Chicken and Dumplings

 

 

Like many people, I'm a fan of the Smitten Kitchen blog, and a number of the most popular recipes at my house have been taken  or adapted from recipes I found on the site. This is one of the recipes I make the most often, as it takes advantage of ingredients I almost always have on hand, it uses inexpensive chicken thighs, and it just tastes yummy. I modified the recipe from the original a bit, replacing leeks with celery, since I usually don't have leeks lying around, omitting a bit of sherry (same reason) and substituting dried herbs for the fresh. I've never made this recipe with tarragon, but it sounds like a great idea, so I left that ingredient in. I did, once, toss in a few fennel seeds instead and it gave the stew a wonderful Eastern European vibe.

 

Chicken and Dumplings

 

Serves 4

 

Chicken

6-8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Table salt and ground black pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, minced
1-2 stalks celery, chopped

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
1 cup frozen green peas
1 tablespoons dried tarragon leaves (optional) 

Dumplings
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons reserved chicken fat (or unsalted butter)


Heat the oil in a large casserole over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken thighs, about 5-6 minutes per side, then take them out and set aside. Drain off all but about 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil, and save it for the dumplings. Return the pan to the heat, and add the butter. Lower the temperature to medium, and saute the onion and celery until translucent. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken broth and bring the mixture up to a simmer. While you wait, remove the skin from the chicken thighs (it should come off pretty easily once it's been cooked, but be warned, it is a greasy, messy job.) Put the chicken thighs and herbs into the pot, and then turn down the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and let the stew simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, until the chicken is falling off the bone.

Remove the chicken pieces and let cool. Turn the heat off the stew. This is a recipe I usually make on the weekends, so I cook everything up to this point earlier in the day, then let it rest a bit until I'm ready to finish everything off.

Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones. Skim off any fat from the top of the stew and discard. Add the chicken, peas, and milk to the stew and bring to a simmer.

Make the dumplings: Warm up the milk and chicken fat togther in a saucepan or the microwave. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk mixture until the dough comes together. It will be very sticky still. Using two spoons, scrape balls of the dumpling batter into the stew. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, then serve.

Recipe adapted from the Smitten Kitchen: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/12/chicken-and-dumplings/