My sister called me one night and said she was in the middle of making some chicken and dumplings. I reminded her that our dad used to make chicken and dumplings out at Clear Creek several times a season and feed it to anyone coming along to his fishing camp. His chicken and dumplings were very good.
The dumplings can be made from Bisquick for a very easy application or use the simple recipe included here but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
To make the chicken stew you will need
3 pounds of bone in chicken parts. Thighs work well.
8 cups of chicken stock which you will get when you poach the chicken
5 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
Salt, pepper and plenty of garlic salt
Sage and rosemary
Heavy Cream, 3 quarters of a cup
Oil
First, in a heavy pot get some water boiling, add salt and pepper, minced sage and rosemary, maybe a quarter cup of both if fresh. When boiling add some chicken base if you have it, and boil the chicken parts until cooked which should take about 25 minutes.
Take out of the chicken broth when done, let cool, then chop the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Meanwhile, in some oil, sauté the onion and celery. When sautéed, add to the stock pot, add carrots and bring to a boil and cook another half hour until the carrots are done.
For the dumplings you will need ¾ cup of all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, more minced sage and rosemary, 2/3 cup milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter.
Whisk the flour and baking powder and salt. In another bowl whisk milk and melted butter until blended. Add to flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and set aside.
When the chicken is in the pot, bring to a simmering boil and dump dumplings into the mess a few at a time, reduce heat to low and cook covered 15 to 18 minutes and no peeking into the pot during this process. When dumplings are done, add the cream and season with additional salt and pepper to taste and be prepared for a taste treat supreme. Note….Do not omit adding the heavy cream at the last minute. It makes the broth!
