Something that is nice, simple, and just delicious.
My boyfriend loves Chicken & Dumplings...and if we go to a restaurant that offers that meal, he'll order it! You see, I have a texture issue. And something about chewy dough balls doesn't sound appealing to me. SOOO I did some research and found a great recipe that came up with a unique way to make Dumplings not so chewy and goopy! So, we both win.
(thanks pioneerwoman.com)
[TO BUY]
Butter (2 tblspns)
Olive Oil (2 tblspns)
All Purpose Flour (1/2 cup)
Chicken (1-2 lbs depending on how much Chicken you want. You can buy boneless, skinless breasts/tenderloins, or Cut Up Fryer--which is generally a whole chicken (skin on) that has been already cut into pieces)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Carrots (diced, 1/2 cup)
Celery (diced, 1/2 cup)
Medium Onion (diced)
[Ground] Basil (1/2 teaspoon)
Chicken Broth (6 cups--you can buy premade broth. I used the Chicken Flavored Bouillon Cubes--so I made that first out of everything. Let it cool, and set it aside.)
Apple Cider (1/2 cup)
Heavy Cream (1/2 cup--you may find Heavy "Whipping" Cream, thats fine)
DUMPLINGS:
All Purpose Flour (1 cup)
*Yellow Corn Meal* (1/2 cup)
Baking Powder (1 tblspn)
Salt (1 teaspoon, I prefer using Kosher Salt)
Half-n-Half (1 cup)
Here is your end result. And here's how you get there:
Gather up your ingredients.
Start by doing the small prep work first...
Dice the Carrots, Celery, and Onion.
Set aside.
Season both sides of the Chicken with a good amount of Salt & Pepper.
I used about 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins--it was less expensive!
Put the Flour in a separate dish.
Coat the Chicken thoroughly on both sides with Flour.
Like this!
In a large cooking pot, melt the Butter with Olive Oil over Medium-High heat.
Once the Butter has melted, add in the first batch of chicken to the pot.
(Don't try and cook it all at once. Only put in as much as the pot can hold without stacking the Chicken)
After about 2 mins, flip the Chicken over. It should look like this :o)
The chicken isn't going to be cooked all the way in the center, but that's okay. We will finish cooking it later in this recipe. Again, cook the other side for 2 minutes. Set the Chicken aside on a plate.
This is about 1 lb of Chicken.
In the same pot you used to cook the Chicken, add in the diced Carrots, Celery, and Onion. This allows the veggies to soak up all the yummy juices from the chicken! Decrease the heat to Medium-Low, and cook the veggies for about 3-4 minutes...or until its tender.
I didn't have Ground Basil, so I just poured out some of the Basil (the one you buy in the Spice aisle at grocery stores) into the palm of my hand and used my fingers to grind up the herb. As Rachael Ray says, "it helps to wake it up".
So once the veggies are tender, add in the [ground] Basil. Stir it up until everything is combined.
*I don't have a picture of this...but AT THIS POINT, POUR IN THE CHICKEN BROTH AND THE APPLE CIDER TO THE VEGGIES*
Stir it up!
Now, you want to reintroduce the cooked Chicken back into the mixture. Increase the temperature just above Medium heat. Cover with a lid. Let the mixture simmer for 20 minutes.
While the Chicken is simmering--start on your Dumpling Dough!
Mix together the Flour, Yellow Corn Meal, Baking Powder, and
[Kosher] Salt. Then pour in the Half-n-Half. Make sure everything is completely combined. It's kinda tough to stir together, but USE THOSE ARM MUSCLES!
Once 20 mins is up, remove the Chicken from the broth. You can shred the Chicken, or cut it up into pieces. Whichever you want :o)
Add the shredded/cut up Chicken back INTO the broth.
Now, add in the Heavy Cream. Stir around.
(taste it to see if it needs extra salt)
Dumpling time!
I used a Tablespoon to scoop out the Dumpling Dough.
The shape of the Dough really doesn't matter...
Just drop it in without shaping or messing with it at all. It gives the Dumplings more character! (its kinda hard to drop the dough in because of how sticky it is--I just used my finger to loosen up the dough from the spoon. AND you most likely will have extra dough left over, thats fine.) Cover with a lid, and again, DON'T MESS WITH IT. Let this cook for another 15-20 minutes at the same heat (just above Medium).
After 15-20 minutes, go ahead and do a quick stir just so the top of the Dumplings can be flipped into the broth.
The dumplings will shrink down in size.
*The Yellow Corn Meal gives the Dumplings a Unique texture. The dough is soft on the outside, but has a soft, grainy texture in the center. To me, it tastes like a chewier version of corn bread!*
Turn off the heat, and allow it to cool for about 10 mins before serving.
(its also really delicious served over egg noodles!)
ENJOY!!
