Check out the link below for some ideas. It may not be "perfect", but perhaps headed in the right direction.

My mother always used Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup instead of anemic Cream of Mushroom Soup, and I thought that was a great improvement.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Cooking Up a Story - Chicken and Biscuits

mudlady, I don't blame you on the canned soup, I just don't care for the stuff, it tastes more like salt than anything else to me.

The perfect recipe is going to depend on what you like. I like mine more like gravy with chicken and vegetables in it. Some like it thicker, some want to add vegetables, some want biscuits baked on top like a stew.

I like this one, although the gravy isn't very yellow. I like to use the whole chicken or a mixture of parts instead of just breast, as I like dark meat better and I like gravy as opposed to a cream sauce. I often let the chicken simmer longer than called for to reduce the stock more and add additional flavor, especially with today's commercial chickens which taste pretty much like.....nothing.

If I'm in a hurry I take a jar of my homecanned chicken stock (store bought isn't "strong" enough, IMO) and use it to make the gravy, then add leftover vegetables and cooked or rotisserie chicken.

Farmhouse Chicken over Biscuits

1 broiler/fryer chicken (3 to 4 pounds), cut up
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery ribs with leaves, sliced
1 green onion, sliced
5 peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups water
6 tablespoons butter, cubed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Homemade or purchased biscuits, warmed

Combine the first seven ingredients in a Dutch oven; cover and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove vegetables and chicken from broth; set vegetables aside. Skin, bone and cube the chicken. Strain broth, reserving 3 cups. (The only way I can tell how the gravy will taste is by tasting the stock for flavor, then simmering longer if needed)

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter; stir in flour and pepper until thickened and bubbly. Gradually stir in reserved broth; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Add chicken and vegetables; heat through. Serve over biscuits.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Annie

Annie,

As soon as DH gets my chicken house built we will be organically raising our own chickens & I would REALLY appreciate it if you would share your homemade chicken stock recipe or a link to it.

Thanks in advance,
Betty

Betty, I'd be happy to. I have to tell you, though, that there's no "recipe", just instructions.

I take a big 18 quart Nesco roaster and add all the backs. wing tips, carcasses, feet, whatever. Sometimes I even add a whole chicken (cut up) if I have a small one or an old one. I quarter a couple of onions, don't bother to peel them. two or three carrots, depedning on size, just chopped into two or three pieces, a couple of stalks of celery or the celery leaves and ends from a bunch of celery or some old floppy celery that is left in the fridge. Turn the roaster on 450 and let it all roast for a couple of hours until it's nicely roasted. The roasting does add flavor, IMO.

Add several quarts (maybe 8 or 10), whatever will fill the roaster to a couple of inches from the top. Toss in a couple of bay leaves, some black pepper corns, a sprinkle of kosher salt (or not, your choice). I like to add fresh herbs from the garden, thyme, oregano and parsley, usually, but it's good without them if you don't have them.

Bring it all to a boil then reduce your heat to 300 and let it simmer all day, or start in the evening and let it cook all night.

When the broth is reduced enough and tastes good, it's done. Dump it all into a colander over a bowl and strain out the solids. I like to let mine set in a cold garage or in the refrigerator overnight so I can skim off the solidified fat, but you don't have to if you like to keep that. Freeze it or can it. I like mine canned because I don't have freezer room, but either is fine.

Good for you about the chickens, I like having them around. They eat my table scraps, give me delicious fresh eggs and they're kind of funny to watch, they'll follow me about like a bunch of puppies, hoping for tomatoes from the garden or scraps from the bucket. The Cornish Cross Frankenchickens are kind of different, they aren't very "chicken like", but they grow fast and if you put their water on one side of their enclosure and the food on the other side, so they have to walk about, they won't have as many leg problems.

My "girls" are heritage breeds, no health problems with them, so far. Buff Orpington, Speckled Sussex, White Brahma, Jersey Giant, Dominique, Rhode Island Red and Ameracauna, they lay well, are sturdy and cold tolerant and seem to just be very healthy.

Annie

Thank you so much, Annie! Every time I find someone who has chickens I learn something new! It's so exciting!

I'm trying to learn all I can before we get them. I want some for egg production & some for meat production.

When DH & I were newlyweds we lived beside his aunt who had chickens & I LOVED feeding them & gathering eggs. I can't wait to have my very own!

Thanks again,
Betty

Betty, we raise and hatch poultry, too. I really enjoy them and it's a bonus that they're so much fun to watch. Almost every evening when my dh gets home from work we grab a drink, let the goats out (two little fainting ones, pets), and converse while watching them and our chickens. And we laugh about how lame we are.

One of the funniest things is to feed them long strands of cooked spaghetti and watch them try to steal each other's "worms."

I'll have to remember that so DH & I can have some entertainment!

We have a lot of hawks around here. My nephew has pet chickens who follow him around & a dern hawk swooped down & snatched a chicken from behind him & flew off before he could even react!

I've got to learn how to can Annie's chicken broth before I get the 'meat' chickens. I only make smaller batches now & use so much that I'm always running out!

Y'all keep those tips coming! DH will love the chicken & biscuits!

