating and is great for pan frying things like this.

You seriously don’t need a lot of oil for these since they are so thin. Probably a cup or two of oil should do the trick depending on the size of your pan. To test the heat of the oil, sprinkle in some flour and if it sizzles immediately then it’s ready to go.

Carefully lay the steaks in the hot pan (keep the heat on medium-high). Make sure that they aren’t touching. You’ll probably want to work in batches to make sure the steaks are browned nicely.

The oil should only come about half-way up the steaks.

Hard to go wrong with this...

These guys will cook really fast. A lot faster than chicken. Probably three or four minutes per side and they’ll be done. Remove them to a plate lined with some paper towels so they can drain a bit. They should be really crispy and golden brown.

Nice and golden.

A Potato Aside

I had some extra cooked potatoes in the fridge and I thought they’d be perfect for a side dish for this meal. Instead of mashing them completely, I just kind of smashed them a bit and then laid them out on a baking sheet with a good drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper.

I baked them for about 20 minutes until they are starting to crisp up nicely.

These were fantastic and were great with the gravy and everything.

Smashed Potatoes

Speaking of gravy

After you fry all your steaks, you’ll be left with a good amount of oil and tons of browned bits in the pan. Turn off the heat and let the pan cool off for a few minutes. Then pour out most of the oil, but try to keep as many of the browned bits in the pan.

Ideally, you want to leave about 2 Tablespoons of oil in the pan, but just eyeball it. Then put the pan back on the heat over low heat and add a few tablespoons of butter.

Once the butter melts, try to scrape up as many of the browned bits as possible and sprinkle in the flour. Whisk everything together to form a pretty thick roux. The important part about this is that you want basically equal parts flour and liquid so you might need to add more flour or less depending on how much butter/oil you have in your pan.

Again, just eyeball it.

This is how mine looked.

Making a quick roux.

Once you get your roux made, let it cook for 30 seconds or so and then start whisking in your milk. Don’t add all the milk at once. Add it in about 1/2 Cup increments and whisk like crazy so the roux and milk combine into a creamy and thick mixture. Don’t worry if your gravy has a few lumps in it. Just keep whisking and they should smooth out.

Cook, and keep whisking, until the gravy is thick and smooth. Season really well with salt and pepper.

Smooth and creamy!

I served my steaks with the potatoes and some steamed carrots (healthy!).

Be sure to go heavy on the gravy…

Pretty good stuff.

There’s really nothing fancy about this meal but it’s pretty much my definition of great comfort food.

It’s not something that I would want to eat everyday, but sometimes it really hits the spot.

And I don’t think I really talked about the potatoes enough, but baked smashed potatoes are pretty spectacular with creamy peppered gravy. Just sayin’.

Bets asked me to make one of her favorite Southern brunch dishes that she always used to eat in Nashville: Biscuits and Gravy. I was of course happy to oblige!

I surrender to your deliciousness.

This also happened to be one of my favorite brunch/late night dishes in high school as well. We had this awesome diner in town that was open 24 hours a day and we’d go there for a late night snack. Biscuits and gravy was one of my favorite things to get. Or as we used to call them in high school: The Bs and Gs.

In my opinion, nothing makes this dish better than homemade buttermilk biscuits. They aren’t that hard and they take this dish to another level of deliciousness.

Biscuits and Gravy

Yield: Serves 6.

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Buttermilk Biscuits (From a Tyler Florence Recipe)
4 Cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 Teaspoons baking soda
1 Cup vegetable shortening or 1 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, cold
1 1/2 to 2 Cups buttermilk

Sausage Gravy:
1 pound hot Italian sausage
1/4 all-purpose flour
4 Cups whole milk, warm
Salt and pepper to taste

Helpful Equipment:
Cast Iron Skillet

Directions:

1) Start biscuits by mixing flour with salt and baking soda and baking powder in a large bowl.

2) Cut in cold butter or shortening using your fingers until it resembles small pea-sized pieces in the flour.

3) Add buttermilk and mix until the mixture forms a loose dough. Don't over-mix the dough.

4) Scoop the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it out in a rectangle shape. Fold it into thirds over itself. Then roll it out gently and do it again. Finally roll it out until it's about 1 inch thick.

5) Cut the biscuits out of the dough. You can either cut out circles or just slice the dough into rectangles.

