Chicken & Dumplings.. what's your secret?

[FincaPerlitas]

There are a couple of brands of southern-style frozen dumplings sold in the supermarkets (at least here in Florida). Mary Hill dumplings, made by the Dumplin Shopppe in Hazlehurst, GA, and Anne's Flat Dumplings made in Whiteville, NC. Both are excellent quality and are made specifically for use in southern-style chicken and dumplings.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Those "boiled to death" veggies, if not to your liking in texture, can be thrown into the blender with a little stock and used to flavor and thicken the stock. Also, both sage and thyme are main ingredients in Poultry Seasoning blends. I personally prefer to season with discrete spices and herbs rather than comercial blends. Thant way, I can taylor the flavor to what I want, rather than someone else's idea of what's right.

IF you want a creamy batch of chicken and dumplings, make up the dish as you did, and remove the dumplings to a seperate bowls. Next, make a roux of flour and chicken fat, cooking to a very light brown, just to remove the raw flour flavor. Thin to a thick sauce with cream and chicken stock. Stir into the broth. If you want veggies in the soup, cook until done before adding the thickening sauce. A bit of turmerick will add flavor and color to your soup as well.

Veggies that compliment this soup are celriac (celery root), carrot, onion or leeks, garlic, bits of sun-dried tomato (very optional), celery, diced rutabegga, sweet peas.

Seasonings may include mushrooms, salt, pepper, red pepper, thyme, sage, basil (in very small amounts), garlic powder, fresh fennel root (again a little goes a long way), turmeric, Maggi, and chicken soup base.

Serve the soup in bowls and top with the dumplings.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[BreezyCooking]

You know - I don't recall the brands, but I recently did see "southern-style" frozen dumplings at my local WalMart. May just have to try a bag & see what's what. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[kitchenelf]

A day late and a dollar short BUT, here is my recipe. No, it's not the thick/yellow mixture...it's still good.

Chicken and Slippery Dumplings

I now add a bit of poultry seasoning to my dumpling mixture.

 

[fire34fighter]

Turn it into chicken/gnocchi soup!

soup:
1/3 cup butter
2 cloves minced garlic
package of chicken cutlets, cut into cubes
1/3 cup flour
1/2 package of baby carrots chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
1 medium yellow onion chopped
1 package frozen spinach
1 1/2 cup heavy cream1 tablespoon chicken base(chicken bouillon)

1 container of chicken stock
salt and pepper
dash of red pepper flakes

gnocchi
1 qt water(might need more to cover potatoes)
3 oz all-purpose flour
1 eggs
1 lbs russet potatoes
1 tsp salt



Soup:

1. Melt butter
2. add onions and sweat them out, then add garlic
3. add chicken
4. add flour to create a blond roux
5. add everything else
6. simmer for 3-4 hours
7. add gnocchis and cook for another 5 minutes

Gnochi:

1. Wash potatoes and place in water. Cook potatoes until soft (cook time will depend on size of potatoes). Remove potatoes from water and cool in refrigerator.
2. Peel cooled potatoes and push them through a fine grater (rice grater) until mashed; do not over-mash potatoes or they will get tough.
3. Combine potatoes, flour and eggs in a mixing bowl. Mix well until dough does not stick to hands (add small amounts of flour at a time).
4. Divide dough into 4 sections. Roll out each section into a long rope. Cut each rope into ½” pieces. Push fork tines on each piece for the classic gnocchi appearance.
5. Bring water to a boil in a sauce pot. Drop in gnocchi and cook until they float.

 

[GrillingFool]

That sounds pretty darn good. Never made, maybe never ate, a gnocchi.
Hmmmmm......

Hey, could you just cook them in the soup?

 

[Wyogal]

I like to make gnocchi with home made ricotta. it's also good made with sweet potatoes.

 

[Jeff G.]

I cheat.. I really like Sweet Sue chicken and Dumplings....

 

[Alfredo deLorenzo]

I start with chicken, celery stalks, an onion, salt, pepper and sage. Boil to make a rich stock and strain it and let the meat cool. Make dumplings with a cup of Bisquick with a cup self-rising flour and buttermilk to make a stiff dough, roll out to about a 1/4 in and cut into small squares - let stand til you get stock ready. Take stock, add peas and carrots to add some color and taste, boil for 15-20 minutes. With stock boiling add dumplings and let cook for 10-15 minutes, if the broth is not thick enough add some flour then coarsely chop chicken and add with a generous sprinkle of parsley - keep heat low enough to prevent scorching. I have made dumplings with cooled chicken stock instead of buttermilk but that adds time to your cooking however the dumplings do taste a lot better.

 

[Zhizara]

I use Bisquick too, but use the recipe on the box which only involves adding milk. It makes a sticky dough that I drop by spoonsful on the top. 10 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered and you have airy drop biscuits and have added some thickening to the stew.

 

[Roll_Bones]

My first wife had a chicken and dumpling dish called "Popeye".

