Chicken & Dumplings

Serves 6

From Jay Foster, Farmer Brown, San Francisco.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt + more to taste

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter, softened

2/3 cup milk

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, each cut into 6 pieces

Pepper to taste

1 large onion, grated

3 cups chicken stock + more if necessary

1/2 stalk celery, roughly chopped

2 whole peppercorns

INSTRUCTIONS:

Instructions: Sift flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, baking powder and sugar into a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and blend with fingers until evenly distributed. Add milk. Mix well with a spoon or your hands. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll until 1/8-inch thick. Cut into diamond shapes, about 1/2 by 1 inch, with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. One at a time, tuck one corner of diamond toward the center, and using your palm, roll dough into a torpedo shape. Set aside.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a wide, deep pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper, add the chicken and onions and cook 2-3 minutes or until chicken is browned. Add 3 cups chicken stock, or enough to cover chicken. Add celery and peppercorns. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pot, strain and reserve liquid, and return to stove and bring to a simmer. Add dumplings, season broth to taste, and cook on low for 15-20 minutes until dumplings are tender and cooked through. They will firm up the longer they cook, so don't simmer them for too long.

To serve, pour the sauce and the dumplings over the warm chicken.

Per serving: 320 calories, 25 g protein, 37 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat (4 g saturated), 63 mg cholesterol, 588 mg sodium, 2 g fiber.

Lemon curd

       Title: Lemon Curd
 Categories: Preserve, English
      Yield: 4 servings

           Grated rind and juice
           3 lemons
      2 lg Or 3 small eggs
      4 oz Butter
      8 oz Sugar

  Wash the lemons and grate the rind finely. Place the lemon juice,
  grated rind, butter and sugar in a bowl set over a saucepan of hot
  water. Stir until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved.
  Beat the eggs in a separate basin and add slowly to the lemon
  mixture, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. Transfer to a
  saucepan and cook, stirring occa- sionally, until the curd thickens
  and coats the back of the spoon. Pour into warm jars, cover and
  seal.

Fills approx. 1 qt jar.