Fall in Paris is glorious. Is it better than spring? Oui. It also has me craving a little bit of home.
Between immersive French, data algorithms going off the rails, and trying to find all my packages all over the city – I’ve been a little overwhelmed, actually, a lot overwhelmed. It is good to admit to it, because moving across the world, learning a new language, and working full time IS HARD. I took the evening off from French, work, and being a taskmaster with myself to create a little island of comfort. And those islands are dumplings.
So without further ado…. enjoy your own pillowy islands of comfort.
Southern Chicken and Dumplings
Equipment
- Large pot with a tightly fitting lid
- Medium pot
- Whisk
Servings: Enough for a large family or small family with big appetites
Ingredients
Stew
- 1 small yellow onion – diced
- 2 large carrots – chopped
- 3 ribs of celery – diced
- 1/2 cup flour
- 5 cups chicken broth (made from bullion)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- Salt and pepper
- 2 bouquet garnis with bay leaf, thyme rosemary or 2 bay leaves and three twigs of thyme
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup haricot vert cut in bite sized pieces (optional)
- 4 chicken breasts cooked with bones and skin (removed) and chopped
Or you can use a rotisserie chicken if you have one - Minced parsley for garnish (if you are feeling fancy)
Dumplings
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 grind of the salt mill
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1 cup milk room temp
(you can add pepper and celery leaves lightly chopped to them if you like a little something special)
Directions:
Make five cups of bullion in the smaller stock pan – leave it on a low simmer on the stove. In the big pot, melt stick of butter over medium low heat. Add the celery, onion, and carrot and cook for about 10 minutes until the onion is translucent. You can add two cloves of minced garlic at the ten minute mark and cook the mixture for another minute or two if you don’t have a cat or just really like garlic.
Add the flour to the pot and stir vigorously while cooking for two minutes. Add the hot stock a half a cup at a time and stir until it is incorporated and creamy. Once the base comes together, you can drizzle the remaining stock into the big pan while whisking. Don’t have the arm strength? Just keep to the 1/2 cup method. Add the cream, and whisk. Add the chicken, bouqet garnis, and frozen peas and gently stir.
Turn the pot on low. You can also add haricot vert if you like them.
Time to mix the dumplings. In a small bowl, add the flour and the baking powder and blend with a fork. Put the butter in the microwave and melt. Stir in the room temperature milk (I generally use a large Pyrex measuring cup to I can just add the milk to that and save an extra bowl). Pour the milk and butter mixture into the dry ingredients and blend with a fork. Do not over work the dumpling dough. Just mix until it is all holding together. Now you can plop the dumplings into the pan. I make medium size dumplings with large soup spoon. Cover the top of the chicken stew with the dumplings. Put the lid on the pan and do not lift it for 15 minutes. Seriously, go grab a glass of wine. Set the timer. After 15 minutes, flip the dumplings and recover the pan for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper. Taste again. Repeat as necessary.
Take off the lid and serve. I use a slotted spoon to get the mixture of chicken, veggies and dumplings and then use a ladle for adding more sauce, but you do you.
