Chicken and Cornmeal Dumplings with Sweet Potatoes and Bacon
Book Description
The Cook's Illustrated Complete Book of Poultry is, bar none, the Great Mother Hen of all poultry cookbooks. If it is incomplete in any way, it is only that the editors have not included poultry recipes from absolutely every culture in the world familiar with the birds. But with this book tucked under your wing, you can check out poultry recipes in cookbooks from all corners of the globe and know exactly how to get the results you want.
Sweet potatoes stand in for the carrots and cornmeal is added to the dumpling recipe for a Southern style dish. Two slices of bacon cook along with the chicken to give the broth a salty smoky flavor.
Serve 6 to 8
1 large roasting chicken (6 to 7 pounds), rinsed, patted dry, and cut into 8 pieces
2 slices bacon
1 large onion, cut into large chunks (not necessary to peel)
2 bay leaves
Salt
3 celery stalks, trimmed and cut into 1-by-1/2-inch pieces
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 tablespoons butter or chicken fat skimmed from strained stock
Heat a 5- or 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the hacked-up chicken pieces (wings, neck, and back), bacon, and onion chunks, sauté until the onion softens and the chicken loses its raw color, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and continue to cook until the chicken pieces give up most of their liquid, about 20 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high, add 6 cups of hot water, the chicken legs, thighs, and breasts, bay leaves, and 3/4 teaspoon salt, then bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat, continue to simmer, partially covered, until the broth is flavorful and the chicken parts are just cooked through, about 20 minutes longer. Remove the chicken parts and set aside. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from bones in 2 to 3- inch chunks. Strain the broth, discarding the hacked chicken pieces and the bacon. Skim and reserve the fat from the broth and set aside 4 cups of broth, reserving extra for another use. Wipe the Dutch oven clean with a paper towel.
Meanwhile, bring 1/2 inch of water to a simmer in the cleaned Dutch oven fitted with a steamer basket. Add the celery and sweet potatoes, cover and steam until just tender, about 10 minutes. Remove and set aside. Wipe the Dutch oven dry.
Heat the butter in the empty Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and thyme, cook, whisking constantly, until the flour turns golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Continuing to whisk constantly, gradually add the sherry, then the reserved 4 cups of chicken stock, simmer until the gravy thickens slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the optional cream, the chicken, and the steamed vegetables, return to a simmer.
Lay the formed dumplings on the surface of the chicken mixture, cover and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, about 10 minutes for strip dumplings and 15 minutes for balls and biscuit rounds. Gently stir in the peas and parsley. Adjust the seasonings, including generous amounts of salt and pepper. Ladle portions of meat, sauce, vegetables, and dumplings into soup plates and serve immediately.
Baking Powder Dumplings
The simple Master Recipe for Dumplings is nothing more than four, baking powder, and salt mixed with melted butter and hot milk. The dough is mixed with a fork or kneaded briefly by hand just until it comes together. The dough may be formed into three shapes. Note that cooking times for the thin strip dumplings will be less than for larger balls or biscuit rounds. The dumplings should be made while the chicken is cooling and the vegetable are steaming.
This basic recipe may be flavored with herbs, cornmeal, or even raisins.
Makes enough dumplings for 6 to 8 servings
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup milk
Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Heat the butter and milk to a simmer and add to the dry ingredients.
Mix with a fork until the mixture just comes together. Form the dough into the desired shape:
Flat Noodlelike Dumplings For flat noodlelike dumplings, roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut the dough into strips that measure about 2 inches long and 1/2-inch across.
For biscuitlike dumplings, roll the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Use a 2-inch biscuit cutter or a round drinking glass top to cut out dough rounds.
For round, puffy, dumplings, divide the dough into 18 pieces. Roll each piece into a 1 1/2-inch round ball.
Herb Dumplings Make Baking Powder Dumplings, mixing 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley, chives, tarragon, or scallion greens with the dry ingredients.
Dill Dumplings Make Baking Powder Dumplings, mixing 1/4 cup minced fresh dill with the dry ingredients.
Cornmeal Dumplings Make Baking Powder Dumplings, replacing 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
Raisin Dumplings Make Baking Powder Dumplings, mixing 1/4 cup coarsely chopped raisins with the dry ingredients.