6) Add biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet and brush them with some extra buttermilk. Then bake them at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes until they are golden brown.

7) For gravy, cook sausage in a cast iron pan until it well-browned and cooked through. Remove it from the pan and leave as much of the grease as you can.

8) Add flour to pan and whisk to form a roux. Cook for 3-4 minutes over medium heat until it turns a light tan color.

9) Slowly whisk milk into roux. Work slowly so lumps don't form. Once the milk is incorporated, continue to cook until it's nice and thick.

10) Stir sausage back into gravy and season with salt and pepper.

11) Serve biscuits with the gravy!

Making the Biscuits

These are really good biscuits. I used butter but the original recipe from Tyler used shortening so I guess use whichever one you want.

Butter not pictured.

Start the biscuits by mixing the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a big bowl and then cut in your shortening or butter. You can either use one of those shortening cutter devices or also you can just use your fingers to mix in the butter. You want pea-sized balls of butter. Lumps are good here people.

You could do shortening also.

Next, add about 1 1/2 Cups of buttermilk and mix it up. If it still looks dry, add a bit more. It should stick together but not be gooey at all. The key thing about biscuit dough is not to overwork it. Once all the dough comes together, pour it out onto a well-floured surface and roll it into a large rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.

Then fold it into thirds by folding the left half over and then folding the right half over the left half. This will create layers in the biscuits and make them really flaky.

Be gentle people.

Gently roll out the rectangle again, this time until the dough is about 1 inch thick. At this point, you could cut them into circles if you wanted, but I like squares actually because it doesn’t waste any dough and is a lot easier.

Whatever shape you decide on, then just set the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet and brush them all with buttermilk.

Squares cause I'm lazy.

Baking the biscuits

Bake these guys at 375 for about 25-30 minutes until they are golden brown on top. These are about perfect.

Flaky and delicious.

The Gravy

This is a really basic sausage gravy, but I don’t think it’s the kind of thing that needs to be too complicated. Start with your favorite hot pork sausage and remove it from the casing. In my humble opinion, a cast iron skillet is really your best bet for making this gravy.

Add your sausage to the pan and cook it down over medium heat until it’s nice and brown.

Very important.

Remove your sausage from the pan but leave as much grease from the sausage as you can. It’s okay if some sausage hangs around for the party also. Then add your flour to the grease and stir it to make a roux. Keep it over medium heat and cook it until the flour taste is out and it turns a light tan color. This will take about 3-4 minutes.

Makin' gravy.

The trick to lump-free gravy

There’s really only two things to remember to keep your gravy lump free. First, make sure you warm up your milk before you add it to the roux. I just nuked mine in the microwave for a few minutes until it was just warm to the touch.

The second trick is just to whisk like crazy as you pour the milk into the roux. Don’t pour all the milk at once either. Pour it slowly and keep whisking. At first it might look like lumps are forming, but just keep pouring and whisking and it’ll smooth out. Once you get all your milk incorporated (you might not need all 4 Cups), then you can whisk your sausage back into the mix.

Smooth and sausagey

Be sure to give this mixture a good pinch of salt and lots of fresh ground pepper.

You know the rest of the story. Open up a few biscuits and ladle on as much gravy as you want. Sooo good.

I mean come on...

HELPING OUT NASHVILLE

Besides making a good Southern meal, Betsy and I wanted to help out by making a donation to the Mid-South Red Cross who are helping on the ground with the clean-up and recovery in Nashville.

Photo by raygun.

So here’s the deal. For each comment this post gets, Betsy and I will be donating $1 to the relief work. We’ll go up to $200, so leave a comment and help out!

Please share this post on Twitter or your social networking site of choice so we can get 200 comments!

I recently had one of those moments in a big way. It involved a fantastic Southern dish called shrimp and grits.

The short version of the story is that I worked in a Southern-themed restaurant for awhile and they served shrimp and grits there. I’ve also had the dish on occasion in a DC establishment, Georgia Browns. These are the only real experiences I’ve had with shrimp and grits. I figured I’d try to remake it like they served it (which was very good by the way).

When I set the plate down in front of Betsy, she more or less told me to jump off a cliff if I thought that what I was serving her was real shrimp and grits. Turns out, and you will not see me admit this in writing very often, she was right.

