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Chicken and
Dumplings – an Old-Fashioned Treat
This one-pot dinner goes way back. In the US, it was mentioned as early as 1836
in a cookbook from Virginia. The dish later showed up in the lyrics of the
American folkloric “sing-along” or “campfire song,” “She’ll be Comin’ ‘Round
the Mountain when She Comes” which originated in the late 1800s. There,
“Chicken ‘n Dumplins” is excitedly anticipated to celebrate a welcome guest’s
arrival. I had this down-home treat fairly often when I was a kid, but haven’t
seen it, much less cooked it, in many years.
The recipe serves six. The
chicken part can be done ahead, refrigerated in the pot, then brought back to a
low boil to add and cook the dumplings 15 minutes before serving. A salad is a
nice accompaniment.
2 pounds boneless, skinless
chicken thighs
2 tablespoons flour for the
chicken
3/4 teaspoon salt for the chicken
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
for the chicken
1/8 teaspoon cayenne for the
chicken
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg for the
chicken
3 tablespoons rendered chicken
fat plus olive oil if necessary
1 medium onion, diced
1 stick celery, split lengthwise
then thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut
in 1/4-inch thick discs
2 cups chicken broth
Water, as needed
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
The Dumplings:
2 cups commercial biscuit mix
(like Jiffy Mix, Bisquick, or store brand)
2/3 cup milk
Trim the chicken of fat and any
tough parts (save the trimmings to fry for grease). Cut crosswise into 3
pieces, or 4 if the thigh is large. Mix well with the flour, salt. pepper,
cayenne and nutmeg, and allow to season while preparing the other ingredients.
In a stew pot or Dutch Oven,
slowly fry the chicken trimmings to render some chicken grease. Remove the
browned solids (they’re great pet treats). Keep about 3 tablespoons drippings,
or add some olive oil if needed to reach that amount..
When the fried chicken trimmings
have been removed, turn up the heat under the pot and add the floured and
seasoned chicken. Fry over high heat, scraping the bottom of the pan with a
metal spatula and turning the chicken almost constantly. When all the raw color
is gone, remove from the heat and lift out the chicken to a bowl, keeping any
grease in the pot. Add a little more oil if all the grease is gone.
Add the onion, celery and carrot
to the pot. Stir the mixture well and scrape the bottom of the pot. Fry this
way 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and simmer the vegetables, covered,
stirring often, until the carrots are tender when pierced with a
toothpick.
Add the sour cream, salt and
paprika. Add the pre-fried chicken. Add a little water, if needed, so that the
liquid reaches to near the top of the chicken and carrot pieces. Bring back to
a boil and simmer 2 minutes. Taste the sauce and add a little salt if needed.
At this point the dumplings can
be added, or the stew can be cooled, refrigerated and reheated later to finish
and serve.
For the dumplings, place the
biscuit mix in a dry bowl. Make a hole in the middle of the biscuit mix. Pour
in the milk, and lightly mix with a fork till fully moistened, but do not mix
further. With a spoon and a spatula, put roughly 3-tablespoon lumps of dumpling
dough evenly on top of the chicken and sauce. Cover the pot tightly, reduce the
heat to simmer, and allow the dumplings to cook for 14 minutes without opening
the pot.
Uncover, and serve the chicken
and dumplings from the pot.
