Howdy!
I made some good headway on the ol’ to-do list today, and even threw in grocery shopping and a trip to Walmart, then zipped through all my laundry to boot! I think I was making up for being such a bum on Saturday. 
Do you ever feel guilty about not being productive? I think women especially feel weird/lazy if we’re not doing a million things at once. Maybe it’s just me!
At any rate, lunch at my parent’s house was deeelicious, per usual. We had Ruebens, Orzo Salad & veggies!
My parents went to Macaroni Grill for dinner with some friends on NYE and my Dad’s dish came with zesty orzo salad on the side. Both of them liked it so much that my Mom attempted to re-create it for lunch and although I don’t know what the original tasted like, I’d order her version at a restaurant!
Orzo is one of my favorite pasta shapes, and she combined it with cherry tomatoes, olives, spinach, red onion, capers and Italian dressing to make a salad full of great textures and flavors. I may or may not have been caught eating spoonfuls out of the serving bowl after lunch… 
Some crunchy carrots & celery on the side let the true star shine through…
Ruebens!!! It’s a fact that a hot, savory Rueben sandwich is my favorite hot deli sandwich of all time. Corned beef, swiss cheese, Rye-swirled bread, Thousand Island dressing and sauerkraut makes for some darn good eatin’!
Both my parent’s grew up in Ohio near Pennsylvania Dutch country, where it’s customary to eat pork and sauerkraut on new years day for good luck. Well us kids (ok not “kids”…you know what I mean!) don’t love the dish, but love sauerkraut, so we had that half of the good luck combo, a day late. It works.
Some sweet red velvet cake starred as dessert!
My Mom made it herself!!! Right?!
Thick and decadent. With that classic, cream cheese frosting. Go Mom!
In other news, my culinary sweater has been replaced with a faux-fur lined, uber-warm Eskimo jacket because I made the ULTIMATE comfort food dinner tonight…Chicken & Dumplings!
I recently picked up this free, local, foodie magazine that had an entire section of articles and recipes dedicated to dumplings. Um, sold.
Inside was a classic Chicken & Dumplings recipe that I absolutely could not resist making tonight!
It was as easy as it was cozy. All you do is combine veggies, chicken broth, seasonings and a whole chicken in a large pot then bring to a boil.
Mine was a wee bit too small so I had to rotate the chicken several times to make sure the whole thing cooked evenly.
Said chicken was a Smart Chicken. We quizzed each other before I cooked it.
This is actually the very first time I’ve cooked a WHOLE bird, and I was kind of freaking out! I was glad that this particular one didn’t have any giblets to worry about – it was ready to use right out of the package.
Plus I didn’t have to worry about seasoning it, what to do with the skin, etc. – I just threw it in the pot and let it simmer!
After 90 minutes, the chicken was starting to shred itself.
See? Falling off the bone tender!
You could see how succulent and moist it was. Holy cow chicken!
I removed the chicken from the pot and shredded all the meat.
Mmmm, it tasted just like the rotisserie chicken you get at the grocery store, but it was homemade with NO extra oil or fat.
I’ll be eating chicken for days – it made so much!
Meanwhile I strained the chicken broth, let it cool a bit so I could scrape the fat off the top, then brought it back to a boil. It was time to cook the dumplings. 
Ohhhh, the dumplings!
These Reames Homestyle Dumplings are made in Iowa and I’m not sure if they’re sold in other parts of the country, so any frozen dumpling-style noodle would do.
I added the package to the uber-flavorful broth and let the dumplings cook for about 30 minutes,
until they were fat, fluffy and chewy. CRAZY good!!
Chicken & Dumplings are UP!!!!
The broth tasted like it was slow-cooked all day long, and got a tad thick from the dumplings. So incredibly delicious!
And I can’t get over how buttery and succulent that chicken was! Must be the slow cooking process. I would never in a million years compare this to regular poached chicken. It blows it completely out of the water!
PERFECT Sunday afternoon meal, guys. Low-fuss, easy and so cozy. Just like Grandma used to make!
Chicken & Dumplings
Serves 6-8
Recipe adapted from Criss Roberts
Ingredients:
8 cups chicken broth (6 cans)
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
salt & pepper, to taste
4lb fryer chicken
12 oz frozen dumplings
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients except frozen dumplings in a very large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 90 minutes, or until chicken is falling off the bone.
- Remove chicken, allow to cool, then shred. Meanwhile strain the cooking liquid into a new pot, allow to cool slightly then scrape off the fat.
- Bring broth to a boil then add frozen dumplings and a pinch of dried parsley. Cook according to package directions, then serve over shredded chicken.
Ooo, I am so cozy and sleepy… 
But before I go – the Blueberry Muffin Larabar winners! Congrats to:
Catherine: My favorite part of 2010 was a trip my mom took out to Los Angeles to visit me. She is such a big part of my life but I don’t get to see her that often since she lives in Denver. It was great spending quality time together.
Erin: My favorite part of 2010 was the birth of my niece!
shandy (@webgals): OH I WANT that LARABAR! My favorite part of 2010 was my trip to Minneapolis to see a friend and see Wicked again!
Whee!! Email your full mailing address to IowaGirlEats@gmail.com!
Okie dokie, I’m off to go relax. Have a wonderful first week of 2011!!!
~~~~~
Do you enjoy comfort food? What are some of your faves?
I feel like mine all revolve around pasta. Or cheese. Or pasta with cheese – aka spaghetti, mac & cheese and lasagna…mmmlasagna…
OH I can’t forget a nice, warm apple crisp. Comfort food at its finest!!
My dad makes Chicken Pot Pie just like grandma used to make as well. It’s such a PA Dutch thing here and we grew up eating this every New Years. Your version looks so great and wonderfully homemade! Go you!
Ooh, those flat dumplins look so fun! I love pasta…it’s totally my comfort food. When I really want comfort and the nutritional factor is out the window, I’m all about KFC macaroni and cheese. SHHHHH!!
We had ruebens at our house tonight! Although, I hate corned beef…so we had turkey meatballs!
My comfort food is my dad’s chicken and dumplings. His is a firehouse recipe that serves 10+, and has never been written down. I can’t wait to try yours! Since it doesn’t serve a crew of any men, and there’s directions!
By any, I mean hungry….
Mac and cheese is by far my favorite. I love comfort food – it reminds me of my childhood.
Those are buzzing me out, those “dumplings”. They just look like flat bits of pastry. To me, dumplings are pastry, but stuffed with something inside!
That chicken looks awesome. I am not a big fan of flat dumplings… Mmmm, not so much. I like them big, round and fluffy – like clouds or pillows and when you cut into them, they soak up the broth. I need to make some! Not WW friendly though.
I can’t make them! Dang it!
I love a good deli ruben too! French dip runs a close second!
Mom’s meatballs and spaghetti is my favorite comfort food! Of course you need to add some Italian bread with the meal as well. I’m a total sucker for good hearty pasta dishes during the winter months.
OMGosh did I actually just win something! Yay!!
Favorite comfort food…macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, baking powder biscuits, my mom’s goulash. Also…Danish foods. I grew up in a town that revolves it’s Danish heritage (and I’m of Danish heritage), so aebleskiver (Danish pancake balls), medisterpolse (Danish sausage), frikadiller (Danish meatball), rollepolse (Danish deli meat) all are comfort food to me.
Anything pasta and pizza. I go crazy for simply dressed pasta dinners after all the fat and calories of the holidays.
We have a whole Smart Chicken in our freezer that I bought back when I was considering eating meat again. Great ethical company! I see some Food Inc. wearing off on you haha
My comfort food is probably soup and grilled cheese. Anything carby.
You bet!!
I love comfort food — especially since in the Midwest it’s winter-weather for approximately 7 months out of the year (slight exaggeration) Some of my faves are a warm bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter and banana mixed in, pasta (love me some gnocchi and mac & cheese), and soups of any kind.
hold up…you guys don’t like PORK? haha oh man I just dedicated an entire post to pork! Basically a 12 month memoir on my pork eating in 2010. crazy!
Sorry, I should clarify! We don’t like the pork that is made on New Years Day. It’s kind of like that classic, roast beef – super dry and just not that fab…other pork is great. I am from Iowa, afterall!
My comfort food is my Mom’s grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. There’s just something about that…makes me glad to be home – and sometimes, the food just tastes so much better when someone else makes it!
