08/04/14 recipe -Taste USA

Smothered Chicken with Mushrooms

How to make Smothered Chicken with Mushrooms Recipe - Sunday chicken dinner on the farm was often prepared this way.

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:
1 (2-1/2- to 3-pound) frying chicken, cut up
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup whipping cream or milk
Chopped fresh parsley

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F (175C).

Wash chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Pull off any excess fat from chicken. To further reduce caloric count, remove skin.

Sprinkle pieces with salt and pepper. In a large heavy skillet, heat butter and oil over high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down. Brown on 1 side then turn over. Remove from skillet to a shallow casserole, laying chicken in a single layer.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet. Add onion and mushrooms to skillet. Saute over medium heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in flour, then chicken broth, whisking until sauce is thickened. Simmer 3 minutes. Add cream or milk.

Pour sauce over chicken in casserole. Bake, covered, 20 minutes.

Remove cover and continue baking 30 minutes longer or until chicken is tender but not falling apart. Before serving, spoon off excess surface fat and spoon pan gravy over chicken. Sprinkle with parsley.

Notes:
The chicken pieces are first browned in butter and oil. The thickened sauce starts with the pan drippings and
takes just a couple of minutes to make. Then it is poured over the chicken which finishes its cooking in the oven. The result is chicken that's succulent and juicy, baked beneath a mushroom sauce. When canned soups arrived on the American scene, cooks began using cream of mushroom soup and the taste was never the same!

Paprika Chicken

How to make Paprika Chicken Recipe - Chicken, an expensive dish of the past, is now our most abundant fowl. Paprika Chicken is served with a freshly made noodle called spatzle.

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:
1 (2-1/2- to 3-pound) frying chicken, cut up
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup butter
1 garlic clove, mashed
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup Hungarian sweet paprika
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
Spatzle, see recipe

Method:
Wash chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

In a heavy Dutch oven or deep skillet, heat butter. Add chicken pieces, a few at a time, and starting with legs and thighs. Brown over medium heat on all sides.

Add garlic as you brown chicken. Drain off excess fat. Add onion, paprika, tomato paste and chicken broth. Cook, covered, over low heat 25 to 30 minutes or until chicken is tender.

Add green pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes longer. Degrease drippings again, if necessary. Remove chicken to a warm platter. Stir sour cream into pan juices.

Pour over chicken. Serve over warm Spatzle.

Chicken and Dumplings

How to make Chicken and Dumplings Recipe - This is probably one of the favorite original "one-pot meals" in American cooking. Dumpling dough or batter bakes right on top of the stewed chicken in a covered pot.

Makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:
1 (3-1/2-pound) chicken, cut up
1-1/2 quarts water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 small onion, quartered
1 small carrot, cut into chunks
2 celery stalks with leaves, cut into chunks
3 tablespoons butter or chicken fat
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup half and half
White pepper to taste
Chopped fresh parsley

Dumplings:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon melted shortening
1/3 cup milk

Method:
Wash chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken in a large pot. Add water, salt, black pepper, onion, carrot and celery. Simmer, covered, 45 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken is tender.

Remove from broth; strain and reserve broth. Place chicken on a rack in a bowl; cool enough to handle. Remove and discard skin and bones from chicken.

Dice meat; refrigerate. In a large heavy saucepan, heat butter or chicken fat. Stir in flour and paprika. Gradually add 3 cups reserved chicken broth, stirring until thickened and smooth.

Cook 2 minutes. Add half and half and white pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Return chicken to sauce.

Prepare Dumplings. Dip a teaspoon into cold water, then spoon teaspoonfuls of batter on top of simmering chicken mixture.

Cook, covered, 15 minutes without lifting lid. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

To prepare Dumplings:
In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Blend in shortening and milk; mix well.

Notes:
What is considered a "dumpling" is different from one area of the country to another. Dumplings may take the form of a fresh noodle, spatzle, as in Hungarian and German cuisine, or a dumpling may be made of a dough similar to baking-powder biscuits as in this recipe.

It is important when making dumplings leavened with baking powder that you cover the pot and allow the dumplings to steam for 15 minutes without lifting the lid or the dumplings will be doughy rather than light and fluffy.