It had been a while since I had the pleasure of a meal of chicken and dumplings, and I'd never made them myself, before today; so I decided to hit the Internet and see if there was any inspiration there.
Now, previously in my life, most of the chicken and dumplings I'd ever eaten were at my Grandma's house, and pretty much none of the articles I found on the 'Net produced an end product that looked the same as Grandma's; so I struck out on my own.
Being unabashedly lazy, I looked for ways to cut down on the effort involved in preparation. One of the obvious ways was to use canned chicken and a prepared chicken stock, or even chicken bouillon, instead of making a broth using a fresh chicken. Another is to make the dough for dumplings with a baking mix (like Bisquick), instead of assembling it from scratch ingredients. I adopted these labor-saving techniques without hesitation, thus the moniker "Cheater's" for this recipe.
So, what we need for this process is as follows:
Suggested Equipment:
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling pin
- Knife or pizza cutter, sharp
- Sauce pan, 3 quarts
- Common kitchen measures and tools
Ingredients:
| Item | Amount | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | Breast, canned in broth, nominal 13 oz. | 2 | ea |
| Stock | Chicken, commercial or home-made1 | 3 | cup |
| Sage | Dry, rubbed | ⅛ | tsp |
| Black pepper | Dry, ground | ⅛ | tsp |
| Salt | Common | to | taste |
| Baking mix | e.g., Bisquick | 1 | cup |
| Milk | Whole (4% butterfat0 | ½ | cup |
| Vegetable mix2 | Frozen, peas, green beans, carrot, corn | 2 | Tbs |
| Celery2 | Fresh, finely diced | 2 | Tbs |
| Bell pepper2 | Fresh or frozen, any color, diced | 2 | Tbs |
| Stir-Fry Mix2 | Frozen, pepper & onion | 2 | Tbs |
| Garlic2 | Dry, granulated | ⅛ | tsp |
| Cilantro2 | Dry, ground | ⅛ | tsp |
Directions:
First on the agenda is making the dumplings. The reason is, the dumplings will need a period of "rest" after they are prepared, in order to reduce their tendency to come apart in the cooking broth. So:
Put the baking mix into a 2 to 3 quart mixing bowl, and slowly add milk while mixing with a large spoon or fork. Stop adding milk when the dough has reached the consistency of pie crust dough (pretty stiff). Knead the dough, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking, and form it into a ball.
Flatten the dough ball onto a floured surface large enough to accommodate a rolling pin, then roll the dough out to a sheet as thin as you want your dumplings to be. Most people say about ¹⁄₈ inch, but I try to get them as thin as I can, while not tearing.
Cut the sheet with a sharp knife, making your cuts as parallel lines, about ½ inch apart, and make them as long as you want your dumplings to be. Remember, these dumplings are a kind of fresh pasta noodle.
Set the dumplings aside to dry a little, while you prepare the broth.
The cans of chicken will contain some amount of broth. Drain those cans into the 3 quart saucepan, and add your chicken stock. If you are using a commercially prepared stock, you may need to add salt to taste; if you are using chicken bouillon, additional salt is usually not needed.
Add sage, black pepper, and any selected optional ingredients to the saucepan and bring to a low boil. Hold at a low boil for about 10 minutes, then reduce heat to a simmer.
Add the cut dumplings, one at a time, to the simmering broth. With a spoon, push each dumpling in turn under the bubbling surface, waiting a few seconds before adding the next dumpling. This is to prevent the dumplings from sticking to each other. Keep the heat high enough to maintain a simmer as you do this.
When all of the dumplings are safely ensconced in the broth, gently add the chicken (which is still in its cans), and stir to distribute the meat. Bring the heat up again, to a low boil, and hold it there for at least 10 minutes.
When the chicken is warmed through, and all other components of the dish are cooked to your satisfaction, dish into pasta bowls with a ladle. Makes about 4 to 6 good-sized servings.
OK, so it's not Grandma's chicken and dumplings! But you know what? It's still pretty damned good!
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