Heavenly Chicken and Dumplings

There should be enough dough to fill this board. This picture is of the extra dough I cut off the sides and re-rolled.

Drop the dumplings in one at a time!






Ever said "I love you" to a bowl of soup? I have, and here's why.

I will get healthy after I lick this pot clean.

This is my mom's recipe, sort of. I called her to ask for it recently because I lost it again, and she didn't remember it. She makes it up as she goes along, and the last time she gave me her recipe, she just happened to remember a recipe that tastes EXACTLY like I remember her chicken and dumplings always tasting. This is one of those childhood recipes that when I cook it, it actually tastes like mom just made it for me. I love it, and I have been wanting it since day 1 of the almost vegan experiment. To prove it, you need only reference my archives of the simmerbright website. It was the first thing I sought to replicate vegetarian-style, and I never could. Tonight I got a nice bright white wine, and I settled in to cook one of my all time favorite meals. Here's how it goes.

1 fryer chicken (a roaster is older and bigger and has too much fat for this recipe--I learned this today)
2 carrots, scrubbed or peeled and chopped coursely
1 medium onion, chopped into five or six chunks
4-5 large cloves garlic, halved
2 large celery stalks, or 1 large celery stalk with the greens, chopped
if you have it, 3-4 good sprigs of fresh thyme, left whole and rinsed
if not, 2 T dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

For dumplings:
2 c. flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3 T shortening, cold
3/4 c. buttermilk*

Bring a large pot of water to a near boil. Rinse your chicken and remove any giblets. Put the chicken, celery, carrots, herbs, garlic, onions, salt and pepper in the water Bring to a boil and turn down to an active simmer or low boil. Cook this way until chicken is tender (legs/wings separate easily, meat is white throughout). Remove the chicken and place in a metal bowl or any other bowl that won't crack from the heat. I like to stick it in the freezer at this point so it will be cool enough for me to work with when I am ready. Let the veggies simmer another twenty minutes or so while you make the dumplings.

For the dumplings, mix your flour, soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in the cold shortening with a shortening cutter or your hands until it is a crumb like texture. Add the buttermilk. Mix with a wooden spoon until moist throughout, then press it into a ball with floured hands. Have a good sized surface well floured, and roll the dough into a sheet about a quarter inch thick or a little less. Slice dough with a sharp, floured knife into 1/2 inch by 2 inch or so strips.

Back to the broth, lift out as much of the vegetables and herb stems as you can with a straining tool. You can strain the whole pot but it's really not worth it. I just like to get the mushy onions and carrots and inedible thyme stems out. Bring it back up to an active boil and begin dropping in the dumplings, one at a time, until they are all gone. Try to keep them from sticking together. It will seem like there are too many, but if your water is boiling well and you are dropping them in ONE at a time, the fat in the broth and the heat should keep them from sticking. Run a wooden spoon around the pot to keep them moving and across the bottom to keep bits of dough from sticking and burning. The broth should slowly begin to get opaque and creamy as the dumplings cook and thicken it.

As this is happening, pick the good meat off your chicken. Small pieces are best, in my opinion, but big ones are okay. Put all the meat in the broth when you are done, or you could save as much as half for another dish. Depends on how chicken-y you like your dumplings. At this point, cover the pot, cook another thirty minutes, and then turn off the heat. Once you turn off the heat, you can stir in a cup of cream or a few spoonsful of sour cream, but it's decadent enough without. Serve in your favorite Tony the Tiger bowl and try not to let anyone hear you whispering sweet nothings to your soup.

I love you mom:)

*If you don't have buttermilk, mix 1 cup regular milk and 1 T white vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for at least ten minutes. Voila, buttermilk.

Next time I think I might make this with a package of wings or thigh pieces and halve or even quarter the recipe. I like wings best anyway and only like a little bit of chicken in the soup. Regardless, it makes no sense to make an entire pot of chicken and dumplings for myself alone.