Chicken and Dumplings

While a California winter isn’t as wintry as New England, or even Walla Walla, we’ve been getting our fair share of damp chill lately. But unlike the onset of winter in Boston, the Bay Area winter doesn’t fill me with dread. I’m actually loving it: the damp and the fog, the drizzly rain, and the grey chill that suggests a coat, but doesn’t require ankle-length wool overcoats, scarves, and hats. I think it’s just perfect. The best part is that it’s just cool enough to make me crazy cozy winter foods, like chicken and dumplings.

Chicken and dumplings was a total treat when I was a kid, but I don’t remember the last time I had it. I’d never even thought of making this dish, even when the New England snow piled up in depressing walls of cold. It wasn’t until Joy the Baker posted her fantastic recipe for Caramelized Mushrooms and Dumplings that I realized this was exactly what I wanted. I actually intended to make her recipe exactly as is, but we had some leftover roast chicken in the refrigerator, and I knew that I needed something much more close to home. Her perfectly cut biscuits are gorgeous, but I craved the rustic, lumpen dinner of my San-Diego-by-way-of-South-Dakota home.

This could not be easier, especially if you already have cooked chicken on hand. If you don’t, you can still have this excellent Sunday dinner with very little extra effort: I’ll lay out alternate instructions, because I care, and I want you to eat this. These dumplings might be an even better comfort food than macaroni and cheese. I know you don’t believe me, because, come on, macaroni and cheese. But they are so soft and pillowy, and the chicken soup will make you feel instantly warm and immunized against any possible wintertime ills. This isn’t high-brow chicken and dumplings, I did not take any liberties. This is straightforward, and if you’re lucky, it will remind you of home.

Chicken and Dumplings
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, because who else do you turn to when you’re looking for seriously well-made comfort food?

For the soup

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3 small carrots, cut in half lengthwise and sliced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• about 3 cups leftover chicken meat, bones removed
• 2 tablespoons herbes de provence
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• salt to taste

For the dumplings

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Heat the oil and the butter in a large soup pot until the butter is melted. Add the onions, celery, and carrots, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft. Sprinkle in the flour, and stir it well until the flour is golden brown. Stir in the chicken and the herbes de provence, then add the stock and water, and a pinch of salt. Cover the pot and let cook for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Warm the milk and the butter together until the butter is just melted, but don’t let the milk get too hot. Stir the milk and butter into the flour mixture, until it’s just combined. Don’t overmix it, or the dumplings will be a bit too dense.

After the soup has cooked for about 30 minutes, you’re ready to add the dumplings. Use two spoons to scoop up dumplings that are a little bigger than a tablespoon, and gently spoon them into the soup, so they rest on the surface. They’ll be a bit packed in there, but that’s fine. They like to be cozy. Reduce the heat to low, and cover the pot. Let the dumplings cook and steam for about 15 more minutes. Don’t open the lid while they cook; they need the steam to get all soft and to cook through. They will get larger in the pot.

Once the dumplings are cooked (you might need to sample one to be sure), they are ready to serve.

If you’re working with uncooked chicken, you’ll want to cook the soup a bit longer. You’re going to make your stock while you cook the soup. Use about 1 large bone-in chicken breast, and 3 or 4 bone-in chicken thighs. Before you add the vegetables, brown the chicken in the oil and butter, then set aside. Proceed to cook the vegetables, and add the flour to the pot, then put the whole chicken pieces back in the pot. You can use all water (about 6 cups) rather than chicken stock, although a little stock will make it extra flavorful. Cook the soup for about an hour, then remove the chicken, and shred the meat from the bones. Add the chicken back to the pot, then add your dumplings, and cook as directed.