Ellina has asked for Chicken and Dumplings, and so yesterday, as a welcome distraction from editing (not as far as my publishers are concerned), I trawled the Internet and came up with three recipes that looked interesting.
I had never made this dish before, but culled from all three recipes to produce something that not only filled the kitchen with the most wonderful smells, but was delicious, and made the Smalls very happy indeed.
The dumplings were, however, dry in the middle, so I am providing an alternative dumpling recipe which I suspect will be better…
Chicken and Dumplings
Stew ingredients:
3 packets of chicken pieces, preferably with skin on, and preferably with bones for more flavor, but frankly, I used skinless chicken breasts and boneless thighs and it was fine.
2 teaspoons salt
2 leeks, sliced
2 cups carrots, sliced
1 bay leaf
five stalks of celery, cut into pieces
2 medium white onions, chopped
Enough water to cover chicken
Salt and pepper.
For the Roux:
2 tablespoons butter
1 heaped tablespoon flour
1 cup half and half
1 cup vermouth
for the Dumplings:
2 1/4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons shortening
1 beaten egg + enough water to equal 3/4 cup
1/4 cup minced fresh herb 5 leaves such as parsley, chives, and tarragon (optional)
Method
First make the dumplings.
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in large mixing bowl.
Cut in shortening with pastry blender or fork.
Beat egg and water with fork until blended (about 30 seconds).
Add egg mixture gradually into flour mixture while blending with a fork.
Use hands to form into a ball.
Roll dough out on well-floured surface until 1/8-inch thick using a rolling pin.
Cut into rectangles about 2×4 inches in size using a pizza cutter or sharp knife.
Let dry at least 30 minutes, uncovered.
Now start the stew going. You can just throw all the stew ingredients in the pot, add water and go, but if you brown the chicken and onions first in olive oil in a heavy skillet with a lid (Le Creuset is perfect), it adds a lovely layer of richness and depth to the stew. When brown, add rest of ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover pot and cook for at least one hour.
Remove chicken pieces, take off bone and cut into chunks, set aside.
For the Roux: Melt butter in a separate pan, add flour, stir and cook gently. Add half and half, and if still thick, add milk, whisking all the time to a thick paste and until flour turns golden. Whisking constantly, add Vermouth (didn’t have any, I used white wine), and add about five ladlefuls of the chicken stock, continuing to whisk.
When the sauce is smooth, add to the rest of the chicken and stir.
If it is very liquid, uncover pot, and turn the heat way up to reduce and thicken. You want a lovely thick stew, not chicken soup
Bring to boil and add dumplings one at a time, keeping the broth at a boil.
Cover pot and simmer for10 or 15 minutes or until dumplings are done. Do not lift cover so that the dumplings steam.
Turn off heat and let stand for another hour.
Note: You can add additional milk to this dish if the broth is totally absorbed or to achieve the consistency you like.
