The Expedition Continues. Forecast: Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Tears

We are continuing the Culinary Expedition of Fall 2007 this evening with a unit focused on kids doing the cooking. We will make chicken and dumplings and call the dumplings clouds. If you make 'em right they puff up beautifully like the ones in the sky. I was inspired to call them clouds by an email I received from Barbara recommending that I call vegetables other things so kids will eat them.

Here's the recipe we'll use (it's not precise, but if you do everything to taste, you can't go wrong).

Cloudy Chicken (Chicken and Dumplings)
Six chicken thighs (or another cut of chicken, preferably on the bone, deskinned)
Celery
Onions
Carrots
Bay Leaves
Parsley
Salt
Pepper

Biscuit Mix
Milk
Egg

Place chicken and vegetables in a large pot. Cover with cold water, enough so that the chicken is submerged by at least an inch. Add salt and pepper. Turn on the heat. You could also make this the classic soup way: saute the vegetables, then add the water and chicken. But hey, it's up to you.

Keep the heat low and let the chicken and vegetables cook at barely a simmer.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove the pieces to a plate to cool. Once cool enough to handle, shred the meat off the bones and return to the pot. Discard bones.

Mix up the milk and egg with some biscuit mix according to box directions or use this recipe for the dumplings. Bring the pot to a boil. Drop in the biscuit mix by rounded spoonfuls (sometimes I use a small ice cream scoop). Boil 10 minutes uncovered, then 10 minutes covered. When all is said and done, you should have a nice, thick, stew-y dish. Ladle it into a bowl, serve with a salad.

I'm hoping that by getting the kids into the kitchen they will see this dish is comprised of all the things they like. Here's to hoping.