Kitchen Adventures 20.2

During the winter months, I try to use my slow cooker on a fairly regular basis. I guess I should really use it more during the summer to cut down on heating from the oven; I'll have to try that this summer! I am fortunate to have a great slow cooker and many cookbooks to choose from when trying to decide what to make each week.  It's always interesting to find a recipe that would not normally be made in a slow cooker and try it this way. That's what this recipe is all about.

Chicken and dumplings just sounds like something a grandmother would make, right? The name alone conjures up images of home cooking and love in every bite. Well, I don't know that these had love in every bite, but it was interesting to make this in a slow cooker! I was wary to try it since my boyfriend had already vetoed dumplings (texture thing) but I tried it anyway. He said it was ok, which to me meant it was a success.

This recipe came from 3 Books in 1 Rival Crock-Pot, specifically the Winning Slow Cooker Recipes section.

Like Grandma's Chicken 'N Dumplings

Ingredients:

2 c. cooked chicken
1 10.75-oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1 10.75 oz. can cream of chicken soup
2 soup cans water
4 tsp. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 can refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (8 count)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except biscuits in slow cooker. Cut biscuits into quarters and gently stir into mixture. Cover and cook on low 4 to 6 hours.

Kitchen Adventures 2.4

Sometimes when I come home from work, especially at the beginning of the week, I wonder what to make for dinner. This is especially an interesting situation if I have not been to the grocery store and stocked up on food. Since I rely on friends and the bus system to get to the store, I try to make as few trips as possible. After getting home from the lake, I made a trip via bus and didn't feel like cooking when I got home, so I put it off until the next day. And since I am limited on what I can carry on the bus, I cooked with ingredients I had already that needed to be used.
A few weeks ago at girls night we got to talking about cooking, and I mentioned that I had tried to make hamburger gravy recently and it had not gone well. Since I had hamburger and some biscuits in the fridge, I decided this was the ticket for the week. Hamburger gravy and mashed potatoes was something we had at home, so I figured biscuits would probably be a good substitute since I had no potatoes to mash. I found a recipe online at http://allrecipes.com, so I'll share that here. As a note, I'm sharing the halved version, you can find the full scale version at the website.

Hamburger Gravy

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1/8 cup flour
1 pint milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. onion salt

Directions:
1. Place hamburger in a large, deep skillet. Crumble and cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove from heat and sprinkle flour over cooked hamburger. Stir until evenly coated and all fat is absorbed.
2. Place skillet over medium heat and pour in 1/2 of milk. Stir until gravy thickens. Add remaining milk until desired consistency has been reached and gravy comes to a boil. Season with salt, pepper, and onion salt.
3. Bake biscuits as directed, and serve gravy over biscuits.

It is better than it looks, trust me! And remember to season the gravy, it makes a difference!