Southern Style Chicken and Dumplings

Comfort food.  Recipes-- yes I do use recipes sometimes.  Family.  Easy.  Homemade.

How to describe chicken and dumplings?  Well, delicious for one.

So here I am posting again, this time an old family recipe from my aunt, born and raised in Arkansas, that I just have to share with you.  In our recipe box, I have this recipe, worn, typed on a typewriter (who even uses those anymore???), and clearly loved.

Now I must give you a disclaimer: if you are looking for biscuit style dumplings, this post isn't for you.  But if you are looking for melt in your mouth, soaked up the chicken broth, down home drop in the soup dumplings, then you can't go wrong.

So, here goes:

Twisted Lebanese Chicken

As kids, we had a dish called Lebanese Chicken that my mom had learned from a Lebanese friend.  It had great promise but often not a great outcome.  The chicken was overcooked, the potatoes under-cooked, and sometimes it was just a bit bland.  Now don't get me wrong, my parents were A-MAZing cooks, but combining pre-boiled shredded chicken with raw potatoes and baking is a recipe for disaster.

Tonight, I had some CRAZY ideas running through my head for dinner... when scrounging through the cupboards, this can happen.  But my brother and I came up with a plan, and that plan came out well.  I love fixing and twisting childhood dishes.  Don't you?

Full Circle: Caper and Beef Toast

When I lived in Denmark during college, I cooked. Often. I get comfort from cooking, and I was blessed to live with a woman, now a close friend, who was more than happy to share her kitchen with me.  I think I left the country knowing, in Danish over 100 food names... and not much else.

Anyway, the woman I lived with, whom my daughter now calls "Gramma Tina, " taught me how to make a few things, one of which was beef and caper toast.  She learned it from a friend who had learned how to make it as a nanny in the United States.  And I have brought it back again.  Today I'd like to share it with you.

Until this simple dish, I was not a huge caper fan, but their tangy saltiness is the perfect foil for the beef and onion, and all f the ingredients work together to make heaven in your mouth.  So, without further ado:

Caper and Beef Toasts

First, in a bowl, mix until just combined:

1 lb. lean ground beef (the leaner the better in this case)
1/2 large onion chopped
1/4 cup capers (or more)
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 raw egg

 We use gloves in our house, not because meat is gross, but because it is cleaner feeling:

Lay out 8 pieces of bread.  We have found sourdough and rye to be the most delicious, but your favorite bread would work great too!

Equally portion the meat mixture onto the bread, and then spread it out evenly over the entire piece of bread.

Preheat your griddle(s) over medium/low heat and place your bread, meat side down on the pan(s).

Allow to brown, for about 5-7 minutes, until the meat has a nice brown color.  Flip and allow the bread to toast on the griddle.

Serve hot with your favorite soup and/or salad.  We had ours with this Strawberry Fennel salad, and it was great!  

Enjoy!