Now, I’m no expert, but if there is one thing I’ve learned about marriage, it’s that you won’t be the same people that you were the day you said “I do.”  Your lifelong commitment to each other is unwavering, but your interests, motivators, goals, and dreams shift over time. And that’s okay. The cool thing is when you grow and change as an individual, your relationship matures and deepens as you fall even more in love with the person they are becoming. After only 5 years, I can look back and reflect how much I loved Neil with all my heart the day we tied the knot, and if I stop and think of our relationship now, I am overwhelmed with how much more I love him.

In a similar, yet much less significant way, we’ve been revisiting some of our first recipes. They were really good when we posted them a few years ago, but we’ve learned a few tricks of the trade since then and have made them even better than they were. Here at The Newlywed Chefs, Chicken & Dumplings is one of our most visited pages. At first I questioned why, but then I stopped and remembered how delicious this dish is, and made it again at once. The dumplings are more biscuit-like, and bake on top of the chicken portion, which is similar to a pot pie filling. It takes a little time, but it’s really not hard.

Simply cook the chicken and set it aside to rest as you cook the vegetables.

Top with the dumpling dough and steam the dumplings atop the vegetables until they are puffed and airy.

This creamy savory dish will warm your whole body- perfect for a cold winter’s night. I hope you enjoy the new and improved recipe. I’m sure you’ll love it even more than it once was before.

Chicken & Dumplings

Prep Time: 20 min. Cook Time: 50 min.

Ingredients:

For the Chicken:

1 lb. chicken thighs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons butter

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 cups baby bella mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons herbes de provence

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

For the Dumplings:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large egg, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preparation:

First, make the dumplings. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Using a pastry blade, cut in the butter until mixture begins to clump. Once a course meal has formed, stir in egg and buttermilk. Bring dough together with hands, and transfer onto a floured flat surface (a countertop works well). Pat dough into 1-inch thickness. Cut into 1″x1″ squares, and let rest while making the rest of the dish.

In a large dutch oven, brown chicken thighs over medium high heat along with one teaspoon of salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes per side and season with another pinch of salt as you flip. Removed browned chicken and set aside.

In the same pot, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and all vegetables except the garlic. Continue to cook over medium high heat, and add pepper, herbes de provence, and red pepper flake. Cook for 8 minutes and add 2 tablespoons of flour to the vegetable mixture. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes until vegetables are soft.

Add garlic, wine, stock, and bay leaves and stir. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat and add chicken. Cook over medium low for about 20 minutes. Remove chicken and shred using two forks. Return to the pot and add dumplings atop the chicken mixture. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, or until dumplings are puffed and cooked through. Serve hot.

Woah! It’s Halloween! Man, October flew by and here we are on the threshold of another holiday season. Being a new homeowner, I am attempting to add more and more personal touches to make our house feel like a home. One of my favorite Halloween decorations I made were these luminaries to light the path of the trick or treaters in our neighborhood. Super easy, super cute. Thanks, Southern Living, you’re a pal.

As tempting as it was to post a sweet dish on here for Halloween, I figure you’ll get enough of them in the upcoming holiday season. If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll definitely want to come back here in December. We have big plans, folks, big plans. Anyhow, we’ll continue with a mouth watering seasonal savory dish today!

We posted a version of this recipe long ago, but after rereading it, all I wanted to do was revise it. Now, the cooking time is shortened, the ingredient list is shorter, and the culinary skills are way more logical. It’s like a new, healthier, tastier version of what you may have seen previously on this site.

This is a great recipe for using those darling little pie pumpkins you are decorating with for fall. A bonus: this recipe is paleo friendly, vegan, and sugar free! It only takes a few hours in the crock pot, so it’s perfect if you get home in the afternoons (like me) from work. Enjoy, Happy Halloween, and we’ll chat again real soon!

Pumpkin Curry
Prep Time: 60 min. (includes roasting the pumpkin) Cook Time: 3-4 hours

Ingredients:

2 whole pie pumpkins
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 onion, sliced in half moons
2 cups baby carrots, halved
½ bunch cilantro, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken stock
14-oz. lite coconut milk
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 lime, juiced

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

On a sturdy cutting board, remove the stem of two pumpkins, and slice pumpkins lengthwise. Dispose of pumpkin seeds and strings. Cut each half again lengthwise, and place the eight pieces of pumpkin on two baking sheets. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast pumpkin in the oven for 45 minutes, or until pumpkin is soft when pierced with a fork. Allow to cool and peel off the pumpkin skin using a knife. Cut pumpkin into 1″ cubes. Place cubed roasted pumpkin pieces in the crock pot.

Meanwhile, prepare the curry. In a medium sized skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium. Once hot, add onion and carrots. Saute until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Then, add garlic and red curry paste. Simmer for another minute.

Transfer vegetable mixture to crock pot on “low” setting. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Cover crock pot with lid and cook for 3-4 hours on low.

Serve curry over cauliflower rice (one head of cauliflower, food processed and sauteed with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper), and top with fresh cilantro.

Serves 8