My comfort foods also revolve around pasta and pasta and cheese. Manicotti, mac & cheese, and a dish my family calls ‘noodle casserole’ (rotini noodles layered with a sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, chopped onion, and red pepper flake mix, and ground beef and tomato sauce on top. Mmmm…
I’ve never cooked a whole chicken. The whole skin thing grosses me out (and yes, I get creeped out trying to remove the “ickies” from the turkey…I even accidently cooked the giblets this year!) . I’ve tried to make soup before but honestly, it doesn’t turn out. (Not sure why I can’t make it! I mean it’s broth, chicken, veggies and noodles!) I do suppose it’s time I learned though. One question-did the skin just fall off in the broth then? It looks like the skin is off in the above photo so I was wondering if it fell off in the pot or you just removed it for the picture. I am certain it tasted amazing. I do love chicken pot pie AND chicken and dumplings. I love the thick ones though. I am sure they cook the whole chicken in there too!
Hmmm…comfort food is definitely pot pies-my mother has a tuna pot pie recipe that I still make today and I love a chicken pot pie on a cold day when I go to a restaurant.
I know, the skin was freaking me out too – I didn’t know how it was going to turn out. In the end though, it stayed on the chicken and all I had to do was peel it off in one swoop. Really easy and not freaky!
I love dumplings!! Mac n cheese has to be one of my favorite comfort foods, but also Greek egg lemon soup! That chicken looks delish, and there’s a ton there, which should be great for this week! Have a fun Monday!
ok dont think im dumb but i just realized i have no clue what dumplings actually are. help?
oh and happy 2011, also. xxx
Well there’s two kinds really – one is like a boiled biscuit (best way I can describe it!) and the other is the kind that I used – a flat dumpling. It’s like a super thick & chewy, soft noodle. BOMB!
That reuben + orzo salad looks delish! And that red velvet cake… droooool.
I think all food is confort food to me, LOL. Bread is my #1 comfort food, though. Anything in a sandwich = heaven
Yum! That orzo salad looks so fresh!
The Chicken and Dumplings look so good! I don’t think I’ve ever had chicken and dumplings before. The orzo salad looks delicious too!
My favorite comfort food is mac and cheese! Yum!
I’ve got some whole wheat frozen dumplings in the freezer and they’ve been there for a while. Definitely time to break them out for some chicken and dumplings!
I buy that brand of egg noodles at the store, but haven’t seen the dumplings, I will have to look for them, although I have a husband whose mother taught him to make dumplings from stratch, so I usually just persuade him to make them!
I make a lot of chicken and only use smart chicken now, so much yummier than any other brand! In fact today I have a chicken in the crock pot that is cooking to become chicken and noodles this evening!
Cooking whole chickens is much, much easier than it seems, plus, if you screw up, they are pretty cheap. I roast them all the time. And if you make your own stock, you get all that poached chicken too, plus a giant vat of stock for soup!
My family eats pork and sauerkraut for New Years Day, but my mom bakes it in the oven and it is so good! She puts a bed of sauerkraut on the bottom of a 9×13 pan, then tops it with pork chops and sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon. While baking, the sauerkraut liquid cooks into the pork chops and it’s awesome. Yum.
Props on cooking a whole chicken–I’ve never done it!
Props to your mom for making Red Velvet Cake. That’s awesome!
That soup sounds really good! Perfect when you’re sick and need a pick me up!
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Glad you liked the Chix & Dumplings! Your version looks yum and easy – but if seriously, if you get the time, try the homemade noodles in the recipe if you get a chance. Not AT ALL hard. You might never go back!
Happy cooking!
Criss R
Hey Kristin –
I don’t know whether you’re still reading comments on this post, but if you are, I’m wondering whether your mom would be willing to share her Red Velvet recipe. I made Red Velvet twice during the holidays – cake once, cupcakes another time – using two different recipes, and neither turned out all that well. They were just kind of bleh. Anyhow, I’m searching for a new recipe, and I remembered the pictures from this post of your mom’s looking fab!
Thanks!
Years ago PBS had a cooking show featuring an Iowa lady chef… I believe her first name was Marsha. She made a recipe called “Weird Chicken”. I’m searching for that recipe. It was a casserole made in a pyrex 9×13 pan, the ingredients were chicken breasts, sauerkraut and a whole bottle of Thousand Island dressing, and probably some Swiss cheese in there somewhere. It was covered with foil and baked forever. I would love to have the complete recipe.
[...] Just Like Grandma Used to Make | Iowa Girl Eats [...]