“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22
This recipe was a favorite of Lad’s mother. She would use those “old hens” she wanted to get rid of in the chicken house. Because they were usually very tough old birds, she liked to use her pressure cooker when she made this recipe. (Young un’s call this an Instant Pot now.)
On occasion, she got a bit careless with the pressure cooker. If you didn’t watch the gauges carefully enough, a very large head of steam could build up inside one of those gadgets very quickly. Then if you were not extremely careful, there was danger of explosion when you tried to let the steam out to open the cooker.
One day, I was helping in the kitchen when she left it for me to watch. But she neglected to tell me what to watch for. When she returned, the needle was well over in the red area. She tried to release the valve. It exploded!
We both screamed and jumped back. The lid flew to the ceiling, hit it and landed on the floor with a thud but the chicken followed the lid and stayed stuck to the ceiling along with the vegetables!
We stood there helplessly as the broth dripped on our shoulders, stared at each other and burst out laughing. We had chicken broth in our hair and everywhere but fortunately we were not burned. That was truly the worst mess I have ever helped clean up in my life. I later inherited that pressure cooker, but never used it as anything but the greatest camp cooking pot I ever had!
Chicken and Dumplings
1 5-6 lb stewing hen
1 sliced carrot
2 stalks celery, cut
3 cups water
1 small onion, sliced
Wash, clean and cut the chicken. Place water in a large sauce pot or dutch oven or pressure cooker – Instant Pot.
Add the vegetables bring to a boil. Add the chicken and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 2-2 1/2 hours or until tender.
Remove chicken, strain liquid into a measure cup. Add milk or cream to the water to make 2 cups. Return the chicken to the pot.
Dumplings – sift 1 cup flour, 2 tsps baking powder, 1 tsp salt together. Beat 1 egg and 1/2 cup milk together. Add 2 T melted butter. Mix liquids with the flour mixture until smooth. Drop by spoonfuls on top of chicken. Cover and simmer for 12-15 mins.
Fireside Stories 