Last week I told you about my new recipe system, a system inspired by a lost chicken and dumpling recipe.
[Let me pause here to say that I feel I'm being intellectually dishonest by including that "g" at the end of the word "dumpling". I have never in my life pronounced the "g". It is a "dumplin". But I want my spell-checker to leave me alone, so I'm going with the correct version.]
Thankfully, in the process of sorting through everything, I found the dumpling recipe. It had been incorrectly filed in the dessert section, behind my recipe for...I'm not kidding..."Better-Than-Sex Cake".
(I didn't name it, folks. In fact, that recipe came from an old Southern Baptist cookbook, so you can be sure it has been fully screened for moral propriety. I'm actually kind of surprised they didn't name it "Better-Than-***MARRIED***-Sex Cake". I guess this particular ladies' Sunday school class was living on the edge.)
Anyway, here are both recipes, now fully rescued and stored in their proper places:
CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp Crisco (I think this is what makes these so good!)
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
2 cups celery
1 cup onion
at least 4 cups chicken broth
Bring broth to a broil; drop in chicken, celery and onion. In a separate bowl, mix together first six ingredients. Roll dough flat, slice into whatever size/shape you prefer (I like half-inch-by-half-inch squares). Drop into boiling broth. Allow to simmer until dough is cooked through, usually about 15-20 minutes.
BETTER-THAN-SEX CAKE
(By the way, yes, it's a very good cake. No, it's not THAT good.)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup sugar
1 6 oz box instant vanilla pudding
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple
8 oz Cool Whip
coconut, lightly toasted
Bake cake according to directions on box, in 9x13 pan. Combine sugar and pineapple in saucepan over low heat; allow to cool. When cake has cooled, poke holes in it; pour pineapple mixture over the top. Chill. Prepare pudding according to package directions; pour over cake. Chill. Before serving, cover with Cool Whip. Garnish with coconut.
By the way, when I posted about my new recipe system, Missus Wookie left a comment that was so clever I asked her if I could reprint it here:
I have a Rolodex with either the recipe title and where to find it, or a brief overview of the recipe to remind me of exactly how much flour... Preferred that to the index cards as of course the cards don't tend to wander.
(While I'm on the subject, remember that this Wednesday is the Kitchen Organization Edition of Works-For-Me Wednesday. Might be a good time to share how you organize your own recipes!)
