O.K. my house smells like heaven tonight. Several chicken breasts, chicken broth, 1 can of cream of mushroom, 1 pk. of Lipton's soup mix, 2 LG. pkgs. of mixed veggies, then 2 hours before serving, cut up a tin of biscuits + immerse in broth. It is a cheap shot but it works + it's damned good! A touch of black pepper is all the spice you need.

That is to funny. My wife sent me to the store tonight for a can of cream of mushroom soup and a couple cans of flaky biscuits.She cooked up some chicken and veggies and made up a thick creamy chicken stew put the biscuits on top ,put the cast iron lid on baked it until tops were golden.Little sprinkle of black pepper and cayenne pepper on top. My daughter and her husband and another daughter in law and 2 grandsons were here to enjoy it too.It was damn good.must be the season.
Scott

I can smell it from here!
I have a complex recipe from the old Cook's Illustrated that yields a fabulous version of chicken and dumplings and takes all afternoon.
I think I'll try yours very soon, Randy.

quote:

A touch of black pepper is all the spice you need.

Eww! No garlic? You savage.

I'm sorry Ann, I use garlic in all of my cooking but since I was using the Lipton's soup mix I didn't feel the need to add additional garlic. My mistake I suppose but I generally get comments from others about how I smell like garlic; I take it as a compliment.

Your comment brought back some memories from 50 years ago. I always spiced everything but one day a buddy told me, "Damn it, Randy, even your cheeseburgers taste like a pizza!"

Randy, garlic must be in about everything I cook. I grow two types as well.

I still have a beaucoup of garlic plants here around the area where I used to have a commercial greenhouse. I planted the bulbs along the base of that 70' structure + when it rained it inundated the garlic. Even though the greenhouse is gone the garlic still flourishes. I use it (among other things) along with my tomatoes, peppers, + cilantro to make + can my salsa.

Hard to beat homemade salsa, especially if you are growing your ingredients.

Dang it, Randy, now I am even hungrier. Going to try the chicken and dumplings tonight. We have cloudy weather with a chance of rain ahead. This ought to lift my spirits, I hope.

Okay. Here's where I am at. I bought a 1.7-pound pack of breasts and cut them each in four or so pieces, rolled in flour with salt, pepper and paprika, and browned them lightly in butter and olive oil. Added one can of chicken broth, a can of cream of mushroom, a packet of Lipton onion soup, about a cup of chopped fresh mushrooms, a tablespoon of dried and crushed peppers from my garden (Sandias and anchos) and let them simmer an hour. Then I added a package of stir fry veggies, having negative memories of frozen peas and carrots cooked to liquifaction.
Let this all simmer for an hour or so, then plopped some biscuits from a roll on top. Waiting to eat here when I just can't stand it much longer. Not sure if I have deviated from the one true path, Randy, but thanks for the inspiration.

Damn, you are all making me sooooooo hungry!

There are many paths, Bill. Another one I uses to use when my boys were young (+ before chicken cuts; you just bought a whole chicken + cooked it down) would start it in the crockpot w/ separate base. Then go back to work + about 6 hours later come home + remove all the bones from the chicken in the pot, add my vegetables + then let it continue to cook for the rest of the afternoon. About 45 minutes before suppertime I would take the removable crockpot from the base + cover the top of the soup with biscuits, then pop it in the oven. The biscuits will soak up the broth from below, make a seal upon rising/swelling + leave you with a golden crust on top. Another YUM!

Ann, for years I entered into the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce contest + used all of my own fresh grown + organic vegetables. I thought it was pretty good + so did most folks but after not winning for 5 years to some Canadian who used canned goods I just gave up. I always felt they should have a separate category for the ones that do it from scratch w/ base homegrown ingredients.

Always used Bisquick for dumping......10 min uncovered ......10 minutes uncovered......dont over mix.......now I’m in Pennsylvania there are Slippery Noodles......dumplings like fat noodles mixed in