It finally got really cold! My husband and son are delirious with joy. I’m just happy to quit dressing like it’s July in November. And of course there is the added attraction of cold weather comfort food. With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching every recipe that you see is holiday related, but here’s the glitch – my family – extended included – won’t let me change one thing. We have our menu down pat and every one of us has a dish we couldn’t stand to forgo for the sake of an experimental recipe. We’ll save that for another day.
For our cold weather comfort dinner last night the request came for homemade Chicken and Dumplings. This probably sounds like a lot of trouble and you can certainly pretend like it is and claim all credit – but in truth it’s a cinch. If you use rotisserie chicken you can make it even easier, but cooking 3 chicken breasts in chicken stock with carrots and celery for 20 or so minutes is not a challenge and certainly makes a nicely seasoned broth. Once that’s done, just chop up the chicken in bite size pieces and set it aside. Now the fun part – dumplings!
I have seen a million recipes where people use everything from crescent rolls to tortillas, but dumplings are just so simple to make from scratch. I like making my own and adding fresh and/or dried herbs to make them special and pretty. Here is how easy it is – put flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and herbs (I used thyme and parsley because a bit was hanging on in the garden) in the food processor. Give it a whirl. Add butter and give it another spin. Add milk until you have dough. Roll it thin, it’s a super easy dough to work with, and cut it – doesn’t have to be even. Drop the pieces in simmering chicken broth, give it a stir and there you have it. After about 20 minutes and a few stirs the dumplings should loose any floury taste and, in fact, taste incredible. Just add the chicken back in with the dumplings and taste for seasoning.
Now it’s time to serve. You can be quite proper and include a green salad with tomatoes and maybe some steamed green beans. Or you can follow my lead and curl up in front of the fireplace with a big bowl of Chicken and Dumplings in your lap while binge watching any Foodnetwork program that isn’t cooking with weird stuff!
Either way, it’s a perfect dish for a cold night and FYI, leftover turkey is a great substitute for chicken!! Happy Thanksgiving!
Chicken and Dumplings with Herbs
Ingredients
3 cups cooked chicken, cubed (I like to cook mine in the broth with a carrot and celery, but rotisserie is fine too.)
6 cups of chicken broth
2 cups flour (extra for rolling)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp fresh herbs (any combination of thyme, parsley, sage, or chives) or 1 Tbsp dried
3 Tbsp butter
1 cup milk
Directions
In a large Dutch oven or pot bring broth to a simmer.
In a food processor combine flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and herbs and give it a few spins to chop herbs and incorporate ingredients.
Add butter and process to incorporate.
Add milk and blend until a soft dough forms.
On a floured surface roll the dough to about ¼ inch thickness (or thinner for thinner dumplings).
Cut into strips about an inch in diameter, perfection won’t win any prizes here.
Toss with a little more flour so they won’t stick and drop into simmering broth.
Cook for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add chicken to heat through.
Serve, enjoy, and hope for leftovers!
Waiting for Leftovers!