Chicken Chowder in a Italian bread bowl, salad and apple dumplings

OK here we go!

This week I did Chicken chowder in a italian bread bowl with a cranberry gorgonzola salad on the side and apple smoked apple dumplings for desert.

First up are the bread bowls.



I mixed the ingredients for the dough in the mixer until it all pulled together. Now the hard part..time to knead the dough for 5 minutes by hand.






Once the dough is smooth put it into a lightly oiled bowl to rise. Be sure to cover the bowl with a damp towel and place the bowl in a warm place. I used the warming spot on my stove for this step.



On a baking sheet you're going to sprinkle some corn meal then put your dough on the sheet.



Once your dough has risen you're going to punch it down and place it on a cutting board to cut out the portions.





I put three balls of dough on the baking sheet and three in crocs and let them rise another 30 minutes. Once the dough had risen again they went into the MAK at 400º







Continued...

Look'n good !!



Now there done and on cooling racks.



While the bread is cooling I got started on the chowder.



I roasted a couple of chickens a couple days ago and used the leftovers to put in the chowder. One bird got MAK's bird rub and the other got a dusting of Tony Chachere's seasoning.





First off I chopped up 5 pieces of uncooked bacon and cooked it in a pot.



Then use the drippings to saute 1/2 cup of chopped onion and 3 cups of diced celery.



Once the onion and celery are tender you want to add 4 cups of diced potatoes, 3 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups of diced carrots and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer another 20 minutes.

While thats simmering away, in another pot put in 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, 2 cups of half and half, 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and 3 cups of diced cooked chicken. I also at this time cooked the rest of the bacon on the MAK to put into the chowder.







continued..

Add your chicken and veggies and broth to the other pot and let it cook on low for another 45 minutes to thicken it up some.





We're almost done.. Time to get started on the dumplings!

These should be illegal! There that good!

Take 2 granny smith apples and core, peel and cut them up into 16 wedges.
Open 2 cans of cresent roll dough and seperate the triangles. Roll each apple wedge in a cressent roll starting at the smallest end. Pinch the ends to seal the apple in and place it in a baking pan.



Do this for the rest of your apple wedges.



For the sauce you need to melt 2 sticks of butter in a sauce pan, add in 1 1/2 cup of white sugar and one teaspoon of ground cinnamon.





Once the sauce is heated and mixed well pour it over the dumplings.



Now you may be wondering..Chili whats the Mountain Dew for??
Why we're going to pour 12 ounces over the dumplings! We're going to get all jacked up on Mountain Dew!!





Into the MAK at 350º



continued...

40 minutes later and the dumplings are ready to come off the MAK.



OH BABY!! Smells like apple pie in the house!

Finally it's time to get it all plated and eat!

Cut out the center of one of the bread bowls but don't cut it all the way to the bottom.





Add your chowder to the bowl, sprinkle some bacon on top and save the top you cut off for dipping.

We had a mixed greens salad with gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing for a side salad. A tall glass of milk to wash it down was in order for this meal as well.






Who wants dessert!!??

Place one or two dumplings on a plate (one would have been enough ). Pair it with 2 scoops of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzle some of the cinnamon sauce over the top.



I am sooo full...

excellent! Bravo!

What BP said! Great cook Chili!

CH,
You did it again! That whole meal is a real masterpiece. Without looking in my cook book, what did you replace with the Mountain Dew? Or did you just add the Dew for "kicks"?

Art

The dew was added for the extra zing, you can make it with apple juice 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Killer cook! Everything looks fantastic, love that dessert.

Awesome cook Chili!

Excellent cook Chili Head. A great meal for moving into the Autumn season.

That looks FANTASTIC! Nice work. I will be bookmarking for future reference!

This was the perfect cool night meal  We really enjoyed this one.

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

wow. one more time. wow. by far one of the most impressive cooks on this forum. really nice. those little apple things i am making this next weekend. bravo partner. your a h#!! of a cook.

Unbelievable! This looks so great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's the recipe for the chowder I made.

Ingredients:
1 pound sliced bacon
3 cups diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
4 cups diced potatoes
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups diced carrots
3 cups diced cooked chicken
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
2 cups half-and-half cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
In a large pot, cook 4-5 pieces of bacon until crisp. Reserve the drippings and set aside the crumbled bacon for later. Sauté celery and onion in the drippings until tender. Add potatoes, broth and carrots and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. In another pot heat up your cream of mushroom soup and the half and half on medium. Cook the rest of the bacon and crumble that up and add to the cream of mushroom soup as well. Add your pre cooked and diced chicken and the salt and pepper too. After your vegetables are tender add the ingredients of the two pots together and mix well.

You're done! I hope you enjoy it!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And here is the apple dumplings recipe

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 12oz can of Mountain Dew
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges for each apple
2 packages refrigerated crescent roll dough


Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
Heat the butter, sugar, cinnamon in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, and set aside. Divide the crescent roll dough into 16 triangles. Roll 1 slice of apple with the dough starting at the lower corner and pinch the ends closed and place them in a lightly oiled pan (I used Pam). Pour the butter mixture over the wrapped apples, then pour the mountain dew on top. Bake in the preheated cooker until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.

Simple! You're going to love these!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Awesome meal Chili!

Thanks for sharing your recipes!

My pleasure Rip!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk