Chicken and Dumplings

Serves

Four people.

Hardware

6 qt. sauce pot

Ingredients

4 - 5			chicken breast halves, skinned and boned, and cut into bite-sized pieces
1			large onion, cut into 8 equal wedges
2	stalks		celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
2			carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
			fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 ½	cups		all-purpose flour
2	tsp		baking powder
½	tsp		salt
1			egg
½	cup		milk
1 ¼	tsp		dried sage

Procedure

1. Place the chicken, onion, celery, carrots, and pepper in the pot and cover with water.

2. Cover and bring to a boil.

3. Remove any scum that forms.

4. Simmer until the chicken is tender (about 1 hour).

5. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the dumpling batter:
   1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

   2. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and the egg.

   3. Whisk the wet mixture into the dry.

6. When the chicken is tender, strain the broth through a seive and return to the pot; reserve the chicken and vegetables.

7. Bring the broth to a gentle boil.

8. Using a teaspoon, drop spoonfuls of batter into the broth; dip the spoon fully into the broth, wait a few seconds, and the dumpling should slide off.

9. Cook until the dumplings are done (about 20 minutes).

10. Remove from the heat, add the chicken and vegetables, stir well, and serve immediately.

Notes

The original recipe used only 3 cups of the stock, and boiled the dumplings with the chicken in the pot. I find that that's not enough stock, and it over-cooks the chicken.

Visually, this is pretty boring; serve with something green.

If you have fresh sage, use 1 ½ Tblsp, chopped.

The original recipe called for a "3 ½ pound chicken, cut into serving pieces." For most dishes, I use just the breasts because the rest of the chicken goes into my stock. If you buy whole chickens and bone them yourself, this isn't as extravagent as it sounds.

Rating

Difficulty: Easy.

Time: About 2 hours.

Precision: 1, but 2 (maybe 3?) for the dumplings.

Source

Adapted from Good Old Food, by Irena Chalmers.

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