My Little Chicken Dumpling

What You Need:

4 T margarine or butter
1 T canola oil
1 lg. onion, chopped
3 lb chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 C chicken broth
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 lg. carrots, peeled and chopped
1 T parsley, minced
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 C dry white wine
1 can of refrigerator biscuits
1/2 C heavy cream
2 T flour

How to Make It:

Place the margarine in a large skillet over medium heat.
Heat the margarine until it is completely melted.
Then add the oil.
Put the onion into the skillet and cook about 2 minutes or until

just tender.
Add the chicken and cook 2 minutes per side or until lightly

browned.
Place the chicken and onions into the crock pot.
Add the chicken broth.
Add the celery, carrots, parsley, pepper, salt, allspice and wine.
Cover and cook 2 1/2 hours on high.
Remove the chicken from the crock pot and set aside.
Place the heavy cream and flour in a mixing bowl.
Mix together until the flour has completely dissolved.
Add the mixture to the crock pot.
Cut each biscuit into quarters.
Drop the biscuit quarters into the crock pot and be sure it is

still on the high temperature.
Cover and cook 30 minutes or until firm.
Return the chicken to the crock pot and allow to cook on high 10

minutes.

Tip: Homemade biscuits are just as good in this recipe.  The wine

is optional but it does add to the taste of the meal.

MOUTH-WATERING LOBSTER RECIPES

To boil lobsters.
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Ingredients:- 1/4 lb. of salt to each gallon of water.

Mode:- Medium-sized lobsters are the best. Have ready a stewpan of boiling  water, salted in the above proportion; put in the lobster, and keep it boiling  quickly from 20 minutes to 3/4 hour, according to its size, and do not forget to skim well. If it boils too long, the meat becomes thready, and if not done enough, the spawn is not red: this must be obviated by great attention. Hub the shell over with a little butter or sweet oil, which wipe off again.

Time. Small lobster, 20 minutes to 1/2 hour; large ditto, 1/2 to 1/3 hour.

Hot lobster.
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Ingredients:- 1 lobster, 2 oz. of butter, grated nutmeg; salt, pepper, and pounded mace, to taste; bread crumbs, 2 eggs.

Mode:- Pound the meat of the lobster to a smooth paste with the butter and seasoning, and add a few bread crumbs. Beat the eggs, and make the whole mixture into the form of a lobster; pound the spawn, and sprinkle over it. Bake 1/4 hour, and just before serving, lay over it the tail and body shell, with the small claws underneath, to resemble a lobster.

Time. 1/4 hour.

Lobster salad.
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Ingredients:- 1 hen lobster, lettuces, endive, small salad (whatever is in season), a little chopped beetroot, 2 hard-boiled eggs, a few slices of cucumber. For dressing, equal quantities of oil and vinegar, 1 teaspoonful of made mustard, the yolks of 2 eggs; cayenne and salt to taste; 3 teaspoonful of anchovy sauce. These ingredients should be mixed perfectly smooth, and form a creamy-looking sauce.

Mode:- Wash the salad, and thoroughly dry it by shaking it in a cloth. Cut up the lettuces and endive, pour the dressing on them, and lightly throw in the small salad. Mix all well together with the pickings from the body of the lobster; pick the meat from the shell, cut it up into nice square pieces, put half in the salad, the other half reserve for garnishing. Separate the yolks from the whites of 2 hard-boiled eggs; chop the whites very fine, and rub the yolks through a sieve, and afterwards the coral from the inside. Arrange the salad lightly on a glass dish, and garnish, first with a row of sliced cucumber, then with the pieces of lobster, the yolks and whites of the eggs, coral, and beetroot placed alternately, and arranged in small separate bunches, so that the colours contrast nicely.

Note. A few crayfish make a pretty garnishing to lobster salad.

Lobster (a la mode francaise).
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Ingredients:- 1 lobster, 4 tablespoonfuls of white stock, 2 tablespoonfuls of cream, pounded mace, and cayenne to taste; bread crumbs.

