My favorite thing about the modern crock pot is that once all the ingredients are thrown together and it has been turned on, you can walk away and slowly the sacred vessel turns that hodge podge of simple ingredients into something truly special. Many a time I've left the crock pot to the muses of time only to come home to the wonderful smells wafting throughout the house with a promise of a gourmet meal waiting at the appointed time.

Today's dinner is a bastion of homemade goodness transporting one back to a simpler time and stems from my southern roots on the farm. (Ok, so I'm not really from the South and I've never lived on a farm, but I did live in the Virginia / North Carolina area for two years and I have ancestors that were gentleman farmers in Kentucky).

Southern Style Chicken & Dumplings

2 lbs, boneless, skinless chicken (breasts and/or thighs)

6 cups chicken stock (can be quickly made with chicken base (or bouillon) and water)

6 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 med. potatoes, peeled and diced

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium onion, quartered

2 tsp parsley, chopped

1 tsp. poultry seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

Biscuit Topping (see below)

Roux as needed to thicken (See post on Roux if you don't know about this wonderful thickener).

Peas can be added if desired at the end. (optional)

Place all ingredients in crock pot except Biscuit Topping and Roux. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours. Prepare Biscuit Topping and spoon over chicken mixture. Thicken with roux until desired consistency (caution, this will continue to thicken slightly as it cook). Tilt lid to vent steam and cook on high for 30 minutes or until biscuits are cooked in the center (caution #2 biscuits will also thicken sauce).

Biscuit Topping:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup butter or shortening (cut in until coarse and crumbly)

2/3 cup cold milk (add and stir until completely moist)

Food Storage Jambalaya

I wanted to try something different today and use as much as I could from my food storage. So with the exception of some of the meats, everything else was from dried or canned. It's not that you can't get dried or canned meats, on the contrary, I have found some fairly good meats for my food storage. It's just that I don't currently have any freeze dried meats (I'll looking at getting some soon from a couple of sources) and my only selection of canned meats currently are tuna, chicken, salmon and one can of clams. So in true food storage fashion, I'll just have to make due.

And that is the true beauty of Jambalaya. A true Louisiana dish of rice, vegetables, stock and whatever meat could be found lying around. The dish gained popularity outside of the south during the Great Depression of the 1930's precisely due to its throw-everything-except-the-kitchen-sink-in simplicity. With this I'm planning to make a Key Lime Pie which should compliment this very well (see my other post later today if I have time to pick up some limes).

So here goes my food storage Jambalaya cooked in a crock pot:

Food Storage Jambalaya (sort of)

Serves 8

3 cups white rice

7 cups chicken stock

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp chili pepper or red chili pepper flakes

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tsp salt

2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste

3 sausages, sliced thin (andouille, chorzo, italian, or what ever you got).

2 (12.5 oz) cans of premium chunk chicken breast (or 2 lbs fresh chicken, diced)

1 (7 oz) can salmon

1 cup diced ham

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes

1 can red kidney beans (or 1 cup kidney beans that have soaked over night)

1 cup dehydrated diced green & red bell peppers

1 cup dehydrated celery

1 cup dried minced onions

In a crock pot combine rice, seasonings and dehydrated vegetables. In a medium sauce pan combine chicken stock and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, pour over the rice mixture and stir. On top, place the meats (anything raw should go near the edges), kidney beans and tomatoes (including liquid). Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours. Stir and enjoy.