Mamaws Chicken And Dumplings Recipes

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.

MAMAW'S CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• 1. In a large pot add whole chicken, celery, onion and garlic. Add water 4 inches above and boil until chicken is cooked thru. I skim the fat from the top of the water.I taste the stock and add chicken stock paste 1 tbsp at a time to taste (if needed) Remove all veggies and chicken. Debone chicken,add Chicken back to stock. My kids do not like the veggies so I remove them and add them to my bowl,otherwise you can dice them prior to adding to the stock for cooking and leave 'em in!
• 2. In a bowl, combine flour,(**OPTIONAL** mix in rosemary and dill for the more "grown up" version) and shortening..I use Crisco. mix together with a fork or pastry cutter(DO NOT OVERWORK), then add buttermilk to form a doughy consistency. (Should be somewhat crumbly, almost like a crisp topping)
• 3. flour a flat work space and roll out dough about 3/8 of an inch and let the kiddies go crazy with the cookie cutters! Drudge each piece thru raw all purpose flour and drop into boiling broth and chicken turn fire down to a simmer and cook till tender...about 2 hours until good-n-creamy. finish with 1/4 stick real butter ***if you aren't including the kiddies you can just pat out with your fingers...***
• 4. Plate as is in a bowl with a piece of garlic bread, or over egg noodles or mashed potatoes!

MAMA'S CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• 1. You can do this ahead of time and it makes for faster prep time; Cut up fryer into four pieces, cover with water and boil until done. Let cool, remove chicken from water/broth, skim top of broth removing oils. Remove skin from chicken and de-bone tearing or cutting into bite sized pieces. Place in refrigerator, set broth aside.
• 2. In medium sized bowl, add flour and butter/margarine. Cut butter into flour with pastry cutter or fork until it resembles fine cornmeal. Add egg, mix thoroughly with flour mixture until the crumbs are a bit larger. Add milk, SLOWLY, mixing with fork until it starts to pull away from sides of bowl and clings together into a ball. If it sticks to your hands, work in a few tablespoons of flour. If it seems dry, add a little more milk. You can also use cream if you want the dumplings rich. Once you have your pastry in a ball, roll out on a piece of waxed, lightly floured paper until it is less than half an inch thick. About the thickness of a pie crust. You don't have to be exact on a perfect square or round pastry. Cut pastry into 2" strips. This makes quite a lot of dumplings. And if you've gotten it right you can put one on top of another and they won't stick. This just makes it easier to carry to stove on a plate.
• 3. Add canned broth to boiled chicken broth. Add chicken, bring mixture to a boil on medium heat. Add Dumplings, one at a time. They should hold together at this point. Make sure they do before you add any more. If you use a pie crust, no worries at all. But, be brave and make your own pastry! Continue to boil on Medium Heat until Dumplings are done. To test, remove one, cut it in half. If it is not gummy, it's done. This usually takes about thirty minutes. Turn off Heat. Now, if you want to, add a bit of Half and Half or Milk. I don't do this but there are some that do. Too rich for me. These are excellent. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches if needed, sear chicken, skin-side down, until deeply golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Flip chicken and continue to cook until it is browned on the other side, another 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large plate, and pour off all fat into a measuring cup. (You should have about 5 tablespoons, depending on the fattiness of the chicken.)
• Leaving all the browned bits in the pot, return 2 tablespoons of fat to the pot. Add onions, celery and half the carrots. Season with salt and pepper and cook on medium heat, stirring to scrape up all the bits on the bottom of the pot. Cook until vegetables start to soften, about 4 minutes or so. Return chicken to the pot along with thyme and 8 cups of water. Simmer, uncovered, until chicken is completely tender and liquid has reduced by about 1/4, about 30 to 40 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a plate or cutting board to cool. Strain the stock (you should have about 5 cups; if you have less, you can add water to make up the difference) and wipe out the pot.
• Heat remaining 3 tablespoons chicken fat along with 1 tablespoon butter (if you don't have enough chicken fat, use enough butter to equal 4 tablespoons of fat) over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour and stir constantly until it's all a pale golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Slowly whisk in reserved chicken stock until no lumps remain (it will thicken considerably at first) and bring to a boil. Add leeks and remaining carrots, season with salt and pepper and lower the heat to simmer.
• Remove and discard the skin and bones from the chicken. Shred the meat and add to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is nicely thickened and carrots and leeks are tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Make the dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg and add to dry ingredients, followed by melted butter. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir just to combine. (Do not overmix.)
• Using a spoon, drop generous quarter-size dollops of the dumpling dough into the pot (they should just sit right on top; they will not sink), spacing them apart as much as possible (it's O.K. if they touch). Cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, until the dumplings are puffed and totally cooked through, 18 to 22 minutes. (Test a dumpling by cutting it in half; it should look slightly biscuity, but with no raw bits of dough. If it needs more time, continue to cook.)
• Remove lid and divide among bowls; sprinkle with parsley and chives, if using.