Chicken (or turkey) and dumplings

This was dinner tonight and one of the ways I used up some of our leftover turkey. This is one of Travis's favorite dinners so I make it often.  When I don't use leftover turkey I usually boil a whole chicken - it's good both ways but the broth from the chicken makes it extra yummy :)

 

Here's what you need:

 

1 whole chicken

poultry seasoning

garlic powder

black pepper

 

Dumplings:

2 C flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp poultry seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 C butter

1 egg, beaten

2/3 C chicken stock, cooled

 

Place whole chicken and enough water to cover into large pot or dutch oven, add poultry seasoning, garlic powder and pepper.  Cook chicken for about an hour or until done. When done, carefully remove chicken from pot and cut into bite size pieces. Remove 2/3 cup stock and set aside to cool.  Add chicken back to pot and continue to simmer. 

 

To prepare dumplings: combine flour, baking powder, poultry seasoning and salt.  Add butter and combine until mixture is crumbly.  Add egg and cooled chicken stock and stir to form dough.  Roll out to approximately 1/8" thickness and use a pizza cutter to cut dumplings into squares. Drop dumplings into pot and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Easy enough, right? So, no more using canned biscuits as dumplings ;)

Post-Thanksgiving Stuffing Strata

It always seems to me that after Thanksgiving has come and gone, there's never enough stuffing left.  It's one of my favorite sides, and there's never as much hanging around over the weekend as I would like.  This year I made a double batch of stuffing, and wouldn't you know, there was so much food on the table that we barely made a dent in it.  What does one do with an excess of stuffing?  Good bread that has already been soaking in butter and turkey juice is practically begging to become strata.  Use whatever vegetables and other fillings you have lying around and that sound good to you.  I can imagine all sorts of possibilities for this - broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, winter squash, asparagus or Brussels sprouts, just to name a few. 

This makes about enough for a 2 quart casserole or a 9 x 12 pan.  

Leftover stuffing to almost fill a 2 quart casserole (add extra bread if you come up short)

1 red bell pepper, diced

3 green onions, diced

1 bunch collard greens, kale, chard or spinach, washed and chopped

a handful or two of crumbled bacon or sausage, or diced smoked sausage (optional)

6 eggs

2 cups milk or half and half (or a mix)

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 cup grated Parmesan

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a 2 quart casserole dish.

Heat some olive oil in a large skillet and saute the peppers and onions until soft.  Add greens and continue cooking until soft, adding salt and pepper to taste.  You can also add herbs and seasonings here.  I opted not to since my stuffing was already well seasoned.  In a large bowl, combine stuffing, vegetables and bacon or sausage (if using) and transfer to the buttered casserole.  sprinkle Parmesan evenly over the top.  

In a medium bowl,  beat eggs, milk, mustard and some additional salt and pepper until combined.  Pour this mixture over the bread and veggies.  Press the bread down into the egg mixture to ensure it's thoroughly saturated.  Bake at 375 degrees for one hour or until the middle is set and the top is nicely browned.  If it begins to brown too much before it's finished, cover with foil for the remainder of the cooking time.