Chicken and Dumplings
I have said it many times on the Knickerbocker Glory that stimulus comes from everywhere. Although it seems obvious, one of the best places to get inspiration to create something new is to find a classic recipe. One of my favorites is Chicken and Dumplings. It reminds me of my days growing up in the south in a suburb of Atlanta called Roswell. We were transplants from the northern state of Connecticut and it was, in many ways, like moving to a different country. It was hot in the summer and the pace was slower then molasses in winter. The food was certainly different. We were introduced to southern cuisine through many visits to a restaurant called Po Folks. The fried chicken, biscuits and sweet tea were staples, but the Chicken and Dumplings were great and so was the fried okra. I don’t think the Po Folks is still in Roswell, but I still like Chicken and Dumplings. Here is my basic recipe…
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 carrot, sliced thin
- ¼ pound mushrooms, sliced
- 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed
- ½ cup fresh or frozen peas
- 1 cob of corn, kernels removed (no fresh corn? use ½ cup frozen)
- 2 cups chicken stock
- ⅓ cup flour
- Salt and Pepper
- Your favourite pizza dough recipe or other prepared dough. (you could use pasta dough, biscuit dough, even that dough in those cans at the supermarket)
- In a large saute pan over low heat melt the butter.
- Add onion to the pan and cook until soft, but not brown. Add carrot and do the same.
- Add mushroom and cook until they are just starting to cook through.
- Add chicken and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir until the flour is incorporated. Add chicken stock, increase heat and bring to a simmer.
- Add peas and corn, continue to simmer. The liquid will begin to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.
- Cut pieces from the dough and flatten into dumplings. Arrange the dumplings on the top of the simmering mixture. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Turn the dumplings and continue to simmer until the dumplings are no longer doughy and the liquid is thick and to your liking.
- Season again with salt and pepper to desired taste.
- Serve chicken and dumplings hot!
Simple To Make!
Soften the Onion, Celery, Carrot and Mushroom
Add Flour and Chicken Stock. Then Peas and Corn
Arrange dumpling dough and Simmer. Flip dumplings and continue to simmer
This is just a basic recipe for Chicken and Dumplings. A lot can be done to make it your own. We need a little inspiration to help…here are a few ideas. Any number of things could be changed including the meat. Even just a change to the stock could bring about great WOW moments to the classic Chicken and Dumplings!
| Something more French | With Texas Flare | Asian Touches |
| Replace part of stock with cream | Add chilli powder | Replace peas and carrot with edamame |
| Add herbs de provence to the dough | Replace carrot with jalapeño | Add fresh ginger and garlic |
| Use a croisant or puff pastry dough | Use biscuit dough with pepper jack cheese added | No dough, wonton wrappers |
| Think beans | Simmer asian dumplings in broth | |
| Adobo! | Tofu and Shitake Mushrooms! |
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
How would you make the is chicken and dumplings recipe your own? Let us know all about it in the comments or on Facebook.
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