Jan 20, 2009

Week Five: Tuesday (Day 22)

The Great Dumpling Debate.

Tonight we are having Chicken and Dumplings. I've been using this recipe for years. When I was growing up, my mother made the drop dumplings. I did not like the drop dumplings as it was like a huge wad of sticky dough. I moved to the panhandle of Florida and discovered "Rolled Dumplings." All of a sudden I hearted Chicken and Dumplings!

When I was researching about this topic, I came across THIS WEBSITE that hilariously discusses the whole "dumpling type" issue (Northern, Southern, Rolled, Drop...). Her recipe was way more involved than mine. It is probably great, but mine is faster! Below is my recipe:

The Recipes

The Chicken part:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (see notes below)
2 T butter (optional)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
4 cups stock
3 cups water

Bring water to a boil and then simmer chicken until done. Remove chicken, cool, and dice. Return stock to boil.

The Dumpling part:

2 cups flour (I used spelt)
3/4 cups warm water
1 T salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne

Combine in a bowl. Turn out onto a floured surface, adding flour to keep it from being sticking. Press out or roll out into a thin layer. Cut into 1" by 2" pieces (put the ruler away, it's just a small rectangular-like shape!), and add, a few at a time, to the boiling stock. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes. Return the chicken to the pot and heat through.

I served this with a carrot salad.

***MY NOTES:
  • I was planning on using the tenders and realized that I had already earmarked them for the Chicken Tampa I'll be making later this week. What to do? I had some ground chicken in the freezer from THIS meal and used that!
  • Most people use the whole chicken to make chicken and dumplings. That's more time consuming, but it is obviously great as well.
  • My version worked out to be sort of a "fast food" with the pre-cooked ground chicken. I might have to keep that on hand just for this recipe...after I find out what Hubby thinks, that is!

The Verdict:

Me: I put too much cayenne in my batch of dumplings. I used 1/2 teaspoon. There was definitely heat! I guess that's one way to get my daily allotment of water down--fix mouth-burning food! I adjusted the recipe above to 1/4 teaspoon which should be just right.

Hubby: Next time I would like THREE times the amount of dumplings. You can move the chicken out of the way if there's not enough room...

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