Chicken and Dumplings is probably one of those comfort foods that remind you of your grandmother. John (my husband) grew up in the Midwest USA and his Mom used to make a version of this for him. My recipe is quite different to hers, in that my dumplings are light and fluffy and hers were more like a rolled noodle. Also, I include lots of vegetables like you'd find in a chicken pot pie.
Today, is a rainy day complete with thunder and lightening......that's pretty rare for Los Angeles, so it inspired me to cook up some yummy comfort food for my husband.
Here's the view from my office window.
CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS
1 whole chicken
1 onion for the stock and 1 onion for the soup
8 cloves of garlic for the stock
2 carrots for the stock
and 2 carrots for the soup
bunch of celery tops for the stock, and 2 celery stalks for the soup
1/2 bag of frozen peas for the soup
1/4 c parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
6 - 8 c water
Start by boiling the chicken, carrots, onion, carrot, celery tops, garlic and water, for the stock. Reduce temperature to simmer once the liquid starts to boil, add salt and pepper and cook for one hour.
Turn off the heat and remove the chicken to a large plate to cool. Then once you can handle touching the chicken, remove and discard the skin and bones.
I used an immersion blender to puree the cooked vegetables and combine them with the stock.
Now to the pot add the additional two carrots, two celery stalks, one onion chopped and bring back up to a simmer for about 10 mins.
The chicken should be ready to add back in.
Along with the frozen peas and parsley
Now prepare the dumplings:
1 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp oil
1/4 c chopped parsley
Mix all together in a bowl until just moistened. It will look very wet. Drop by spoon fulls into simmering stew and cover for 10 mins. (Don't remove the lid) Make sure the temperature is on low, and it won't burn.
This made enough for about 4 - 6 people.
