Chicken and Dumplings

I’m all about seasonal cooking, but comfort food knows no season. It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend in New York City when I made chicken and dumplings, but I still had a strong craving for something warm and comforting. This dish delivered the goods.

You don’t need a rainy day or a cold winter’s night as an excuse for cooking something hot and hearty, just a pot and a need for satisfaction. So the next time you feel an itch for a comforting meal, no matter what the thermometer says, you can’t go wrong with chicken and dumplings.

This recipe comes from Martha Stewart’s latest colorful and compendious tome, Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast, which I was flattered to receive a review copy of a a couple of months ago. I’ve enjoyed giving it a test drive, and I promise to share my thoughts on the book as a whole sometime in the next few weeks.  In the meantime, I can give this recipe my unqualified endorsement.

No major changes to the original recipe this time, but I did make a few small substitutions. Although I passionately love dill pickles, I’m not a big fan of dill in other contexts. So I skipped it entirely here and used more thyme in its place. I also used baby carrots, which I had on hand, don’t require peeling or washing, and are a nice size for stew. Finally I had boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the fridge, so I used those instead of thighs. Thighs are moister than breasts (wow that sounds dirty), but since you are braising the meat in liquid, that’s not a big concern. If you or your eating companion(s) are vegetarian, I think you could use vegetable broth and skip the meat and still wind up with a tasty dish. You could also try adding an additional vegetable, such as potatoes or corn.

The first night I prepared this dish, we ate all of the dumplings, but still had plenty of soup left; so later in the week, I reheated the remainder on the stove, added some more liquid (broth or water are both fine), and made a fresh batch of dumplings. I was pretty loosey-goosey with the measurements for the dumpling ingredients both times, but both batches turned out great, so you can rest assured that the ratio there is pretty forgiving.

So weather be damned. Go wild. No matter how hot it is, you can always make some dumplings for your dumplin’.

Chicken and Dumplings

3 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
5 carrots, sliced into 1.5 inch thick pieces
1 Tbs. coarsely chopped fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
1 C All-purpose flour
1 can (14.5 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth
salt and pepper
1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, cut into two inch pieces
2 Tbs. coarsely chopped dill (or 3/4 tsp. dried)
1.75 tsp. baking powder
1/2 C milk, plus more if needed
1 package (10 oz.) frozen peas, unthawed

1. In a dutch oven or heavy 5 qt. pot with a lid, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and thyme. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup flour; cook, stirring, about 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, stirring constantly; season with salt and pepper. Nestle chicken in pot; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make dumplings: Whisk remaining 3/4 flour with the dill, baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. 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 easily drop from the tip of a spoon; add up to 2 Tbs. more milk if batter is too thick.)

3. Stir peas into pot. Return to a simmer, and drop batter in heaping tablespoonfuls, leaving space between (dumplings will swell as they cook). Cover, and simmer until chicken is tender and dumplings are firm, 20 minutes. Serve immediately.