Chicken & Dumplings

YUM!

Okay – back story.  This morning as he was leaving for work, hubby asks me if I have any plan for tonight’s dinner.  I said that I didn’t, why?  Turns out that he was craving something “stew-like” to use his words.  I have a great recipe for beef stew, but it’s a slow cooker recipe and the stewing beef was at the bottom of my deep freezer.  Then it occurs to me that I should be able to make a chicken stew…  and there’s stock in the freezer…

I made a quick trip to my go-to recipe site, www.allrecipes.com and found what we had for dinner: Chicken & Dumplings.  When I told my Mom that I was going to make this, she got all wistful, remembering her childhood when her Mom – who’s birthday it is today – would make this for Sunday supper.  I thought then that I should blog about this as a “Sunday Dinner” but once we had it, I couldn’t wait until Sunday to share it with you.  Was it good?  ooohhhh yes, yes it was.  Very good.

I tweaked the recipe from the original.  I will post my version below, and here is the link to the original.  I wanted my stew to be a bit thicker, so the main change is that I added some cornstarch.  Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

for the stew:

1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken (I used mostly thighs & legs, but did include 1 breast)

4 cups chicken soup stock

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

3/4 pound new potatoes, quartered

3 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 medium onion, cut into eighths

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup water

2 tbsp cornstarch

for the dumplings:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions

1. Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces.  Spray frying pan with non-stick cooking spray and cook the chicken pieces until they are done.
2. While the chicken cooks, heat the soup stock in a large pot.  Once the chicken is cooked, add it to the pot.
3. Add the remaining ingredients for the stew, and allow to simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the veggie pieces.
4. Add the cornstarch to the water and mix until blended.  Pour into the stew to thicken it.
5. In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt, using a fork.
6. Next, cut the butter or margarine into the flour using 2 knives or a pastry blender.  Add the milk and parsley and stir until well combined.
7. When the vegetables are done, use a tablespoon and drop spoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the stew pot.  Allow them to cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Then place the lid on the pot and continue to cook for 8-10 minutes or until the dumplings are tender.

Oh my goodness this was so delicious.  I have never before made dumplings, and was pleased at how easy it was to do.  The whole family ate this meal and Connor has declared that dumplings are his new number 1 favourite food!

Oh – as an aside, this recipe totals 53 points for the whole thing; I got 7 servings out of it making it 7 points/serving.  And let me tell you: worth every one!!

Advertisement