Amish Style Chicken & Dumplings from Lancaster PA!

                                                                                                

 This is how we do Chicken & Dumplings in Lancaster County PA the heart of Dutch Country! Lots of potatoes, huge chunks of chicken, carrots, celery, herbs & BIG FLUFFY DUMPLINGS swimming in thick gravy!

This is how light & fluffy the dumplings get with this recipe! In the upper center of the photo I cut a dumpling in half so you can see!

5 Large boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, or add some Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs along with the breast if you desire

 

Water to cover the chicken about 4 inches over

1 TSP Salt

1 TSP Minced Garlic

Bring to the boil in a large deep pot. Simmer until chicken is just about done, about 20 minutes! Now add the following:

8 Medium Potatoes Peeled

4 Large Carrots Peeled & cut into 2 inch chunks

1 Cooking Onion Peeled & Chopped

Cook until Carrots & Potatoes are tender about 30 minutes. Remove Chicken & cut into huge pieces & put back into the pot. Now add the following:

4 Heaping TBS of Cornstarch stirred into 1 Cup of Cold Water stirred until smooth. Stir into simmering pot. Stir until gravy is thickened. Add 1 TBS Chopped Parsley & 1 TBS Chopped fresh Savory ( if you can find it!) we grow our own. Dried is ok too but only use 1/2 of the amount, & 1 TSP Ground Sage. If you can't get Savory don't fret it will still be delicious! Stir everything & let simmer! Now mix up the Dumplings!

DUMPLINGS:

1 & 1/2 Cups Flour

1/2 TSP Salt

1 TBS Baking Powder

Stir all together & the beat 1 egg into 5 TBS Milk. Dump into the dry mixture & stir until you have a stiff but droppable dough! Add more milk if batter is to dry but you do not want thin or running dough. It should be stiff like cookie dough! Now drop into simmering pot by heaping teaspoonful! Once all the dumplings are dropped into the simmering pot cover tightly with a lid & let simmer about 10 minutes. You now have a pot of Chicken Heaven! Serves about 6 people! I usually serve this long with a veggie on the side or sometimes add froze peas right before I drop in the dumplings! Serve a side of Cranberry Sauce & you have a GREAT MEAL!



Perfect Rhubarb Custard Pie!

                                                                                 

 Ah, Rhubarb Pie, you either LOVE it or HATE it! I am in the YUCKY camp on this one. Rhubarb to me taste like , well I just can't describe it but I do know that it sets my teeth on edge. Having said that, my Dad LOVES the stuff. So at least once a year on SPECIAL occasions I make him HIS Rhubarb pie. So this year for Fathers Day I made him this Rhubarb Custard Pie. It was very easy to make and I am sure it was delicious but you will have to take his word for it because EW, I am not eating that!
                                                    

The above picture is the package of home grown Rhubarb that I used to make the pie! Try to get the Rhubarb that has that beautiful rosy red color to make your pie extra pretty. Most Rhubarb is celery green with hints of red & it all taste about the same but the rosy red make a prettier pie. As for the taste, Rhubarb to me is just SOUR extremely SOUR & no amount of sugar can take that away. But folks that LOVE their Rhubarb will argue about the taste saying how amazing it is. Let them have their delusions & enjoy their nasty stuff. As for the rest of us, I make a my GREAT All American Apple Pie & everyone was HAPPY!

Pie Crust:
2 Cups Flour
1 TSP Salt
1 TSP Sugar
1/3 Cup Shortening
1/3 Cup Cold Butter
4 to 5 TBS Cold Water
Mix all dry together. Cut in Shortening & Butter until you get fine crumbs. Now add enough cold water until dough comes together. Roll out the bottom crust on a well floured surface. Fill the bottom of a 9" pie pan with the crust & set aside. Roll out the top crust & let rest. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Line your bottom shell with foil & fill with about 2 cups of raw rice. Place in your preheated oven for 10 minutes to BLIND BAKE your bottom crust, this gives you a nice CRISPY bottom crust EVERY TIME! Let bottom crust rest for about 3 minutes & then gently remove the foil & rice. Save rice for future Blind Baking! Turn oven up to 375 degrees. Now let us make that filling!
RHUBARB CUSTARD:
In a large deep bowl mix 1 & 3/4 Cup Sugar, 1/3 Cup Flour, 1/4 TSP Nutmeg, Dash of Salt & stir well. Now whisk in 3 Large Beaten Eggs & 1 TSP Vanilla. Now add 4 Cups of sliced Rhubarb cut into 1/4 inch thick diagonal slices.  Stir well.  Pour into your Blind Baked bottom crust. take 2 TBS of butter cut into small pieces & dot the top of the pie. Now cut strips of dough from the rolled out portion & arrange on top of pie mixture.  Crimp the edges to make a pretty seal. Bake pie at 375 degrees for about 1 hour check at 45 minutes to see if your pie is done baking. Remove once filling is set & crust is a nice brown. Chill before serving!
                                                                           
                                            

       
This was my Dad getting ready to dig into his piece of Rhubarb Custard Pie Ala Mode! He loved it & the best part for him was he got to take the rest of the pie home!

     The Rhubarb Pie according to my Dad was SCRUMPTIOUS! It had a creamy custard surrounding his tender pieces of Rhubarb! He LOVED his Fathers Day Rhubarb Pie!