Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Chicken and Dumplings

I've been under the weather for about a week now - just the standard Copenhagen Cold. It's put me in the mood for comfort food and I went hunting for a somewhat simple recipe for chicken and dumplings. I say "somewhat simple" because I boil my own chicken to cut costs and that doesn't allow this recipe to truly be simple by American standards.

This recipe is something of my own creation. I poked around looking for a good recipe and ended up piecing together a few I found. You'll notice this isn't a "pure" chicken and dumplings recipe since I include vegetables, but I found it to be easier to add vegetables to the one pot than to make separate vegetable sides.

Chicken and Dumplings

Broth:
1 (3-pound) whole chicken
2 small onions studded with whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 carrots, pealed and left whole
2 stalks celery
1 tablespoon salt

Body:
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
4-5 carrots, pealed and sliced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, washed and quartered
1 cup frozen peas
3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
(corn starch as needed to thicken)

Dumplings:
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 cup shortening
2/3 to 3/4 cup milk

Place whole, defrosted chicken (giblet bag removed), onions, bay leaves, carrots, celery and salt in enough water to cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Remove chicken; cool. Discard onions, carrots, celery and bay leaves. Skin and bone chicken. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces, and add chicken and pepper to broth. Return to a simmer. Add carrots, mushrooms, parsley and basil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add peas.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and dill in a bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add milk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.

Bring broth mixture to a boil. Drop 8-10 spoonfuls of dumpling dough directly into the broth. Reduce heat and simmer, 20 minutes. If the broth is not thick enough to suit, you can add a spoonful or more of corn starch.

Yield
6 to 8 servings

2 comments:

Philip said...

This recipe looks awesome, and I've never made chicken and dumplings--can't say for sure I've ever even had it. I'm gonna try this one.

Do you like the basil? Just reading the recipe, it sounds a bit different--would you use basil again, or recommend a diff. herb?

Rebekah said...

The basil seemed to work though I could see going in a different direction. I tried it out primarily because I included mushrooms and when I saute mushrooms as a side, I'll include a little basil. If not basil, I'd suggest substituting with dill because it has such a fresh flavor and it's already used in the dumplings.

Let me know how yours turns out and if you have any suggestions for changes!