Cooking Spotlight: Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and dumplings is a comfort food I was raised on, and it doesn't always need chicken in it. It's a great way to use up the remains of a whole chicken though.

When I think about making the stew, I think of the following components: the broth base, the veggies, the optional meat, and the dumplings.

An ideal chicken and dumplings starts with rendering a whole chicken carcass into a broth. That's as simple as pouring a bunch of water (enough to cover the carcass) into a pot, letting it simmer for a few hours, then straining any bones out.

Once you have the broth, then you add your veggies. I'm fond of celery and carrots, but we've also had success with green peas and corn. Onion is also a good choice, as are peppers. We even did it with tiny potatoes once, halved!

Next comes an optional meat. If you started from a chicken, you probably have shreds of chicken leftover from carving it up. Those can be tossed into the pot as well.

Finally comes the key component: the dumplings. I'm in favour of drop dumplings, called so because you drop them into the boiling soup with a spoon.

Making them is simple and fast: 2 cups flour (or bisquick ideally) and 2/3 cup milk. Buttermilk can substitute the milk if you prefer. Then mix them until they're pliable but not runny nor dry.

By this point the stew should be boiling on the burner. The boiling is super important for getting the right fluffiness out of your dumplings. Dump them in, one oversized spoonful at a time. I recommend dunking the spoon several times, and the dough should fall right off on its own.

I also add my seasonings at this step: usually ground sage and chili powder, but garlic powder and dill do not go amiss either.

Once you add all the dough and seasonings, you need to immediately cover the pot with a lid for 15 minutes and turn it down to a simmer. Don't remove the lid during this process, because it needs to keep that high heat to steam the dumplings properly.

After fifteen minutes covered, they should come out looking good:

To serve I recommend scooping out one dumpling, then filling the bowl with broth and veggies.