Chicken And Dumplings For Two Cooks Country Food

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS FOR TWO

Steps:

• Heat a saucepan, spray with cooking spray, add the chicken and cook it for 4 minutes, browning well on all sides. Remove and keep warm.
• Add the next six ingredients (celery through bay leaf) to the pan and saute until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
• Return the chicken to the pan, cook 1 minute, then add the broth , bring it to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer 30 minutes.
• A few minutes before the 30 minutes are up, stir together the flour, baking powder, parsley and salt. Add the milk, stirring just until everything is moist.
• Spoon the dough by heaping teaspoonfulls into the saucepan. Cover and simmer 10 more minutes, or until the dumplings are done.
• Discard the parsley sprigs and serve.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS FOR TWO (COOK'S COUNTRY)

Steps:

• Note: Make the dumplings just before adding them to the stew.
• For the stew: Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add carrots and onion and cook until lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in sherry, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until nearly dry, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in broth and bring to boil. Add chicken, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes.
• For the dumplings: Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Stir in broth and melted butter until just incorporated.
• Season stew with salt and pepper to taste. Increase heat to medium. Using 2 spoons, drop eight 1-inch dumplings into stew about 1 inch apart. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Sprinkle peas around dumplings, cover, and cook 5 minutes longer. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, uncovered, about 10 minutes. Serve.

MOMMA'S BEST CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Melt butter in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add celery, carrot, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning; cook and stir until flavors combine, about 5 minutes. Push vegetable mixture to the sides and add chicken; cook until browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side.
• Pour enough water over the chicken to cover by 3 inches; bring to a boil. Stir, scraping the browned bits off of the bottom of the pot. Reduce heat; simmer until chicken is tender, about 1 hour. Transfer chicken and carrots to a serving plate with a large slotted spoon; let cool.
• Ladle 1/4 cup cooking liquid into a bowl; cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Mix in 2 tablespoons flour. Stir back into the pot.
• Place 2 cups flour in a large bowl; cut in shortening with 2 knives until mixture forms pea-sized bits. Mix in chilled chicken broth until dough is combined.
• Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Knead 5 to 6 times; pat down to 1-inch thickness. Sprinkle lightly with flour; roll out to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut dough into squares with a sharp knife.
• Drop squares, in batches, into simmering cooking liquid, moving squares to the side with each addition. Partially cover pot; simmer until dumplings are firm, about 12 minutes. Separate any dumplings that stick together. Remove from heat; keep covered.
• Bone chicken; cut into bite-sized pieces and return to the pot. Chop carrot; return to the pot. Cool chicken and dumplings, about 30 minutes, before serving.

PANTRY CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS FOR TWO

Steps:

• 1. Make dumpling dough by cutting shortening into the flour until it almost looks like coarse sand (I use a handled biscuit cutter, but you can use a pastry blender or the two knives technique.)
• 2. Add and stir in enough of the milk to bring it all together and it forms a stiff dough (like for biscuits.) Do not overwork the dough.
• 3. In a dutch oven or stockpot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add bouillon cubes to broth.
• 4. Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough into the boiling broth. When all of the dumplings are in the pot, reduce heat to a medium simmer and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Do not stir!
• 5. After first 10 minutes simmering, sprinkle a pinch of parsley flakes over dumplings. Place tight fitting lid on top of the pot and simmer without stirring for an additional 10 minutes.
• 6. Remove from heat. Very gently, stir in drained cooked chicken.
• 7. Serve hot. (I like to serve it in bowls with a bit more parsley sprinkled on top.)
• 8. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers. Gently reheat in microwave.