You see, this is traditional shrimp and grits and it is unbelievably delicious:

Salivating.

The version that I’d had in the restaurants had shrimp. And grits. But instead of the lovely thick sauce pictured above, they were served with more of a broth. It was a tasty broth and actually lightened up the dish a bit, but I guess it wasn’t what shrimp and grits traditionally is.

So this is how you make the real stuff.

Shrimp and Grits

Yield: Serves 2.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. large shrimp, peeled to the tail, de-veined
1 Teaspoon paprika
1 Teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 Teaspoon cayenne
Pinch of salt and pepper

Grits:
1 Cup grits (I used real yellow corn grits. But you could use any really.)
2 Cups water
1 Cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 Cup grated cheddar cheese
Pinch of salt and pepper

Sauce:
2 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon garlic
1 scallion, minced (divide the green and white part)
1/2 Cup clam juice (or you could use any stock or just water)
1/2 Cup water (or you can do a full cup of stock if you aren't using clam juice)
1/2 Cup heavy cream
1 Teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Teaspoon hot sauce
1 slice country ham (optional)

Directions:

1) Peel and clean the shrimp but leave the tails on. Toss shrimp with your seasoning.

2) For grits, cook according to package but I recommend using at least one cup of cream to get the grits very creamy. Once your grits are thick, whisk in the cheese.

3) If your grits ever get to thick, just whisk in a few tablespoons of milk.

4) Add butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once melted, add shrimp. Cook shrimp for 3-4 minutes per side depending on the size. I used 16-20 count and they cooked in about 6-7 minutes.

5) Once the shrimp come out fo the pott, add butter straight to it and scrape up as many bits as possible. Add scallions and garlic and stir. Cook for a minute or two to soften the veggies.

6) Add flour to the pan and whisk together. Cook for a minute or two until the flour starts to turn a very light tan color. This is the roux for the sauce.

7) Next add clam juice or stock to the pan and stir slowly.

8) Once the juice has cooked down and is simmering, add cream, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Continue to whisk until it has the consistency of a light gravy.

9) Plate this dish with a bed of the grits, add some shrimp on top, and finish with the sauce. Garnish with chopped scallions and/or hot sauce.

Loosely based on this recipe. I changed many things though.

Prepping the shrimp

The original recipe called for a Cajun seasoning for the shrimp. If you have a good Cajun seasoning you can definitely use that. I just mixed up a quick spice mix with these guys.

Makeshift Cajun.

If your shrimp aren’t already cleaned, peel them up to the tails. Then use a paring knife to slice up the back and wash out the vein. Then toss them with your seasonings.

Don't be afraid of the spices!

Cooking the Grits

This meal actually comes together really quickly. Before you start cooking the shrimp, get your grits going. You can prepare the grits according to the package if you are using instant ones or just assume about a 3-1 ratio of liquid to grits. Use at least one cup of cream to get the grits very creamy.

Combine all your liquid in a sauce pan and bring it to a simmer, then slowly add your grits while whisking. Continue to whisk it and after a few minutes it should thicken up. Then you can whisk in your cheese!

Overkill? Nah.

You can keep this over low heat while you prepare the other parts of the dish. If you notice it’s getting to thick, just whisk in a few tablespoons of milk and it should loosen up.

Cooking the shrimp

Shrimp are very easy to cook. Just remember that they cook pretty fast and overcooked shrimp are not the best.

Just melt your butter in a skillet over medium-high heat and once it’s melted and hot, add your shrimp to the pan. Leave them untouched on one side for 3-4 minutes, then turn them and cook for the same amount of time on the other side. The exact cooking time will vary based on the size of your shrimp. I used large (16-20 count) shrimp and they cooked in about 7 minutes.

They should look like this.

Perfect!

Making the sauce

The sauce for this dish is really what makes it decadent. I must admit that I loved the thicker sauce over the broth version that I tried.

After the shrimp come out of the pan, you’ll have some bits of seasoning still in the pan. Leave all that in there! That’s flavor. Just add your butter for the sauce straight in and scrape up any little bits. Once the butter is melted, add the scallions and garlic and stir. Let them cook and soften for a minute or two.

Scallions and garlic and butter.

Then you’ll need these things. I used clam juice which has a great flavor. You could honestly use any stock you wanted though.

Interesting mix.

