The Ultimate Chicken And Dumplings Recipes

MOMMA'S BEST CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Melt butter in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add celery, carrot, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning; cook and stir until flavors combine, about 5 minutes. Push vegetable mixture to the sides and add chicken; cook until browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side.
• Pour enough water over the chicken to cover by 3 inches; bring to a boil. Stir, scraping the browned bits off of the bottom of the pot. Reduce heat; simmer until chicken is tender, about 1 hour. Transfer chicken and carrots to a serving plate with a large slotted spoon; let cool.
• Ladle 1/4 cup cooking liquid into a bowl; cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Mix in 2 tablespoons flour. Stir back into the pot.
• Place 2 cups flour in a large bowl; cut in shortening with 2 knives until mixture forms pea-sized bits. Mix in chilled chicken broth until dough is combined.
• Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Knead 5 to 6 times; pat down to 1-inch thickness. Sprinkle lightly with flour; roll out to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut dough into squares with a sharp knife.
• Drop squares, in batches, into simmering cooking liquid, moving squares to the side with each addition. Partially cover pot; simmer until dumplings are firm, about 12 minutes. Separate any dumplings that stick together. Remove from heat; keep covered.
• Bone chicken; cut into bite-sized pieces and return to the pot. Chop carrot; return to the pot. Cool chicken and dumplings, about 30 minutes, before serving.

THE BEST CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a shallow bowl, mix 1/2 cup flour, salt and pepper. Add chicken, 1 piece at a time, and toss to coat; shake off excess. In a 6-qt. stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown chicken in batches on all sides; remove from pan., Add onion, carrots and celery to same pan; cook and stir 6-8 minutes or until onion is tender. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 minute longer. Stir in 1/4 cup flour until blended. Gradually add stock, stirring constantly. Stir in wine, sugar, bay leaves and peppercorns. Return chicken to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 20-25 minutes or until chicken juices run clear., For dumplings, in a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk milk and melted butter until blended. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet; set aside., Remove chicken from stockpot; cool slightly. Discard bay leaves and skim fat from soup. Remove skin and bones from chicken and discard. Using 2 forks, coarsely shred meat into 1- to 1-1/2-in. pieces; return to soup. Cook, covered, on high until mixture reaches a simmer., Drop dumplings on top of simmering soup, a few at a time. Reduce heat to low; cook, covered, 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of dumplings comes out clean (do not lift cover while simmering). Gently stir in cream, parsley and thyme. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

THE ULTIMATE CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a large pot, add the chicken, 1 quart of water, onion, celery, garlic and peppercorns. Stew the chicken until completely cooked. Remove chicken from the broth and cool. Remove skin and bones. Cut the chicken into bite sized chunks or shred. Remove 1 - 2 cups broth to use in dumplings; allow to cool.
• To the remaining broth, add the rest of the water, salt, pepper, bouillon cubes and shredded/cubed chicken and heat to simmering.
• To make dumplings: Mix together dry ingredients. Mix egg with one cup of broth and add slowly to the dry ingredients. Use as much broth as needed to make a stiff dough. Knead the dough on floured board, roll very thin. Cut into 1-inch squares with a pizza cutter. Drop in simmering broth; cover and cook 20 minutes. Enjoy.
• If freezing, I will freeze the dumplings, still uncooked, separately from the soup. When time to reheat it, just bring dumplings back to room temperature, reheat the soup to boiling and drop in the dumplings. Very tasty!

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• For the chicken: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the chicken and discard. Rinse the chicken under cold water, inside and out. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Season the body and cavity of the chicken generously with salt and pepper.
• In a small bowl, mash together the butter, lemon juice, and chopped herbs. Rub the herbed butter all over the chicken, as well as under the skin. Put the lemon halves, onion, garlic, and whole herbs inside the chicken cavity, for added flavor. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan fitted with a rack. Roast for 1 hour until the meat is no longer pink. When cool enough to handle, shred the meat, discarding the skin and set aside. Reserve the bones for chicken stock.
• For the stock: Coat a large stockpot with olive oil and place over medium heat. Add the vegetables and saute for 3 minutes. Add the reserved chicken bones, water, and herbs; simmer for 1 hour. Strain the stock to remove the solids and set aside.
• For the dumplings: sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and milk together; pour the liquid in the dry ingredients and gently fold. Mix just until the dough comes together, the batter should be thick and cake-like.
• For the sauce: In a Dutch oven, melt butter and heat oil over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. 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.
• 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. Season with freshly cracked black pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Cut up chicken, but do not remove skin. The skin and bones can be removed later. Place chicken, celery, onion, bay leaves, bouillon, and House Seasoning in water and boil at a rolling boil for 30 to 45 minutes, until meat begins to fall off the bones. Remove skin and bones at this point, along with bay leaves. Return chicken to pan. Prepare dumplings and set them aside for a few minutes. Add cream soup to chicken and continue to boil. If desired, you can thicken the stock a little by mixing 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and adding it to the stock. Drop dumplings into boiling stock. Never stir dumplings. Shake the pot gently in a circular motion to submerge dumplings in stock. Cook for a few minutes more, until dumplings are done. Do not overcook.
• Put flour in a mixing bowl. Beginning in center of flour, dribble small amount of ice water. Work mixture with fingers from center of bowl to sides of bowl, incorporating small amounts of water at a time. Continue until all flour is used up. Batter will feel as if it is going to be tough. Knead dough and form into ball. Dust a good amount of flour onto dough board and rolling pin. Roll out dough, working from center. Dough will be firm. Roll to 1/8 inch thinness. Let it air-dry for a minute or two while you return your attention to the boiling pot at the point at which you add the canned soup to the chicken mixture. Cut dumplings into 1-inch strips. Working with one strip at a time, hold strip over pot, pull it in half, and drop into the boiling stock. Remember, do not stir mixture after dumplings have been added to pot.

OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with water, and add whole chicken. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat. Simmer until tender, about 1 to 2 hours.
• Remove chicken from broth, and set aside to cool. Reserve broth. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones; cut into bite size pieces. Discard skin and bones.
• In a medium bowl, stir together flour and salt. Break one egg into flour, and stir with fork till stiff. Continue adding eggs one at a time until all are incorporated. The dough should be very stiff.
• Bring broth to a boil. Add bouillon cubes; stir until cubes have dissolved.
• Using a fork and knife, pick up dough on fork. Hold over boiling broth, and cut off small pieces into broth until all the dough has been used. Stir, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add chicken meat, and stir. Serve hot.