Chicken and Dumplings

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Show: Tyler's UltimateEpisode: Ultimate Chicken and Dumplings

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (119)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(119)

Cook Time:
1 hr 40 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
6 to 8 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 1 hr 40 min
Total:: 2 hr 10 min

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Ingredients

Chicken and Stock:

1 (3 to 31/2 pound) whole organic chicken
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
4 to 5 black peppercorns
1 head garlic, split through the equator
2 tablespoons salt

Directions

Buttermilk-Chive Dumplings:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped chives
3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk

Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen pearl onions
1/4 cup heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish
Chopped chives, for garnish

For the stock:

Place the chicken and all stock ingredients in a large Dutch oven and cover with water. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour until the chicken is tender. Skim the surface of fat and scum as it cooks.

When done remove the chicken to a cutting board. Strain the stock and shred the meat into big pieces - the stock will be used for the sauce and the chicken will be folded into it.

For the dumplings:

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, using a whisk, lightly beat the eggs, chives and buttermilk together; pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently fold. Mix just until the dough comes together; the batter should be thick and cake-like.

To prepare sauce: In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, add the butter and oil. Add the carrot, celery, garlic, and bay leaves and saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes to coat the flour and remove the starchy taste. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add frozen peas and pearl onions.

Let sauce simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Stir in heavy cream.

Fold the reserved shredded chicken into the sauce and bring up to a simmer. Using 2 spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the hot mixture. The dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be touching or crowded. Let the dumplings poach for 10 to 15 minutes until they are firm and puffy. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season with freshly cracked black pepper and garnish with chopped chives before serving.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Chicken and Dumplings
Robin Oak Hill, VA 11-18-2009
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good, as the rating says
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

My family really liked it and it's definitely a do-over. I took the advice from others that reviewed and started with five... cups of stock (I did make from scratch but added celery and onion and a bit more thyme). BUT, it didn't thicken and that was with five cups of stock. So, I started adding more flour (which is a no no). Still didn't work. Then I mixed some water and corn starch (twice). Finally......it thickened. The dumpling turned out great. I did, though, just use 3/4 cup of buttermilk. I figured I could add more if needed. All in all - a winner. My stock was fabulous. I have left overs which I plan to use again for the fabulous roasted tomato soup, which my husband can't wait for me to make again!Read more
recipe Chicken and Dumplings
Fran Carlsbad, CA 11-18-2009
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World's Best Chicken and Dumplings
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Tyler, you made me a rock star in the kitchen! I'm Southern but could never make dumplings until now. Your recipe and method... are so easy to follow and produced the lightest, fluffiest dumplings I have ever eaten! Your recipe also produced a beautifully clear chicken broth that was out of this world. My family loved it! I'm serving this for company so my Southern friends can envy me! Fran Jackson, MSRead more
recipe Chicken and Dumplings
Bec Zionsville, IN 11-18-2009
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MMM - we loved this one!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My family loves any kind of soup/stew and this is a new favorite. I would suggest tasting it for salt. I needed to add a... little. Keeps fairly nicely in freezer. Thanks again, Tyler.Read more
recipe Chicken and Dumplings
Robert Glen Allen, VA 11-17-2009
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Just Delicious!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I grew up with chicken and dumplings, but my mother made the dumplings from Bisquick. Now that I'm away from most all... "processed" foods, Bisquick tastes bitter to me. I saw this show, and decided I had to give it a try. I've never made chicken and dumplings before. Heck, I never cooked a whole chicken before. While I wouldn't call this recipe "easy" because of how time-consuming and somewhat labor-intensive this is (at least for a semi inexperienced cook), it all came together just as the instructions suggested. I believe I had to cook the dumplings longer than the indicated time, but that could be my stove, too. The thyme, the pearl onions, the peas - all just perfect. My wife and I loved it. In fact, after a couple of days of leftovers (during which it got better and better), tonight we turned the remains into a pot pie with a crust - just added some potatoes, carrots, and celery. We'll finish it up tomorrow. We bought the chicken as part of a 2-pack. I think I'll try roasting the other chicken once we thaw it, but I'd be tempted to do the chicken and dumplings again!Read more
recipe Chicken and Dumplings
Amanda ridgewood, NJ 11-12-2009
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Good but needs fine tuning
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

First time making chicken and dumplings though it is a personal comfort food favorite. I had similar issues with the broth... not thickening so added more cream and it was yummy in the end. And as others have said this is a somewhat time consuming recipe, highly unlikely that you would come in from work and decide to make this. I cooked the chicken, making the broth on Tuesday night, took the skin off the chicken when it came out of the pot, covered and refrigerated until the next day, strained the broth, cooled, covered and chilled making it super easy to skim off the fat Wednesday night when putting the dish together. Next time (there will be many next times) I will add more veggies to the pot with the chicken to get a more robust broth with a good glug of sherry added to the pot. For the final dish plan to chop a big leek and saute that with the carrots and celery and also add some mushrooms. I would also add some herbes de provence, felt it needed more seasoning. The dumplings I wouldn't change a think. I didn't use all of the batter last night. Put it in the fridge and plan to make more dumplings when using the leftovers. Read more
recipe Chicken and Dumplings
MICHELE brentwood, CA 11-11-2009
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This was simply delicious!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I have never made chicken and dumplings, but the reviews were so good I had to try it for myself. I had just watched the... show and it did seem very easy. After reading some of the reviews, I noticed for myself that the sauce was a little thin. I made another roux of 2 tbs. of melted butter and 3 tbs. of flour. I cooked it for 2 minutes and added some additional broth to the roux and added it to the sauce. That did the trick. The sauce thickened perfectly and I continued with the dumplings. Everything turned out perfectly and so delicious! Michele Discovery Bay, CaliforniaRead more