Thanks,
Betty

Betty, canning chicken broth is easy. Pour it into jars and put it in a pressure canner at the required pressure. Here I use 12 pounds (the instructions say 11 but I like to bump it up a bit for safety) and it varies depending on altitude. Pints 20 minutes, Quarts 25 minutes if it's broth/stock, 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts if it is the meat itself.

Check on the website for the National Center For Home Food Preservation or ask me here, I'll be happy to help.

WE have hawks here too, as well as raccoons, skunks, weasels, everything that tries to get into a chicken coop, plus the neighbors all have dogs that run everywhere. So my girls have a coop and a run that's fortified like Fort Knox and only get out when I can watch them, otherwise they are inside fence.

Cooking, I guess we're kind of lame too, then, I like to just watch the horses and cows out in the pasture, it relaxes me. Until I remember that I have to keep the fence repaired, LOL.

Annie

Annie,

I'm excited about everything EXCEPT using a pressure canner.

That terrifies me! I heard so many stories about them blowing up as I was growing up.

My husband has offered to rig me up a way that I can use a pressure canner outside.

I WILL get my courage up and use it! I will!

My niece is buying one and I'm going to be her shadow until I get over my terror! LOL

Thanks,
Betty

Betty, I've been canning with Grandma's old pressure canner, not even a new fancy one, for at least 30 years and I've not had a single accident. (grin) I know people who say they know someone who had one blow up, etc., but I don't know anyone personally who did and I grew up in a farming community where everyone canned.

In addition pressure canner design and technology went through a complete change in the 1970s and 1980s, adding safety vents and other "advancements" to make them more safe.

So, don't overfill it, make sure your vent is clear and don't go weed the garden or feed the chickens while you are pressure canning, thus allowing the pressure to build up to an unsafe level. You need to get the hang of adjusting the heat to keep a steady pressure, and I check the pressure on mine every 5 or 10 minutes because I have a hard time regulating my stove.

So, does it happen? Yeah, probably. Occasionally or less than that. Is it common? Nope. You'll be fine. And just think of that lovely broth and all the other things you can can when you master the pressure canner. Soups, stews, chili, spaghetti sauce, vegetables of all types. Good, yummy, homecanned, locally sourced food. You'll love it.

Annie

Annie,
That's exactly why I WILL master my fear of it.

And if it is outside there won't be the concern about a big mess if it were to blow.

So many recipes call for chicken broth/stock & I have to make my own & freeze it (due to being allergic to onions & garlic). How wonderful it's going to be to have shelves of awesome chicken broth/stock whenever I need it with just a few sessions with the pressure canner!

I think I can - I think I can! LOL

Just one question - Exactly what do you mean 'don't overfill it'?

I'm sorry for all of the questions, but growing up we took everything that needed canning to the cannery & I know absolutely nothing about home pressure canning.

Thanks,
Betty

Confession time. I have never eaten, let alone made, Chicken and Dumplings. So after reading this thread and google searching several more recipes, I found one that sounded good.

This was inspired by my making a vat of chicken stock yesterday, so I knew I would have that and the picked chicken meat from the carcass pre-stock. I decided to use Pioneer Womans recipe (with only a few changes to adapt to what I had on hand).

The first taste was amazing. The first bowl was a religious experience. The family has begged me to make this every week for ever moving forward. Oh my, this stuff is GOOD!

Anyway, if you are interested in the PW recipe, I have copied it below:

Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
⢠2 Tablespoons Butter
⢠2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
⢠ý cups All-purpose Flour
⢠1 whole Chicken, Cut Into Pieces (cut Up Fryer)
⢠Salt And Pepper
⢠ý cups Finely Diced Carrots
⢠ý cups Finely Diced Celery
⢠1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
⢠ý teaspoons Ground Thyme
⢠ü teaspoons Turmeric
⢠6 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
⢠ý cups Apple Cider
⢠ý cups Heavy Cream
⢠Dumplings:
⢠1-ý cup All-purpose Flour
⢠ý cups Yellow Cornmeal
⢠1 Tablespoon (heaping) Baking Powder
⢠1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⢠1-ý cup Half-and-half
⢠2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Parsley (optional)
⢠Salt As Needed
Preparation Instructions
Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then dredge both sides in flour.
Melt butter in a pot over medium-high heat. In two batches, brown chicken on both sides and remove to a clean plate.
In the same pot, add diced onion, carrots, and celery. Stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir in ground thyme and turmeric, then pour in chicken broth and apple cider. Stir to combine, then add browned chicken. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
While chicken is simmering, make the dough for the dumplings: sift together all dry ingredients, then add half-and-half, stirring gently to combine. Set aside.
Remove chicken from pot and set aside on a plate. Use two forks to remove chicken from the bone. Shred, then add chicken to the pot. Pour heavy cream into the pot and stir to combine.
Drop tablespoons of dumpling dough into the simmering pot. Add minced parsley if using. Cover pot halfway and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Check seasonings; add salt if needed. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Betty, when you can with a pressure canner, you only need a few inches of water in the bottom. I've seen canning recipes that tell you to cover the filled jars with water or fill with water up to the necks of the jars. It's just not right.

As for cooking with a pressure cooker, I do that a lot and love it, but if you're cooking in it you have to be sure not to fill it full. Things like beans expand and they can plug the exhaust vent. The cooker still shouldn't blow up, but it could blow the safety valve and have a big mess.

Annie