Chicken and Dumplings - a two part saga in deliciousness!

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS!!

This comfort food has always been a standbye standard in my repertoire. Over the years I've experimented with many variations that have all been delicious, though some recipes can be quite precarious. Sometimes the fat content is too high, sometimes the soup can burn too easily, sometimes your dumplings just get TOO fluffy and fall apart (that's a real disappointment!). This most recent recipe has proven to hold up quite well, even to reheating, plus it's a simple go-to that combines a little bit of gourmet and a little bit of "store-bought goodness" with a lot of love. Plus it's a healthier alternative for those of us who need less of that goodness in our lives! I hope y'all can try it and let me know how successful it was for you!

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS...

• 
  
  4 T unsalted butter


• 
  
  3 T all purpose flour


• 
  
  1 cup diced celery


• 
  
  1 cup diced carrots


• 
  
  2 cups diced small redskin potatoes (skins on is fine)


• 
  
  4-6 cups stock (your choice, veggie or chicken...use your store bought favorite)


• 
  
  have additional stock on hand...you'll need about 3 cups to cook your


• 
  
  dumplings in


• 
  
  3-6 pounds boneless skinless chicken of your choice


• 
  
  In my recipe, I used chicken tenders. They're easy to work with, cook


• 
  
  quickly and you can pretty much pull out 3-4 per person. Also, when


• 
  
  you're dishing this up, you don't have to try and cut your chicken into


• 
  
  smaller pieces, you can just create your serving with the whole


• 
  
  tender. You could also just use whole chicken breasts, allowing them


• 
  
  enough time to cook down so you can easily "break" them into pieces


• 
  
  in your soup. You could add some boneless dark meat as well for some


• 
  
  extra special flavor, or as a less expensive option to your white meat.


• 
  
  PS...I USED FROZEN CHICKEN TENDERS. STRAIGHT FROM THE


• 
  
  FREEZER AND RIGHT INTO THE SOUP. IT TAKES A LITTLE LONGER


• 
  
  FOR IT TO COME UP TO TEMPERATURE AND BEGIN TO BOIL, BUT


• 
  
  IT'S A QUICK AND EASY SHORT CUT!


• 
  
  1-3 cans of small buttermilk biscuits (you can buy larger biscuits and cut them into smaller pieces, too. I find that the small biscuits come in counts of ten and that usually serves two hungry people)

THE VELOUTE (a fancy word that means a soup made with stock and a blonde roux)

This is going to be the base of your chicken and dumplings. Plus, once you've learned to make this soup, you've conquered one of the three main base soups from which all the greats are derived.

Melt your butter in a large pot. (I used 5 quart and had plenty of room...make sure it has a lid!) Add the flour and whisk in to combine and creat your roux. Allow this to bubble up and start cooking together for a good 5-7 minutes. Throw in your celery and cook another 4-5 minutes before adding your carrots.

Season this concoction with salt and pepper and continue cooking about 10 minutes altogether, stirring constantly. Throw in your potatoes and stir them into the mix. You might need to season a little more for your potatoes...salt and pepper. Continue cooking a couple of minutes.

You're now going to start adding your stock....

Add about 1/4 cup stock (room temperature if you can so there's less clumping, meaning less work for you!) and stir or whisk in thoroughly to break everything down. Once you have a nice thick soup working, add about 4 more cups of stock and stir together thoroughly. You just want to cover the vegetables and give them a little room to move around. Throw in a couple of bay leaves and any herbs you might have on hand. Bring this up to a boil, and then lower your heat to a med-low for a good simmer. Cook covered until your potatoes are fork tender; about 15-20 minutes.

NOW! If you have an emulsifier you'll need it now. If you don't, you just need your standard blender. Here's what I did....

Strain the contents of your soup into a large bowl, separating your veggies and herbs from your soup base. Pick out the bay leaves and whole herbs. Blend the veggies in batches with your soup base until smooth and creamy, returning each batch to your original pot. You'll end up with a gorgeously smooth and delicious veloute (of sorts).

Add another cup or so of stock to loosen things up a bit and throw in your chicken. If it's frozen, like mine was, add it and some additional seasoning to the pot. If it was not frozen, you can season it ahead of time. Stir everything up and allow the heat to come back up to a boil. Drop your heat to that low simmer again. Cover the pot and let the chicken cook for about an hour. This part of the process is what is going to take the longest.... Add the end of that hour, stirring your pot occasionally, your chicken will be very tender and you'll be able to easily break it up with a wooden spoon. That's when you know you're ready to serve. You can let this hang out on the stove if you like. It just gets better with more time.

In a separate and smaller pot, with a lid or some covering that can act as a lid, bring your reserved chicken stock (2-3 cups depending on how big your pot is...you want it deep enough for your dumplings to swim in) up to a boil. Drop the biscuits in one by one into the boiling stock. Cover and drop your heat to low simmer (again) and allow the biscuits to cook for 10 minutes. Uncover and check on them, turning each one with a spoon, and continue to cook for about another 3-5 minutes.

Keep the dumplings separate until everyone's been served. You can throw all the extra dumplings and stock into your chicken soup when you're done. It re-heats like a dream over low heat. Enjoy this wonderful stand-by comfort food and enjoy without too much guilt because we did it a little healthier by omitting heavy cream or half-and-half!

I hope you all try this one out and let me know how it works for you!

May your eats be delicious and your dinners divine!!

Ashley