Mode:- Pick the meat from the shell, and cut it up into small square pieces; put the stock, cream, and seasoning into a stewpan, add the lobster, and let it simmer gently for 6 minutes. Serve it in the shell, which must be nicely cleaned, and have a border of puff-paste; cover it with bread crumbs, place small pieces of butter over, and brown before the fire, or with a salamander.

Time. 1/4 hour.

Lobster curry (an Entree).
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Ingredients:- 1 lobster, 2 onions, 1 oz. butter, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 1/2 pint of medium stock, the juice of 1/2 lemon.

Mode:- Pick the meat from the shell, and cut it into nice square pieces; fry the onions of a pale brown in the butter, stir in the curry-powder and stock, and simmer till it thickens, when put in the lobster; stew the whole slowly for 1/2 hour, and stir occasionally; and just before sending to table, put in the lemon-juice. Serve boiled rice with it, the same as for other curries.

Time. Altogether, 3/4 hour.

Lobster cutlets (an Entree).
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Ingredients:- 1 large hen lobster, 1 oz. fresh butter, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, pounded mace, grated nutmeg, cayenne and white pepper to taste, egg, and bread crumbs.

Mode:- Pick the meat from the shell, and pound it in a mortar with the butter, and gradually add the mace and seasoning, well mixing the ingredients; beat all to a smooth paste, and add a little of the spawn; divide the mixture into pieces of an equal size, and shape them like cutlets. They should not be very thick. Brush them over with egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs, and stick a short piece of the small claw in the top of each; fry them of a nice brown in boiling lard, and drain them before the fire, on a sieve reversed; arrange them nicely on a dish, and pour bechamel in the middle, but not over the cutlets.

Time. About 8 minutes after the cutlets are made.

Lobster patties (an Entree).
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Ingredients:- Minced lobster, 4 tablespoonfuls of bechamel, 6 drops of anchovy sauce, lemon-juice, cayenne to taste.

Mode:- Line the patty-pans with puff-paste, and put into each a small piece of bread: cover with paste, brush over with egg, and bake of a light colour. Take as much lobster as is required, mince the meat very fine, and add the above ingredients; stir it over the fire for 6 minutes; remove the lids of the patty-cases, take out the bread, fill with the mixture, and replace the covers.

Potted lobster.
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Ingredients:- 2 lobsters; seasoning to taste, of nutmeg, pounded mace, white pepper, and salt; 1/4 lb. of butter, 3 or 4 bay-leaves.

Mode:- Take out the meat carefully from the shell, but do not cut it up. Put some butter at the bottom of a dish, lay in the lobster as evenly as possible, with the bay-leaves and seasoning between. Cover with butter, and bake for 3/4 hour in a gentle oven. When done, drain the whole on a sieve, and lay the pieces in potting-jars, with the seasoning about them. When cold, pour over it clarified butter, and, if very highly seasoned, it will keep some time.

Time. 3/4 hour.

Common Cooking Safety Tips

Cooking can be a relaxing pastime, and the food prepared can be awesome.  Unfortunately, the kitchen is considered to be the place in the home where the most accidents occur.  These common cooking safety tips will help you be safe while you’re cooking and keep those going through the kitchen safe as well.

Hot pots and pans, boiling water, splattering oil, sharp knives – all these things are common in a kitchen.  They are also the things that make working in a kitchen a dangerous place.  Keeping the area clean to avoid contaminating the food is also important.

Even though this may seem like an oxymoron, keep your knives sharp.  Even though you may cut yourself, the cut will be less damaging than what you’ll get with a dull knife.

• Always cut away from yourself, never toward yourself.
• Always use a cutting board when cutting food; don’t place the item in your hand.
• Don’t leave knives in the sink.  Put them to the side, preferably with the point down in a container.
• Don’t store knives laying flat in a drawer.  Storage should be with point down in a butcher’s block or some other holder.
• Don’t put your guiding hand on the knife blade for leverage; this is a sure way to get hurt.

Make sure that your kitchen is clean – top to bottom, inside and out – to avoid cross-contamination of germs.

