Northern Style Dumplings Recipes

NORTHERN CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• 1. In a Dutch oven (or a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid), heat butter over medium. Add onion, carrots, celery and thyme. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
• 2. Add 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly; season with salt and pepper. Nestle chicken in pot; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
• 3. Meanwhile, make dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup flour, dill, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. With a fork, gradually stir in 1/2 cup milk to form a moist and soft batter. It should be just a little thicker than pancake batter and should easily drop from the tip of a spoon. (Add additional 2 tablespoons milk if too thick.) Set aside.
• 4. Stir peas into pot. Drop batter in simmering liquid in 10 heaping tablespoonfuls, keeping them spaced apart (dumplings will swell as they cook). Cover, and simmer until chicken is tender and dumplings are firm, 20 minutes. Serve.

THE BEST CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a shallow bowl, mix 1/2 cup flour, salt and pepper. Add chicken, 1 piece at a time, and toss to coat; shake off excess. In a 6-qt. stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown chicken in batches on all sides; remove from pan., Add onion, carrots and celery to same pan; cook and stir 6-8 minutes or until onion is tender. Add garlic; cook and stir 1 minute longer. Stir in 1/4 cup flour until blended. Gradually add stock, stirring constantly. Stir in wine, sugar, bay leaves and peppercorns. Return chicken to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 20-25 minutes or until chicken juices run clear., For dumplings, in a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk milk and melted butter until blended. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet; set aside., Remove chicken from stockpot; cool slightly. Discard bay leaves and skim fat from soup. Remove skin and bones from chicken and discard. Using 2 forks, coarsely shred meat into 1- to 1-1/2-in. pieces; return to soup. Cook, covered, on high until mixture reaches a simmer., Drop dumplings on top of simmering soup, a few at a time. Reduce heat to low; cook, covered, 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of dumplings comes out clean (do not lift cover while simmering). Gently stir in cream, parsley and thyme. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS -NORTHERN STYLE (DOUGH BALLS, NOT FLAT N

Steps:

• Combine in a large dutch oven or covered pot, the skinned chicken, the chicken broth + 3 or more cups of hot water (enough to completely cover the chicken). Add celery, onion, parsley, bouillon cubes, salt and pepper.
• Cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours (depending on the size of the pieces) or until tender enough to pull of the bone.
• Remove chicken and let stand until cool enough to handle. Pull meat off bones and add meat back to pot.
• If you want your broth to be gravy-like (recommended, but optional): this doesn't need to be exact:.
• For each cup of broth, blend 1 T flour and 3 T water or milk to form smooth paste.
• Gradually stir this into broth.
• Add carrots and return soup to a simmer.
• DUMPLINGS:.
• In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add parsley.
• With 2 knives, scissor fashion, cut in the shortening until it looks like very coarse corn meal.
• With fork, lightly mix in milk to form soft dough, stirring as little as possible. Be sure not to add too much milk so you can roll the dumplings into balls in your hands.
• Turn broth down to a simmer.
• Drop by tablespoon size or slightly larger, into the stew.
• Simmer 1 side of dumplings about 12 minutes, uncovered.
• Gently turn over with a spoon as many as possible and simmer another 15 minutes, COVERED.
• Serve immediately, being gentle with the dumplings.

NORTHERN-STYLE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Place the minced cabbage in a bowl, add the salt and toss lightly to mix evenly. Let sit 30 minutes, then grab handfuls of the cabbage and squeeze out as much water as possible.
• Return the cabbage to the bowl, add the ground pork, minced Chinese garlic chives or leek mixture, the 2 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, ginger root and 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch. Stir vigorously to combine evenly.
• Place a teaspoon of the filling in the center of a dumpling skin. Moisten the edge of the skin with a little water. Fold skin over to make a semicircle (opened edges should be up). Use the thumb and index finger to form small pleats along one edge. Press the other edge against it to seal. Or simply press the edges together, without the pleats. Arrange the finished dumplings on a cookie sheet that has been dusted with remaining cornstarch.
• In a large pot, heat 3 quarts of water until boiling. Add half the dumplings, stir and return to the boil. Let boil for 5 minutes, then remove with a handled strainer or a slotted spoon. Bring the water back to a boil, add the remaining dumplings and cook as above.
• Mix the 1/2-cup soy sauce and chopped garlic to make a dipping sauce.

SOUTHERN STYLE CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a heavy pot with a lid place the chicken, onion, lemon, salt, pepper, water, bay leaf and thyme. Simmer all over low heat until tender, about 1 hour.
• Let chicken cool slightly in pot, then remove and take the meat off of the bones. Discard the bones and skin and skim excess fat off the broth if desired. Discard the onion, lemon and bay leaf. If desired, wash out pot well. Return broth and chicken pieces to the pot. Simmer over low heat while making the dumplings.
• To Make Dumplings: In a medium mixing bowl, cut shortening into the flour and salt. Stir in 1/4 cup water (more if needed) to form a soft dough. Roll out dough on a floured surface, with a rolling pin, until very thin. Cut into 1 inch wide strips using a pizza cutter or knife. Tear off 1 inch long pieces from these strips and drop into simmering broth and chicken meat. Simmer for 10 minutes with the lid off, then 10 minutes more with the lid on. Serve immediately.