So, last week I had a few requests for a good chicken and dumplings recipe. I’ve, uh, never actually made these dumplings you speak of, but why not! In a slight panic I called my Memaw and begged for her secret recipe. A sweet, southern email and 15 minutes of coaching later, I was ready to go.
Or so I thought.
I learned two mega rules while making this dish.
1) Don’t use whole wheat flour. The recipe calls for all-purpose flour, but in my “oooh, I can make this healthier by using whole wheat” mentality, I made a boo-boo. The dumplings were a tad too dense in the end. Lesson learned, use all-purpose.
2) When the instructions say to reserve 8 cups of stock and save the rest for later, she meant that. I kept all the stock bubbling away, and again, in the end the texture wasn’t at all creamy and gooey like it should have been. It was more soupy. Which is fine! But it’s not the same.
All in all, my marriage is still intact and the soup tasted wonderful, but I’m looking forward to stab #2 at this classic cozy meal.
I guess following the instructions really does amount to something. Who knew!?
Chicken and Dumplings:
For the Chicken Stock:
* 1 (3 pound) free-range chicken, rinsed
* 3 carrots, cut into two-inch pieces
* 1 onion, halved
* 2 stalks celery, cut into two-inch pieces, leaves attached
* 2 garlic cloves, smashed
* 1/2 cup fresh parsley
* 1/4th cup black peppercorns
* 1 cup frozen peas (to add right at the end)
For the Dumplings:
* 2 cups all-purpse flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp shortening
* 3/4th cup cooled stock
* 1/4th cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
Place the chicken in a large dutch oven and cover with water. Add the carrots, onions, garlic, celery, peppercorns, parsley and a good pinch of coarse salt. Simmer for at least an hour. If the meat is falling off the bone, you’re good. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool. Once cooled, shred her up. Give a shred or two to your begging dog at your feet.
With a large slotted spoon, remove the solids from the stock. Reserve the carrots. We’ll cut those up and throw them back in right at the end. Reserve 8 cups of the stock and save the rest for a later use. Keep the 8 cups at a low simmer as you prepare the dumplings.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the cooled broth and shortening and mix with your fingers to create a dough. On a cleaned work surface, roll the dough out pretty thin, to your liking. Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough into 1-inch strips, then crosswise making squares and rectangles. Add the dumplings to the simmering stock, cover and cook for about 12 minutes. Add the chicken, peas, and chopped carrots and cook an additional 5 minutes.
Ladle the chicken and dumplings into bowls and garnish with more parsley.
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