Chicken and Dumplings soup

     Hello hello out there in internet-land!  I am still very much alive and occasionally cooking.  The good news: I got a full time job at The Tech Museum of Innovation.  The bad news:  With my commute, I now have twelve hour days five days a week which doesn't leave much time for cooking.  Thank goodness for husbands who can cook!  I haven't, however, been completely separated from the cooking world.  I have still been creating delicious culinary delights.  My first is one that would be ideal on a cold, rainy day like today: Chicken and dumplings soup.

     A little background: As I mentioned in my first posts, both my Mother and her mother (my maternal grandmother) were not big cooks.  My mother's grandmother (my great-grandmother) was the cook of the family, so Mom always thought the cooking "gene" skipped two generations and settled on me.  Growing up, I would ask my Mom what her favorite dish was.  She always mentioned how her grandma used to cook chicken and dumplings.  Having never had chicken and dumplings before, this idea always stayed in the back of my mind.  So, when Scott and I went down to Southern California in January for a belated Christmas visit, I knew just what I wanted to make my Mom and Aunt for dinner...

     The problem was, of course, finding a recipe.  My great-grandmother had all her recipes memorized, so didn't write any of them down.  After an online search, I found that most chicken and dumpling recipes called for the use of mixes or artificial stuff that my great-grandma wouldn't have used.  I finally settled on using The Pioneer Woman's recipe.  I have always enjoyed perusing her website and was excited to try one of her recipes.  I was not disappointed!!

Chicken and Dumplings soup... yummy!

Chicken and Dumplings 

From: The Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/chicken-and-dumplings/

Prep Time:

 15 Minutes

 

Cook Time:

 30 Minutes

 

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 8

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Butter

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 whole Chicken, Cut Into Pieces (cut Up Fryer)
•  Salt And Pepper
• 1/2 cup Finely Diced Carrots
• 1/2 cup Finely Diced Celery
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric
• 6 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1/2 cup Apple Cider
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
•  Dumplings:
• 1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Yellow Cornmeal
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1-1/2 cup Half-and-half
• 2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Parsley (optional)
•  Salt As Needed

Preparation Instructions

Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then dredge both sides in flour.

Melt butter in a pot over medium-high heat. In two batches, brown chicken on both sides and remove to a clean plate.

In the same pot, add diced onion, carrots, and celery. Stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir in ground thyme and turmeric, then pour in chicken broth and apple cider. Stir to combine, then add browned chicken. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes.

While chicken is simmering, make the dough for the dumplings: sift together all dry ingredients, then add half-and-half, stirring gently to combine. Set aside.

Remove chicken from pot and set aside on a plate. Use two forks to remove chicken from the bone. Shred, then add chicken to the pot. Pour heavy cream into the pot and stir to combine.

Drop tablespoons of dumpling dough into the simmering pot. Add minced parsley if using. Cover pot halfway and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Check seasonings; add salt if needed. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

*Adapted from Gourmet Magazine

 Katie's edit: So I made this post quite a while ago (in February), so unfortunately I don't have any additional comments to make as I don't remember anything specific about the recipe.  I do, however, remember that it was delicious and I've made it more than once.