Chicken and Herbed Dumplings
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse
Prep Time:20 minInactive Prep Time:--Cook Time:1 hr 45 min
Level:
Intermediate
Serves:
4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
For the broth:
1 large roasting chicken, about 5 pounds, back removed and cut into 8 pieces
2 sweet onions Vidalia coarsely chopped
2 boxes of Chicken Stock
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
For the dumplings:
2 cups cake flour
1/3 cup minced fresh soft herbs, such as parsley, tarragon, and green onion tops
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 Egg - see below
1 cup Milk
For the sauce:
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup of All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 TBS Thyme
3 ribs celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces on the diagonal
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces on the diagonal
1 large onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream or milk
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Cut chicken backs, necks and wing tips into 1-inch pieces. In a large pot, combine the chicken pieces, onions,chicken broth or water, bay leaves and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until the chicken is tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside. Discard the chicken backs, necks, and wing tips. When the chicken pieces have cooled, remove the meat from the bones in chunks and set aside. Discard the skin and bones. Strain the broth and discard solids. Using a spoon, skim the fat from the surface of the broth and discard fat. Set broth aside.
Prepare the dumplings: In a medium bowl, mix the flour, herbs, baking powder, and salt . Add egg and milk mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring with a fork until the mixture just comes together.
In a Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, until golden-brown, 3 to 4 minutes. When golden brown, whisk in the wine, reserved chicken broth, Essence, and thyme. Cook until sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes, then add the celery, carrots, and onion. Cook until the vegetables are tender-crisp, about 15 minutes. Add the reserved chicken meat, heavy cream or milk, and peas. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Place the dumplings on top of the chicken mixture. Cover and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve in large soup bowls, garnished with the parsley.
Q. I need a recipe for good, fluffy dumplings. The last ones my mother made were tough, heavy and chewy. Any recipes or secrets?
A. There are several secrets to making light dumplings. First, like biscuits, don't overmix the batter. Overmixing exercises the gluten in the flour and produces tough dumplings. In fact, some recipes call for the use of cake flour, which is lower in protein than all-purpose flour and therefore more likely to produce a tender dumpling.
A very important practice is to steam/simmer the dumplings. Keep the temperature of the stock to a low simmer. A rolling boil will cause the dumplings to break up. But more important, because most dumplings are bound together by eggs, you want to keep the temperature low enough to cook the dumplings without causing the proteins in the eggs to toughen up. Covering the pot will keep the dumplings surrounded by steam as they cook, allowing them to absorb the necessary liquid. It is so important to keep the steam in, in fact, that you should cover the pot with a glass pie-plate or other see-through lid so that you can see how the dumplings are cooking without having to take off the lid. Once they look fluffy, take off the lid and use a clean toothpick or skewer to see if they are done (as you would for a cake — if the toothpick comes out clean, the dumpling is done). Also, don't crowd the pan — the dumplings need room to expand.
The 1975 edition of Joy of Cooking (Canada, UK) offers this as the basic dumpling recipe: mix together a cup of cake flour, 2 teaspoons of double-acting baking powder, and 1/2-teaspoon of salt. In a measuring cup, break one egg and add enough milk to bring the volume up to 1/2 cup and blend. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients; add more milk if necessary, but you want to keep a stiff batter. You can add a little chopped parsley, herbs, or onion, if you like, before mixing. Bring several cups of stock to a boil in a sauce pan, reduce to a simmer, and drop the batter by the spoonful into the stock. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve at once.