• Always wash your hands before handling foods and after handling raw meat.
• Keep raw meat in a separate area of your refrigerator.  Keep it tightly wrapped in the lowest drawer or shelf so juices have nothing to contaminate should they escape the package.
• Wash the counter top or cutting board with warm, soapy water when you’ve finished handling the meat.  To help disinfect the areas, use a mixture of 1 part chlorine bleach to 9 parts water.
• Use separate cutting boards for raw meats and vegetables. If you must, color code your cutting boards so you won’t forget which you need.

Cook all meats to recommended internal temperatures as determined by the United States Dietary Association:

• Steaks and Roasts – cook to 145°F
• Egg dishes – cook to 160°F
• Fish – cook to 145°F
• Chicken breasts – cook to 165°F
• Pork – cook to 160°F
• Whole poultry – 165°F
• Ground beef – cook to 160°F

Keep your refrigerator temperature set below 41°F.  Your freezer should be kept at 0°F.  Date each item as it is placed in your freezer so that you can use it before it goes bad.

Thaw foods in the refrigerator overnight, in the microwave oven, or submerge it in a bowl of cold water.  Place the package in a watertight plastic bag and then submerge in water which is changed every 30 minutes.  Don’t just leave the meat on the counter or in the sink to thaw.  This will likely cause the bacteria in the food to multiply and cause someone to get sick.

Finally, don’t sample your meals while you’re cooking unless you use a clean spoon or fork each time.  Taste testing just once can transfer germs from your mouth to the food.

Cooking can be hazardous, but it doesn’t have to be.  By taking some of the precautions mentioned, you can cook with confidence and the knowledge that you’ve done so in a healthy manner.  You’ll also know that the food you’ve prepared for your family is nutritious, delicious, and safe!

Chinese Recipe Tips

Chinese recipes usually call for very specific ingredients and ways to cook everything. There are many tips you can use to save time and money and still have a top notch meal or add ingredients to make a good meal great.

You can cut corners on rice, kinds of oil, even the kind of meats you use. Many people take the meat out of a recipe and call it vegetarian.

A delicious alternative to regular cooking oil is sesame oil. Just a few drops mixed with your normal oil or used by itself, sesame oil makes any dish have a very unique flavor.

Shrimp cooked in vegetable oil tastes like greasy shrimp but shrimp cooked in sesame oil taste like a Chinese treat. Sesame oil has a strong and unique flavor that many people automatically associate with Chinese food.

It is higher in fat so if you are on a diet, it might not be a good choice.

Rice is common in all kinds of Chinese recipes. If you make a lot of Chinese food, you can cook a lot more rice than you know you will use.

You can freeze this excess rice and use it later on for fried rice. This will save you the trouble of cooking a whole new batch and it tastes just as good.

Dont be afraid to change recipes. If you have a great recipe for chicken, try using crab or shrimp next time or changing some vegetables around.

You might have just created your own unique recipe! This can be a lot of fun and the more familiar with Chinese recipes you get, the better your creations will be.

Chinese Recipe Cookware Substitutions

So, you have got a great Chinese recipe you want to try out but you realize you are not prepared at all for the demands of Chinese cooking.

Well, there are many ways you can recreate what you should have with what you might have on hand. This goes for cookware as well as actual food ingredients.

An important part of cooking any Chinese recipe to perfection is to use the right cookware. Many people dont own a wok or rice cooker however and will have to use what they have in the kitchen.

A normal frying pan can work as a wok but its best to use a very deep frying pan that is at least 1 and a half inches deep.

Woks rely on oil and high heat to cook meat and vegetables and if you use a shallow pan, grease will get all over and might even spill out and start on fire. Thats no good at all.

For rice, a normal saucepan will work but you need to make sure you have a tight fitting lid. Tin foil over the top will work in an emergency but can burn you and is not recommended.

Many Chinese recipes call for a meat or seafood to be breaded and deep fried. Without a deep fryer, you are going to have a mess no matter what.

The deepest cooking pot or saucepan you have will work but will probably splash all over no matter how you try to contain it.

These are basic solutions but having the proper equipment can really make a difference. An electric wok is very easy to clean and can also be used to deep fry.

A rice cooker really isnt necessary unless you truly cant cook rice. Buy what you need and have fun with your new recipes.

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