Next, add your flour to the pan and combine it with the butter, scallions, and garlic. Cook it for just a minute or two. It should start to turn a very light tan. This is your roux for the sauce.

Next add your clam juice or stock slowly and stir. It will steam and hiss but should stay pretty thick. This is right after I added my clam juice.

Just needs the cream.

Then add your cream, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and you should be good to go. It should have the consistency of a gravy basically. If it looks too thin, let it simmer for another minute or two. If it looks too thick, add a bit more liquid (stock, milk, or cream).

To plate the dish, you want a big serving of cheesy grits.

Creamy and cheesy.

Then add 6 or 7 shrimp to each plate.

Tails must face the same way!

Then add some sauce on top and garnish with scallion greens and a few dashes of hot sauce.

Serve with a cold beer.

I really liked this version of the dish. I know the original also has ham on it, but that seemed a bit like overkill to me. It’s plenty flavorful as is.

If you’re curious, this was my other version of the dish that I didn’t think was quite as good.

Just to be thorough...

So there ya go! Shrimp and grits. Am I from the South? No. Did I possibly screw it up the first time I made it? Yea.

Did I finally do it justice though? I think so!

Betsy was sick a few weeks ago, and maybe she didn’t have the swine flu, but she was definitely sick and I decided to make a dish that my mom used to make for me: chicken and dumplings. When I told Betsy I was going to cure all her illnesses with chicken and dumplings she replied, to my shock, “I’ve never had that.”

I was stunned by that, but it made me even happier to make it for her.

I kind of feel like I don’t need a flu shot now.

The cure.

The thing about this recipe is that there are a lot of shortcuts to take if you want, but I do recommend the full process. Sure, it takes some time, but it’s a great recipe to make on a lazy Sunday, it makes A LOT, and the quality difference is noticeable. IF you wanted to take some shortcuts though, you could use canned stock and maybe buy a roasted chicken or something for the chicken meat.

Another shortcut is to use Bisquick for the dumplings, but I think it’s worth it to pick up some cake flour and mix them up from scratch. It makes them incredibly fluffy and delicious.

Chicken and Dumplings

Yield: Serves 6.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

5-6 pounds of chicken. I used one full chicken (4 pounds) plus about a pound of chicken thighs.

Stock:
2 Carrots
3 celery stocks
1 onion, quartered
15-20 peppercorns
1 garlic bulb, horizontally sliced
2 bay leaves
Carcass from full chicken
6-7 Cups water (until it covers everything)

Gravy for final dish:
6 Tablespoons butter, or fat reserved from chicken stock
6 Tablespoons flour
6 Cups stock

Dumplings:
2 Cups cake flour (you can sub all-purpose flour, but seriously. Try cake flour.)
2 Teaspoons baking powder
1 Teaspoon Kosher salt
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 Cup milk

Finishing Veggies:
1 bag frozen peas
1 Cup carrots, chopped
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
1/4 Cup parsley

Directions:

1) Cut apart a whole chicken.

2) Throw all the carcass/bone pieces along with the wings in a large pot with a few tablespoons of oil. Let these brown really well for a few minutes over the highest heat. Then add the veggies and peppercorns and bay leaves for the stock. Let this all brown up for probably 5 minutes.

3) Add water. Scrap up all the brown bits on the pan and the water should change color really quickly to a nice brown/tan color.

4) Bring to a boil and add all of the chicken pieces (take the skin off or else the final stock will have too much fat). Just kind of tuck them in there. Add a bit more water if necessary to cover everything.

5) Cover this and let it simmer on medium-low for about 45 minutes.

6) After 45 minutes take the chicken pieces out and strain the stock. You should end up with 5 or 6 cups of pretty dark stock.

7) Let the chicken cool for 15-20 minutes and then pull it all apart into chunks. Feel free to move on with the recipe while you’re waiting for it to cool.

8) Chop the finishing veggies. Mix dry dumpling ingredients together, then add milk, and then stir in melted butter. Stir that all together.

9) Using the same pot that you used to make the stock (no need to wash it!), and melt the butter. Then stir in flour a few tablespoons at a time and took that over medium heat. Let this simmer for a few minutes to cook out the flour flavor.

10) Slowly add the stock that you made earlier. Add it slowly and whisk the entire time.

11) Add leeks and carrots to the gravy mixture and stir that together well for a minute or two.

