The Hirshon Delaware Chicken And Slippery Dumplings Food

THE HIRSHON DELAWARE CHICKEN AND SLIPPERY DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Rub chicken breasts with salt, pepper, Poultry Seasoning and paprika.
• In a large Dutch Oven, sauté the carrots, onions and celery with butter. Once translucent, add the chicken and stock.
• Tie the rosemary, parsley and thyme into a bundle with kitchen twine and drop in the pot. Bring to a low boil and allow it to simmer for about 30 minutes.
• When chicken is cooked through, remove it from pot and allow it to cool. Discard herbs.
• Mix together flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add shortening and mix with your fingertips until mixture is the consistency of coarse meal. Add warm stock, a little at a time, until a soft, but not sticky, dough is formed.
• Knead on floured board until soft, pliable and very smooth, about 4 to 5 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes. Place dough on floured surface and roll very thin. With a sharp knife, cut into squares, about 2 inches. Dust dumplings with flour.
• Raise heat on the pot of broth to medium-high and drop dumplings, one by one, into boiling stock, being careful not to let them stick together. Cover and boil dumplings for 10 to 15 minutes.
• The liquid should thicken into a light gravy. If not, or if you prefer a thicker gravy (I do), make a roux out of flour and butter in equal parts, toast in a frying pan, stirring constantly until nut brown. Pour in stock from the dumplings and stir until a gravy is formed. Add chopped fresh herbs to taste plus salt and pepper.
• While dumplings are boiling, remove chicken meat from the bones. As an optional but delicious step, fry up the skin in a blazing hot pan with oil and make it very crisp. Break into small pieces. This is a TFD addition to the classic recipe, where the skin is simply discarded.
• Garnish dumplings with chopped parsley and celery leaves. Serve them immediately with the gravy over the torn-up chicken meat, sprinkle with fried skin cracklings if using.

CHICKEN WITH SLIPPERY DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Place chicken, celery and onion in a Dutch oven. Cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until chicken is tender. Remove chicken and keep warm. Skim fat from the pan juices; add water to measure 3 qts. Set aside 1-1/2 cups for dumplings; cool. Return remaining broth to the Dutch oven; add carrots and bouillon. , For dumplings, combine flour, salt if desired and baking powder. Add enough reserved broth to form a stiff dough. Divide dough into thirds; cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes. , Meanwhile, bring broth to a simmer. Roll each portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness; cut into 2-in. squares. Drop one at a time into simmering broth. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately with the chicken. Sprinkle with parsley if desired.

SLIPPERY DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add celery, carrots, and onion, and saute until translucent.
• Mix together salt, black pepper, garlic, and paprika. Rub over chicken. Add chicken to the Dutch oven and pour 4-6 cups of chicken broth over the top. (The amount of broth depends on whether you prefer more of a soup or a thicker, pot pie-like result. I use 5 cups.) Tie rosemary and thyme together with kitchen twine and drop into the broth. Add bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes.
• While chicken is cooking, in a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or your fingers, until it is coarse crumbs. Remove 1 1/2 cups of broth from the Dutch oven, and mix into the flour mixture a little at a time until a soft dough is formed.
• Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead about 5 minutes, until it is soft, pliable, and smooth. Cover and let rest 10-15 minutes.
• Once rested, place dough back onto a floured surface and roll out until it is 1/8-inch thin. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2"x1" strips.
• When chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pot and cover with foil to keep warm. You can shred or leave whole. Remove herbs and bay leaf from the pot and discard.
• Raise the heat of the broth to medium-high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, drop in dumplings once at a time, stirring occasionally, to keep them from sticking together. Cook for 10 minutes.
• Serve immediately over chicken.

DELAWARE SLIPPERY DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture forms fine crumbs.
• Stir in enough hot water to make a firm but manageable dough.
• In a 4-quart saucepan, heat the broth to boiling.
• Add the butter; let the butter melt and float to the top of the broth.
• On a floured board, roll out the dough to 1/16 inch thickness.
• Cut into 2 inch squares.
• Drop the dumplings one at a time into the boiling broth.
• Reheat the broth to boiling over high heat.
• Reduce the heat to medium and cook dumplings uncovered until tender, about 15 minutes.
• Spoon the dumplings into a serving dish with some of the cooking liquied and serve.
• Can be added to a variety of soups and broths.