Chicken and Dumplings

Several months ago, I got a craving for chicken and dumplings. My mom fixed it sometimes when we were a kid, but I don’t remember liking or disliking it. I was a pretty picky eater as a kid. Still, I remembered it being warm and creamy – no vegetables or anything chunky – just chicken and dumplings. That’s the ultimate comfort food for a picky eater/child.

While no longer a picky eater, I still wanted that simple back-to-basics approach to chicken and dumplings. Nothing fancy here. I did my usual thing and went to the Food Network website and did a recipe search. There were so many variations that it would make your head swim. I searched elsewhere and found the same.

Eventually, I tried a recipe, liked it, and modified it. I’ve now got it pretty close to perfection. Since recipes are meant to be shared, and there’s a very good chance that I’ll lose my piece of paper with all my notes on it, I’ll post my recipe here.

Chicken and Dumplings

Combine the following ingredients:

  • 270 grams White Lilly AP Flour (that’s about 2 cups)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder (I like Clabber Girl the best)
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Mix these together, then stir in about 10 oz of full fat buttermilk. I like the PET brand the best, though I haven’t tried the Mayfield brand. Usually 10 oz is enough, but it needs to be a fairly wet dough – a bit wetter than your average biscuit dough. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes (do not skip this step).

While the dough is resting, bring 6 cups of chicken stock to a boil.

Next, flour your rolling surface and gently roll out your dough until it’s about 1/4 inch thick. This doesn’t have to be precise, just try to make the dough a uniform thickness as much as possible.

Now, slice the dough into dumplings. I like to use my pizza cutter for this.

Add the dumplings to the boiling stock slowly. I use a spatula to transfer them over from the counter. The excess flour that you used to keep the dough from sticking to the counter will help thicken the sauce.

Once all the dumplings have been transferred in, add about 1/4 cup of heavy cream. I’ve never actually measured this, so give it your best guess.

Next, add in the cooked, shredded chicken. Stir it up, allow it to cook if you want it to thicken a bit, but chances are it’s already about right.

Serve up in bowls and top with fresh cracked pepper.

Coffee

Here I am again, in my garage with the door open, roasting coffee in a circa 1982 hot air popcorn popper while it rains at 39 degrees.

It’s really good coffee though.