I wanted to do something different today. I recently watched Alton Brown on the Food Network in an episode of his show, Good Eats, where his mother and mother-in-law (in doll form) battled it out over which type of dumplings to make--the southern rolled out and cut ones ("hard" as my family calls them) or the northern drop dumplings ("fluffy" as we call them). It was a cute show. And it inspired me to try something different. So I decided to try making the northern type--which we prefer anyway! But this was the big time. I wasn't going to be using Bisquick to make a dough to drop into broth. No, I was making them from scratch! :)
Also, every time I make chicken and dumplings, my family tells me to lose the chicken and just make more dumplings. So this time, I got a big box of chicken broth and used that. (Not a piece of meat to ruin their meal of starch.) :)
So here's the recipe as I made it. (For the original, click here.)
INGREDIENTS:
A large box of chicken broth plus some water to bring it to about 8 cups. Heat to simmering. (or use the broth from cooking your chicken--which I did this time, using chicken breast tenderloins.)
3 Tbs. butter
1/2 c all purpose flour
2 large eggs at room temp
1/2 tsp. salt
Put 1/2 c of the broth, the butter and a 1/2 ts salt in a saucepan, bring to a boil. Once it boils, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon, about 1 minute.
Then decrease heat to low and keep stirring until the mixture forms a ball and is no longer sticky, about 3 minutes. (Note, this didn't happen for me. It never formed a nice ball like it did for Alton.)[Update: Since this flopped last time, I tried using self-rising flour this time. It did seem to form a better ball.]
Transfer to a mixing bowl and mix on low speed for 5 minutes with electric hand mixer. Beat until cool. [You can see I tossed it in the stand mixer instead this time. Used the pastry hook, then switched to the whisk to blend in the eggs better.]
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing in the first before adding the second.
Transfer dough to a gallon size ziplock baggie. Cut off one corner so it's about a quarter-size opening. [This doesn't make much. A quart baggie is big enough.]
Squeeze out 1 inch of the mixture, then snip off with kitchen scissors right into the simmering broth. Repeat until empty.
Cook, covered (without stirring!) about 8-10 minutes. Turn off heat. If you're using chicken, add back in now. Wait 2-3 minutes before serving.Though my process didn't go quite like Alton's, the dumplings were yummy. And cute! And honestly, they were more like hard dumplings in my opinion, not fluffy like I was expecting. [The version with self-rising flour turned out a little fluffier. Aren't they cute?!]
I hope you enjoy. How do you make your dumpings? Northern or southern?? :)
Okay, I was SO lost in this post! Talk about regional!
ReplyDeleteI had chicken soup with spinach dumplings once in college at a restaurant and it was pretty tasty. Blobby, but tasty.
Sooo, to answer the question... neither way. I've never tried this in my life. But I think I might! It looks like Italian gnocchi, those boiled potato flour bits. I can imagine this was super tasty!!
Also, as we're looking at it boiling in the last shot, that's in the chicken broth? It looks almost clear. Did you add any seasonings? Just clear broth from the can and the dumplings?
LOL, Virginia! You definitely need to try dumplings! Yes, a little like gnocchi. :) If you want to do easier dumplings for a first try, just follow the recipe on the Bisquick box.
ReplyDeleteThe old post I was re-using was done with a box of chicken broth. But this time (and what's in the photos) is actually the broth from the chicken I cooked. I had a package of breast tenderloins. I cooked them with chunks of celery and salt (didn't have any carrots and didn't bother with onions). It did make a fairly clear broth.
I guess you could say these are like tasty little blobs of bread cooked in chicken broth. :)
ReplyDeleteI love chicken and dumplings, and I like the northern way or plopping spoonfuls of dough into the broth. But those little dumplings you made look so cute! I'll have to try that sometime.
ReplyDeleteChicken and dumplings are the ultimate comfort food, aren't they?
They are so cute, Jan! I'm used to either huge, fluffy ones. Or flat strips you roll out and cut. I really like these.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I never make rolled out and cut ones. I've found frozen ones of that type that are perfectly good!
ReplyDeleteI showed this to one my of girls and we're determined to try it today! And I think the 'cuteness' of the tasty blobs will go over well. For some reason, the giant fluffy dumplings never struck me as really edible. But then, they've never been in front of my hungry self.
ReplyDeleteI eat pretty much whatever is in front of me.
Missy, did you like the first or the second broth better? I have canned broth, and I have tenderloins and celery...
Ok, the broth is made, and the chicken is diced. Add that in later, right?
ReplyDeleteAttempting the dumplings! I'm a-goin' in!!
It went great! Posting pics on facebook. Only problem might have been the fact I didn't double the recipe as usual. It made a lot, but not enough for all of us to have 5-6. So, we loved them, and I put a lot of the broth in the freezer. Tasty!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that!
Virginia, I'm so glad you made them!!! I'm sorry I never got back to answer your question yesterday. I worked until 5 and then had to run get groceries for dinner since my daughter had friends over to spend the night. I can't wait to see your photos!
Deletemy mom made the best and I never learned :-( she tried the broth and canned chicken shortcuts and that didn't go over too well AT ALL! but she didn't buy whole chickens once the store started selling the breasts so we had tomake do with broth from those.she rolled hers out and cut into squares/rectangels maybe 1" square adn they'd swell up when added to the boiling broth.had to be stirred gently too I remember that much!
ReplyDeletesusanna
Susanna, I learned the hard way not to stir them! The soft fluffy ones will disintegrate and you'll have a pot of thick white broth! LOL
Deletewell the hard ones didn't fare much better plus I'd get fussed at for stirring them to hard!
Deletesusanna
Missy, it's hard to go wrong with any kind of chicken and dumplings. I grew up on the fluffier version, but now I make the small, southern version. A dumpling in every bite is my motto:-)
ReplyDelete