By request: recipe for chicken and dumplings

[brooksmoses]

Specifically, chicken and dumplings according to the recipe that my mother got from my grandmother, and so on back in time I have no idea how far -- it's very traditional North Carolina food.

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:
1 whole broiler hen (whole or cut up)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick butter
1/2 teas. salt (approx., to taste)
1 teas. poultry seasoning
1/2 teas. coarse-ground black pepper
1 can low-fat chicken broth (optional)

Instructions:
Boil chicken in large stock pot with water to cover, for about an hour. (Optional: add one can low-fat chicken broth to water.) Remove chicken, debone it, and cut it into roughly bite-sized pieces. Put flour and salt in large bowl and cut in butter (or mix with hands) until flour is crumbly. Make a well in the middle, and add one cup broth from the pot. Mix lightly by hand or with fork, knead into firm ball. Add flour as needed to prevent stickiness. Roll out fairly thin (about 1/8” or so), cut in ½” wide strips, and place slowly in boiling broth. Return chicken to pot, let simmer until dumplings are cooked completely through (about 45-75 minutes).

The liquid in the end result will have thickened into something about the consistency of a milk-based gravy; check it every so often and add more water if it's getting too thick. Also, simmer it on a quite low temperature; otherwise, it will burn, and this creates a somewhat off flavor. The recipe that I have doesn't mention where to put in the salt and pepper; I've specified to put the salt in the dumpling dough because it seems to need some, but I suspect there should probably also be some added to the broth, along with the pepper.

Comments

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

Ah excellent, sounds most yummy, I'll be trying that one for sure, thank you! :)

[shandrew.livejournal.com]

Dough always needs salt!

Also, if you like a clearer liquid, you can remove and replace the liquid after the first boiling before boiling the chicken for an hour.

yum.

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

Oops, need to ask, what size is a "broiler hen" in the US, seeing as we don't get such things here anyways - I'm assuming small roasting chicken, but not sure on poundage?

[brooksmoses]

I don't actually know. But, doing a Google search, I found this pdf file on chicken terminology, which indicates that "broiler" just means a chicken raised for meat, which also isn't helpful. I used one that was around 4 pounds, and it seemed to work reasonably well, although one might want a bit more chicken in the final result.

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

Right, thanks.

You know, the whole concept of finding a file on detailed chicken terminology is messing with my mind now... lol