Chicken & Dumplings

 

Chicken & Dumplings

Hard goods: 

                    Dutch oven with lid.

                   The usual suspects – bowls, measuring utensils

                   Plus an ice cream scoop.

Softgoods.    

For Soup:

Oil for sauté

1 cup each frozen peas, corn

fresh adult-sized carrot, 1 tennis ball sized onion. ½  inch dice

1 lb mushroom, rough medium chopped

32 oz chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup.

1 can evaporated milk

½ large rotisserie chicken, skin removed, shredded.

Savory, tarragon, thyme

 

For Dumplings:

2 cups Pamela’s GF baking mix (I’m sure any baking mix works but I’m GF. Whatever you choose, don’t leave out the yogurt. It’s the secret sauce.)

2/3 cup whole milk

1/3 cup plain yogurt (not fat-free)

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Tarragon, thyme, nutmeg(If you like nutmeg – I do, Cath doesn’t.)

 

Preheat oven to 350F.

SOUP:

Gently sauté the carrots in oil for 3-5 minutes. Add the onions. Add more oil if needed. Pinch salt. Cook for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms. Sprinkle with pinches of herbs to taste, Cook until mushrooms soften and begin to give off liquid. Add frozen veg. Cook until frozen veg has thawed and appears ready to eat.

Remove veg. If there is any fond, be thankful and leave it in the pan. Pour in stock over medium heat, gently scraping up any fond, until you are at a simmer. Add chicken soup and evaporated milk. Stir well. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer.

Add shredded chicken.

Add cooked veg.

Add ½ - 1 tsp each of savory and thyme plus ¼ - ½ tsp tarragon. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes while you prepare dumplings.

DUMPLINGS:

If you are using a non-GF baking mix, follow the package directions plus 1/3 cup full fat yogurt. Here’s what I do with the Pamela’s GF mix-

Whisk dry ingredients – salt, baking powder, and baking mix in bowl. Add enough herbs so flecks are visible throughout the mix.

Add 2/3 cup milk and 1/3 cup yogurt. Mix until just combined.  Avoid overmixing if you’re using a non-GF product. The dumplings won’t reach their full fluffiness.

Are You Ready?

Turn the heat up until soup just begins to boil gently. I use an ice cream scoop to portion the dumplings onto the soup. You should have batter enough to cover the top of a standard home Dutch oven. Yes, it’s a sticky batter.

Cover and place in oven. Check with cake tester or such after 20 minutes. Thicker and/or rounder dumplings will require an extra 5-10 minutes.

Open a cold beer (a pilsner, lager, Hefe, or pale ale) or a glass of white wine (the grassy notes in Gruner Veltliner and New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc go well with this dish.)

Enjoy both dinner and the accolades of the crowd.