Basically the usual whole chicken braised and a special dumpling. The dumplings were like thick noodles. An inch or so wide and about 3/8ths inch thick.
I remember the dough had many eggs in it and the were very very good. But heavy.
Her family was from Michigan, so these were not southern at all.
I wish I could find this dumpling recipe again. Or find something close.

 

[GotGarlic]

RB, those sound like egg noodles: http://localfoods.about.com/od/basics/r/eggnoodles.htm

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

My first wife had a chicken and dumpling dish called "Popeye".

Basically the usual whole chicken braised and a special dumpling. The dumplings were like thick noodles. An inch or so wide and about 3/8ths inch thick.
I remember the dough had many eggs in it and the were very very good. But heavy.
Her family was from Michigan, so these were not southern at all.
I wish I could find this dumpling recipe again. Or find something close.

What part of Michigan does she hail from?

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[JanetMlr]

There are a couple of brands of southern-style frozen dumplings sold in the supermarkets (at least here in Florida). Mary Hill dumplings, made by the Dumplin Shopppe in Hazlehurst, GA, and Anne's Flat Dumplings made in Whiteville, NC. Both are excellent quality and are made specifically for use in southern-style chicken and dumplings.

Love chicken and dumplings, a great dish on a cold winter night around here. Maybe the dumplings for southern-style chicken and dumplings are different and not so easy to make. I've made dumplings from scratch that are pretty simple to make. I'm sure they're good quality as you say, but why use use pre-made?

 

[JanetMlr]

I always (like UB said) start with good stock, carrots and celery. I make bisquick dumplings too, but I put lots of black pepper in them The more the better. I also put thyme in the stock while cooking the chicken, just whole sprigs. The leaves are small so they fall of and are delish. If I feel it needs more flavor then I add poultry seasoning and lots more black pepper. I bet they'll turn out great!!

Yummm! The pepper in the biscuits sounds awesome. I don't hesitate to season, but never thought of that one. I would use Bisquick, but it's just me. Even if in a canister, I just don't use it enough. I try to avoid white flour when possible. I found a great 100% whole wheat biscuit recipe that gives me a pretty, fluffy biscuit. Took a lot of searching and experiments to find that one. It's still a big batch, but I freeze them. But again... that pepper, especially for chicken and dumplings... love it! ?

 

[JanetMlr]

My first wife had a chicken and dumpling dish called "Popeye".

Basically the usual whole chicken braised and a special dumpling. The dumplings were like thick noodles. An inch or so wide and about 3/8ths inch thick.
I remember the dough had many eggs in it and the were very very good. But heavy.
Her family was from Michigan, so these were not southern at all.
I wish I could find this dumpling recipe again. Or find something close.

I guess that's what makes these types of meals so good... the fact that they are rich and heavy. Such a hearty, comfort meal though. I like this type of meal in the winter. Tough when you try to make things healthier. I wish I had that recipe for you. Hope you find it. ?

 

[Addie]

I used to have a girlfriend that used the Biscuit recipe, pat the dough into a large square and then cut the dough into smaller squares. She would use an egg turner to pick them up and put in the stock.

 

[msmofet]

I used to have a girlfriend that used the Biscuit recipe, pat the dough into a large square and then cut the dough into smaller squares. She would use an egg turner to pick them up and put in the stock.

Did they turn out like a biscuit, a noodle or a bit of both (flat biscuit)? All this Chicken & Dumplings talk has me wanting to try my hand at it. But I like the biscuit version.

 

[Addie]

Did they turn out like a biscuit, a noodle or a bit of both (flat biscuit)? All this Chicken & Dumplings talk has me wanting to try my hand at it. But I like the biscuit version.

They fluffed up like dumplings. Square dumplings.

 

[Roll_Bones]

I guess that's what makes these types of meals so good... the fact that they are rich and heavy. Such a hearty, comfort meal though. I like this type of meal in the winter. Tough when you try to make things healthier. I wish I had that recipe for you. Hope you find it. ��

Hearty is the right word for those dumplings. Once and awhile its okay to eat this stuff. And you are right about winter. I would not even entertain the thought of this dish in summer.

What part of Michigan does she hail from?

I think it was called Saginaw? Very rural she told me. I met and married her in South Fl. She hated cold. She is still down there enjoying the heat.

RB, those sound like egg noodles: Homemade Egg Noodles - Recipe for Fresh Egg Noodles

I will check the link. Yes, they do sound like noodles. But they are thicker than a noodle depending on how thick a noodle can be.
They were heavy, strips of what can be best described as firm dumplings.
They also used a quite a bit of butter in the stock to help keep them separated and to infuse more flavor. I guess?

I used to have a girlfriend that used the Biscuit recipe, pat the dough into a large square and then cut the dough into smaller squares. She would use an egg turner to pick them up and put in the stock.

Thats how they make them down here. Biscuit dough. Even canned biscuits are used.
They are okay, but you have to be careful you do not make creamy chicken soup instead of chicken and dumplings.
They tend to disintegrate in the stock if your not careful.