Photo: Neely's Chicken and Dumplings Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 bunch thyme
- 1 bay leaf
Dumplings:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 2 ribs celery, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 3 cloves finely chopped garlic
Directions
In a very large saucepan or Dutch oven, add chicken, chicken broth, thyme, and bay leaf to cover. Turn on heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. *Cook's Note: You'll want to poach the chicken on a low simmer and start with cold stock so the chicken cooks evenly.
Once the chicken is cooked, transfer to a 13 by 9-inch casserole dish and let cool. Reserve broth and discard the thyme and bay leaf. When chicken has cooled, shred. Use your hands or a fork and make sure to get all the meat off the bone. Discard the skin and bones.
Dumplings:
Add flour, salt and pepper, to taste, and baking powder to a large bowl and whisk together. In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream, butter and herbs to a low simmer then add to the dry ingredients. Stir with a rubber spatula until combined. Using your hands, form dough into dumplings.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add oil. Once oil is hot, add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Saute until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add reserved broth to Dutch oven with vegetables and add the chicken. Bring to a low simmer. Add dumplings 1 at a time into the simmering soup. Cover pan with a lid and cook for 25 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste, if necessary.
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By Chef #1203344
on February 05, 2012
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Taste wise I would give this 5 stars. I used Emeril's Essence to season the chicken after shredding it and I'm glad that I did. It added a subtle kick.
I followed the recipe to the letter but the evening was busy and I ended up making the dumplings and letting them set for 30 minutes or so before adding them to the soup. Also, not having grown up eating dumplings I'm not sure how they "should" taste. My grandmother, who grew up in North Carolina tasted them for me and said they had a good taste and that the texture was correct though she felt I could have added a pinch more salt (smile. It reminded me a lot of chicken pot pie for some reason.
They were not DENSE but seemed heavier than expected and as some reviewers described melted in your mouth and had a very tender texture. When I cut into some, the center seemed dark despite letting the soup simmer so much longer than required (50 extra minutes.
By Chigirl55
on February 02, 2012
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I didn't watch this episode and maybe that would have helped. The broth was tasty but I had to thicken it. I replaced the cream with 1% milk, per some suggestions. By the time they were cooked through, they were brick-like, shall we say? It isn't fair to be negative when I didn't follow the recipe exactly, tho, and I would probably try it again, using the cream!
By ToDiFor
Little Rock, A...
on January 31, 2012
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This dish turned out very well. The cream in the dumplings melted into the broth to make it a very rich stew. And, especially happy to see the dumplings remain plump and tender and not melt away to 'where'd the dumplings go land.' Will use this easy dumpling recipe for all my dumpling needs.
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