We went to Mississippi last weekend to visit my family. While we were there, my brother prepared a lunch of mustard greens, turnips, field peas, and cornbread. Eating these vegetables took me back to my roots and reminded me of all the southern fare that I love so much. The lunch made me think of all the dishes from my past, the first of which was chicken and dumplings.
Sometimes there’s nothing like a bowl of chicken and dumplings on a cool autumn night. I would classify this southern dish as one of my favorite comfort foods. I read recipes for chicken and dumplings which are very different from the ones prepared by the small town Mississippi cooks where I was raised. Many of the recipes are for dumplings that are dropped by the spoonful onto the top of the chicken stock. The dumplings puff into large half spheres. I like these dumplings, but they are not the true southern variety which are made with basic biscuit dough, cut into strips, and boiled in chicken stock. Other recipes include a variety of vegetables, which are not used in traditional southern chicken and dumplings.
My childhood neighbor and one of my favorite southern cooks made some of the best chicken and dumplings I ever ate. She prepared her dumplings with more of a pasta dough, using flour, eggs, and water. I’ve used her recipe, but I really do prefer using biscuit dough.
In this recipe, I did vary slightly from tradition with the addition of carrots, onions, celery, garlic, and green peas. As the adage goes, you eat first with your eyes. The color contrast of the carrots and peas make this dish much more visually appealing than it would be without them. Additionally, I wanted the stock to be as rich as possible and the vegetables give the stock a layer of flavor that you don’t get otherwise. Normally, you would stew the chicken in water. I added chicken stock to the water, again attempting to intensify the stock.
Ingredients
1 3 lb chicken
4 cups chicken stock
3 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 carrots, cut in half
4 ribs celery, cut in half
4 cloves garlic
1 large onion, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup frozen green peas
Instructions
1. Bring chicken stock, water and salt to a boil.
2. Add chicken, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.
3. Cook for 45 minutes.
4. Remove chicken and vegetables from stock.
5. After chicken is cooled, debone and cut into bite sized pieces.
6. Slice carrots and celery into 1/2 inch pieces.
7. Set vegetables and chicken aside.
8. Bring chicken stock back to a boil.
1. Whisk dry ingredients together.
2. Place flour and cubes of butter in the bowl of a food processor.
3. Pulse until butter is processed into pea-sized pieces.
4. Pour flour mixture into a bowl and mix with buttermilk.
5. Briefly knead dough on floured surface.
6. Roll dough to a 1/8-1/4 inch thickness.
7. Cut dough into 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch strips.
8. Drop dumplings into chicken stock.
9. Boil dumplings over a medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes.
10. Add chicken and vegetables and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes.
11. Add peas and cook for 5 minutes.
12. Add salt and pepper to taste.
13. Serve immediately.
https://southernboydishes.com/2012/10/25/chicken-and-dumplings/
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Omigod, I had one bite and thought my grandmother had returned from the heavenly cloud she’s been sitting on since 1986. SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!
A little bird told me to come visit you today and now I know why.
This year I am itching to break away from my traditional chili for Halloween and make Chicken and Dumplings!
I may even make them for Christmas as well. Living in California I have no place to eat good Southern cooking so it is all on my to teach my boys what ‘really’ tastes good. lol
Happy Fall to you and all of yours from Miss Pam aka momma
I am definitely craving a bowl of this right now! My grandmother made the ultimate of all chicken and dumplings and I have never been able to get the richness of her flavors. I love the little extra steps you took to enhance the flavor. The pasta style dumpling sound interesting as well. I’m definitely going to have to try this! It looks perfect!
I am going to try your chicken and dumpling recipe tonight or this weekend for sure!! It sounds so comforting and delicious!!! Thank you!!!