Ryan went back to his real job this week. A real,  hardworking-man’s job in the outdoors, facing all the elements…not belittling the job my husband does….man,  a morning of sitting at my computer uploading recipes really makes me appreciate what HE does! My brains would fall out if I was a computer programmer!

Anyway, Ryan went back to his job in forestry after working the Winter season at Manning Park Ski Resort. After working outdoors all day long, with the temperatures still so cold, I needed a hot meal on the table to greet Ryan when he came home from work; trouble is, now that I am not working, I don’t spend quite so much at the grocery store…I am sure Save On Foods stocks have dropped! After foraging in the freezer I found 3 chicken breasts that I could use to make a stew. Luckily I had just been to the produce shop and had heaps of fresh veg on hand!

I think I looked in my Betty Crocker cookbook but didn’t find what I was looking for so I googled Chicken + Stew and chose the recipe on offer for Chicken Stew with Dumplings from my friends at Canadian Living.

5 cups Water
2 Mc Cormicks Chicken Stock Cubes
3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 bunch Fresh Carrots, scrubbed and cut into chunks
2 Potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 Sweet Potato, peeled and cut into cubes
3 Tablespoons Butter
3 stalks Celery, chopped
1 Onion, diced
2 cups Mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup Flour
1 teaspoon Thyme
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 cup Frozen Peas
1/4 cup Whipping Cream

Dumplings
2 cups Flour
1 Tablespoon dried Parsley
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoon (1 ounce)  Butter
3/4 cup Milk

In large pot bring water and chicken stock cubes to a boil.
Add chicken; cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes.
With slotted spoon, transfer to a medium size mixing bowl.
Add carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes to stock; cover and cook for 10 minutes.
With slotted spoon, remove potatoes and sweet potatoes to bowl holding chicken.
Pour stock into a large measuring cup, adding water to make 5 cups (1.25litres); set aside.
In same pot, melt butter over medium-high heat and cook celery, onion and ‘shrooms, stirring often, until softened, about 8 minutes.
Add flour, thyme, salt and pepper; cook stirring for 1 minute.
Gradually whisk in reserved stock; bring to a boil, stirring.
Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat back of spoon.
Return chicken, carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes, and any accumulated juices to pot.
Stir in frozen peas and whipping cream, to combine.
Simmer over medium-low heat.

Dumplings:
In bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, parsley, salt.
Using a pastry blender cut in butter – or you can just rub butter in with your hands until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Using a fork, stir in enough milk to make a sticky dough.
Leaving space around each, drop by Tablespoonfuls (15ml) – I use a #3 Scoop – onto simmering stew.
Cover and cook, without lifting lid, for 15 minutes, or until dumplings are no longer doughy underneath.

Serves 8

St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone for another year. This year instead of the obligatory Shamrock Sugar Cookies with Green Icing I made Guinness Fried Chicken! And Bailey’s Irish Creme Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Creme Buttercream Frosting; I can’t vouch for the chicken but the cupcakes were splendid!

I used to see a lot of recipes containing Guinness but never tried any of them before now.  Too bad because when we lived in Australia my dear husband often bought Guinness and would have regularly had some on hand; for this recipe I had to go to the Bottle Shop specifically to pick up  a single can of Guinness. All good, whilst there I spotted the display for Bailey’s Irish Creme which inspired me to make the cupcakes. Anyway, I googled Guinness + Chicken and chose this offering from globalfoodfusion . Specifically speaking, I came up with Ursula’s interesting tale; how to ogle handsome firemen and make great tasting chicken! I made a few changes to her recipe simply because I used what I had on hand but feel free to head over to her recipe for Guinness Fried Chicken …who knows, maybe using her recipe will garner you an audience with handsome firemen too.

I grilled husband and son about the chicken; they were happy with the crunch factor, flavour – good. That’s as good as it gets around here. The lil grandson loved it, too; getting a finicky toddler to eat much of anything is always a victory!

1 kg Chicken – I used Boneless, Skinless Thighs, pounded to 1/4″ thickness
Canola Oil, for frying, about 1/2 litre
Batter
1  3/4 cups Flour
2 Tablespoons Cornmeal
2 teaspoons Parsley
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Dry Mustard Powder
1/2 teaspoon Ground Coriander
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 Eggs, beaten
8 ounces Guinness
Breadcrumb Mixture
1 cup Flour
4 cups Bread Crumbs
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Parsley
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Pound chicken thighs to 1/4″ thickness.
Pour Oil into a large (30cm) deep skillet; do not turn on yet.
Place a wire rack on a baking tray covered with L-Foil, for easy clean up; set aside.

In a large, shallow mixing bowl whisk together flour, herbs and spices.
Lightly beat eggs; add eggs and Guinness to flour mixture and stir with whisk until no lumps remain.

In large, shallow mixing bowl combine flour, breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, basil, salt & pepper and parsley.

Turn oil on to Medium-High to heat while breading the chicken.Lightly coat a piece of chicken in the breadcrumb mixture.
Dip into batter, allow some of the batter to drip off.
Return chicken to breadcrumb mixture and coat again.
Place on a plate.
Repeat with each piece of chicken.

Place two or three pieces of prepared chicken into the hot oil.
Cook for 3 – 5 minutes, until golden and crispy – do not repeatedly turn over – just lift the edge of a piece of chicken to have a quick peak
Using long handled tongs, turn over and continue cooking for another 3 – 5 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.
Lift chicken out of oil and let drip for a few seconds.
Place cooked chicken on  prepared wire rack to drain off excess oil.
Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

Serves 6 – 8

The boys in this house enjoy Chicken Adobo but I don’t like frying chicken; I was pleased to find this recipe for Slow Cooker Adobo Chicken, which did not ask for me to first brown it in oil.

I reckon it is pretty adaptable to what you have on hand too: I was in desperate need of grocery shopping and only had one onion and part of a red onion on hand to work with, luckily I had just purchased Rice Vinegar so had that on hand – in the past I have subbed in regular white vinegar. That said, I do hope that it tasted alright? Both the guys said it was good. I asked for more specific details but they couldn’t come up with any! (I don’t eat meat so I have no idea how it tasted. I thought it looked better than the stove top version I make and I also liked the consistency of the sauce. I removed the chicken to a serving dish, poured the liquid into a small saucepan and reduced it to a thicker consistency to satisfy my own sensibilities.

4 Onions, halved and thinly sliced
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Grated Ginger
1 Bay Leaf
3 lbs Bone In, Chicken Thighs
3/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
Steamed Rice

Place onions, garlic,  ginger and bay leaf in an even layer in the slow cooker.
If Chicken Thighs have skins, remove skin and visible fat; arrange chicken in an even layer on top of the onions et al.
Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and pepper; pour it over the chicken.
Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through and falling off the bone, about 4 – 5 hours on LOW.
Transfer Chicken to serving dish and cover with foil.
Pour liquid into a small saucepan, fish out bay leaf and discard; bring to a boil.
Continue boiling to reduce to desired consistency.
Pour over Chicken, sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve alongside hot Steamed Rice.

Serves 4 – 6