Chicken & Biscuits

Talk about comfort food. Chicken and Biscuits is the quintessential America comfort food. I had never made it or even tried it before I took the plunge with this recipe yesterday. When I read the recipe to start cooking the Chicken and Biscuits it was already around 5:30 pm so I did not have two hours and 20 minutes to spend cooking a whole chicken. Instead, I used chicken breasts. I not only had some on hand but I knew it would take a whole lot less than an hour to cook them. I left out the mushrooms because I don't like them. My boys would have probably loved it if I had used them. Sorry guys. I also reduced the amount of salt and I used dried tarragon because that is what I had. The broth for the chicken and biscuits is so delicious. I was skeptical about using cayenne pepper but it turned out well. The recipe comes from www.about.com and it was posted there by John Mitzewich. Good job, John!

As John says, don't let the ingredient list fool you, this chicken and biscuits recipe is very simple to make and almost impossible to mess up!

Makes 8 portions of Chicken and Biscuits
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
1 large chicken (about 4 pounds)
2 quarts water or broth
1 bay leaf
4 cloves garlic, cut in half
1 whole clove
3 carrots, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
3 ribs celery, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
6 mushrooms, quartered
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp fresh tarragon, chopped
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cream or milk
1 package (8 portions) buttermilk biscuits, baked according to the package directions.

Preparation:
Rinse the chicken and place it in a Dutch oven or other large pot with a lid. Add the water, bay leaf, garlic, and clove. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Skim foam from the surface, cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Carefully remove the chicken to a bowl to cool. Strain the broth into another bowl and reserve. Discard bay leaf, garlic, and clove.

Place the pot back on medium heat, and add the butter, carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms. Saute the vegetables in the butter for 5 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add the flour, and cook stirring for about 5 minutes, or until the flour begins to smell like cooked pie crust.

Add the reserved broth and whisk into the flour and vegetable mixture. Add the salt, pepper, herbs and spices. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

In the meantime, remove all the cooled chicken from the bones, and tear into large chunks. When the vegetables are done, stir in the cream, and the chicken. Bring back to simmer, and cook for 5 minutes to heat the chicken through. More liquid can be added in this step if the gravy is too thick. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve hot in bowls, topped with a buttermilk biscuit.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Cookies - Coconut Macaroons

I am not usually one to use artificial sweeteners but I know that there are plenty of people out there who are watching their carbs and/or their sugar intake. My sister sent me these recipes which came from the Splenda website. She says they are really good and easy to make. Please let me know if you make any of them. I would be more likely to make them with regular sugar (*my bad*).

Chocolate Chip Macaroons

Submitted by: Maker of SPLENDA® Sweetener Products

Servings: 24 servings

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites
¼ cup SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend
¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 (14 ounce) package sweetened flaked coconut
½ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together egg whites, SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend, almond extract and salt until frothy. Add coconut and mini chocolate chips, mixing until the chocolate chips are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

3. Scoop batter using a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon, placing batter 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.

4. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Rotate sheet half way through the baking process for more even browning.

5. Transfer warm chocolate coquitos to a cooling rack and let sit until completely cooled. Store coquitos in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

Sugar-Free Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:

* 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
* 4 egg whites from large eggs (should be about ½ cup)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup sugar substitute (I like liquid forms of Splenda, with zero carbs)
* about 2 Tablespoons water

Preparation:

1) Heat oven to 375 F. Line baking sheet with either parchment paper on a silicone mat.

2) Measure egg whites. If they aren't quite ½ cup, add a little water to reach that level. Then add the vanilla, liquid sweetener if using, and water so that sweetener and water together equal 2 Tablespoons.

3) If using powdered sweetener, mix in with unsweetened coconut.

4) Mix dry and wet ingredients together. The mixture should just hold together. Let set a minute or two and you'll be able to mold them better.

5) Roll into balls a little bigger than an inch in diameter. Slightly flatten and put on baking sheet (whatever shape you put them in is how they will stay, so this is your chance). Put at least half an inch apart.

6) Turn down the oven to 325 F, and bake for about 15 minutes, but start checking them a couple of minutes before. You want them golden brown on the bottom, and just barely starting to brown on top (though if you like them a little crispier, bake a couple of minutes longer).

Makes about 14 cookies, but yield will vary based on size of the cookies.

Nutritional Information: Each cookie has 1 gram effective carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber, 2 grams protein, and 76 calories.