12) Add dumplings using a tablespoon. Just toss them into the mix!

13) Cover this let it steam and cook for 15 minutes. Check the dumplings with a toothpick after that and if the toothpick doesn’t come out clean, cook them for another 5 minutes.

14) Stir the pulled chicken back into the dish and add the peas! Stir everything together and let it simmer for just a few more minutes. Serve it up like a stew.

Adapted from Simply Recipes, and Smitten Kitchen.

Making the Stock

In my opinion, this is not a recipe that you should try to make quickly. Spend the time to do it right. It’s makes a ton of food and the substitutions will really affect the final dish. So step one is making the stock.

The first leap you’ll have to take if you want to do this right is to cut apart a whole chicken. If this is just too much for you, you can probably get your butcher to cut it up for you or use your favorite mix of white and dark meat, but to make a good stock, you need some bones and fat so if you are using shortcuts pick up some chicken wings to at least get your stock started. If you don’t know how to cut up a whole chicken, this video is about as good as I’ve seen.

Assuming you have your chicken cut up, throw all the carcass/bone pieces along with the wings in a large pot with a few tablespoons of oil. Let these brown really well for a few minutes over the highest heat. Then add your veggies and peppercorns and bay leaves for the stock. Let this all brown up for probably 5 minutes.

Making a stock.

After the chicken pieces are browned (it’s a good thing if there are a lot of brown bits on the pan), add your water. Scrap up all the brown bits on the pan and your water should change color really quickly to a nice brown/tan color.

That's lots of flavor.

Cooking the chicken

It doesn’t really make sense to take shortcuts for this recipe because you have to bring a stock to boil anyway to poach your chicken, so you might as well make a good stock to do it in.

Anyway, once your stock is boiling, add all of your chicken pieces (take the skin off or else your final stock will have too much fat). Just kind of tuck them in there. Add a bit more water if necessary to cover everything. (I added a bit more water after I took this photo.)

Pretty simple really.

Cover this and let it simmer on medium-low for about 45 minutes. Your house will begin smelling awesome at this point. After 45 minutes take your chicken pieces out and strain your stock. You should end up with 5 or 6 cups of pretty dark stock. Something like this.

Really Good.

Let your chicken cool for 15-20 minutes and then pull it all apart into chunks. Feel free to move on with the recipe while your waiting for it to cool.

No need to do this before it cools.

Other veggies

You need some veggies for the final stew, and you can prepare these whenever. I chopped mine up while I was waiting for my chicken to cook actually. I chopped up a leek and some carrots. You could use a normal onion instead of a leek if you wanted and I think frozen peas are fine for this dish. No need to use fresh.

Get your veggies ready!

Making the dumplings

Believe it or not, I’ve actually had a number of chicken and dumplings recipes in my life and sometimes you get these really dense dumplings that are very rock-like. This is not that recipe. If you use cake flour and cook them like I do below, they will be like little clouds of deliciousness.

I really think cake flour makes a huge different, but if you use all purpose flour, reduce the total flour to 1 3/4 Cups flour.

Best. Dumplings. Ever.

Mix your dry dumpling ingredients together, then add your milk, and then stir in your melted butter. Stir that all together, but don’t over mix it. Keep the mixture light!

Should be like a thick pancake batter.

Making the gravy

I call this a gravy for lack of a better word, but if it’s a gravy it’s a pretty light one. Use the same pot that you used to make your stock (no need to wash it!), and melt your butter. Then stir in your flour a few tablespoons at a time and took that over medium heat. Let this simmer for a few minutes to cook out the flour flavor. It should start to turn a light tan color.

Then slowly add your stock that you made earlier. Add it slowly and whisk the entire time. If you add your stock too quickly, it will form lumps and that’s definitely not what you want. The bottom right photo below shows the final product.

Get it?

Cooking the dumplings

Add your leeks and carrots to the gravy mixture and stir that together well for a minute or two.

Then add your dumplings using a tablespoon. Just toss them into the mix!

Cover it. Forget it.

Cover this and whatever you do, don’t peek. Just let it steam and cook for 15 minutes. Check your dumplings with a toothpick after that and if the toothpick doesn’t come out clean, cook them for another 5 minutes.

Then stir your pulled chicken back into the dish and add your peas!

Your house will smell amazing.

Stir everything together and let it simmer for just a few more minutes.

Then serve it up like a stew!

This will cure your ills.

I’m not kidding when I say there is something magical about this dish. It takes a few hours to cook everything, no doubt, but the whole time everyone in the house will be smelling what’s cooking and anticipating the flavors.

Betsy and I ate this for a few days and whaddaya know – she was feeling better and I’ve yet to get sick this flu season!

Flu Shot. Schmlu Shot!

Cinnamon roll... Not!

I call it the savory roll. It is a brioche dough which is rolled around pork sausage, pesto sauce, and mozzarella. Oh and there is gravy obviously. This dish was a little bit of work, but my goodness was it delicious. Betsy and I ate them for an entire week and we never got sick of them. Let’s make them.

Step one is making the dough, which you need to start at least the day before, but could do a few days before whenever you have time.

Brioche Dough (from “Artisan Bread in 5 minutes“) I would use this exact same dough to make cinnamon rolls.

- 3/4 Cups warm water
- 3/4 Tablespoon yeast (3/4 packets)
- 2 Teaspoons salt
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1/4 Cup honey
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
- 3 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour

Combine every ingredient except flour and mix well. Then mix in the flour. The dough will be very moist – gooey even. Let this dough sit and rise at room temperature for 2 hours and then into the fridge for at least a few hours, but ideally overnight. You will not be able to use this dough unless it is cold.

Dough. No kneading necessary.

One more thing you can do the night before is make the pesto. You can, of course, make this the day of also.

An confession: I don’t have a set recipe for pesto. Everytime I make it, it is a bit different. It usually involves a handful or two of basil leaves, a Tablespoon or two of pine nuts, a clove of garlic, salt and pepper, and enough olive oil to bring it all together into a pesto like paste.

Quick pesto is easy.

The morning of you are going to need to make the pork filling. You could, of course, use beef or turkey but I really think pork gives it a nice flavor. I started with a little over a pound. I also added about 1/2 of a chopped onion, some chopped fresh sage, and salt and pepper. I added the sage just because I had it. You could also add dry spices like tarragon, basil, oregano, etc.

When you are done with the pork, don’t wash this pan. We are going use the drippings for gravy.

This will produce the smell of breakfast.

Take your dough out of the fridge and on a well floured surface roll it into a long rectangle. As you can see, mine was probably 20 inches by 16 inches.

A pretty big rectangle.

Then layer on your toppings. Put down all of your pesto, then your ground pork, and finally your cheese.

Go crazy.

Rolling this thing is a bit of a trick. Roll it from left to right or right to left, whatever is easiest for you. If your dough is sticking to the table, go slowly, and use a dough scraper or butter knife to release the dough from the table.

A bit tricky. Go slow. Patience is a virtue.

Eventually, you will end up, hopefully, with a tube of rolled awesomeness. Cut this with a serrated knife into eight even sections.

Eight is a good number.

Turn these guys upright in a buttered dish and let them rise for about an hour. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375.

Awesome.

These guys need to bake for a long time. About an hour. I baked mine for 45 minutes and the outer buns were done, but the interior ones were still a bit soggy in the middle.

While those are cooking, let’s talk gravy. You should have a decent amount of fat left over from the pork and probably even some leftover ground pork. Get all of that in your pan and put it on medium heat. One tablespoon at a time you want to add flour in an equal proportion of fat.

It doesn’t have to be exact. I guessed that I had about 5 Tablespoons of fat from the pork, so I added 5 Tablespoons flour. Stir this together and the flour will start to cook slowly and brown. This, my friends, is a roux.

After about 5 minutes, you will end up with this:

A dark roux.

Then, very slowly, whisk in about 2 cups of milk. There will be steam. Whisk furiously. Try to whisk out any clumps that form. I added about 1/4 of a cup at a time and eventually ended up with this lovely, creamy gravy. Salt and pepper to taste.

Gravy is my favorite thing in the world. Officially.

After an hour, pull out those buns. They will look like, well, breakfast perfection.

After a long bake.

Serve up one of these and ladle plenty of gravy over the top.

Yes.

This is some of the best breakfast I can imagine. The roll is flaky and light and a bit sweet. It holds up nicely though to the spiced pork and pesto. The cheese holds everything together and the gravy is well, gravy.

This is real comfort food in my opinion.

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