Comfort food extraordinaire! My mom’s chicken and chive dumplings! This is so good and good for you in every way! The dumplings are to die for, they are super light and steamed in the aromatic broth. Everyone’s favorite comfort food!
Ingredients:
Serves 4 – 6
- 6-7 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 Tbs of vegetable oil
- 4 ribs of celery, cut into chunks
- 4 carrots, cut into chunks
- 1 onion, rough chopped
- 3 – 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 8 cups of chicken stock
- 1 tsp of kosher salt
- 1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
- 3 fresh thyme sprigs
- 3 Tbs of flour for thickening
Dumplings - 2 cups of cake flour (makes a very light dumpling)
- 1 Tbs of baking powder
- 1/2 tsp of baking soda
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- 1/4 tsp of pepper
- 1 cup of buttermilk
- 2 Tbs of melted butter
- 2 heaping Tbs of fresh chives, chopped
- chopped parsley for garnish
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or soup pot with a lid, if you don’t have a lid, you can use foil. You may have to work in batches so the chicken is not crowded. Season the chicken thighs with a little salt and pepper and cook over high heat about 6 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate and cook the remaining chicken.
To the same pot, add in the celery, carrots and onion and cook for 5 minutes, add in the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. While the veggies are cooking, cut the chicken into small pieces. Then add it back to the pot along with the stock, salt, pepper and thyme sprigs.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until the veggies just start to soften (test a carrot chunk) Remove the thyme sprigs, then ladle out 1 cup of the broth and add it into a bowl containing 3 Tbs of flour, stir until smooth, add back to the pot and stir until combined, cook for a few minutes until it starts to thicken.
To make the dumplings, just whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt & pepper, then stir in the buttermilk, butter and chives, stir only until combined, don’t over mix.
Then just drop by large spoonfuls into the simmering chicken pot, cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes, it’s important not to peek! Keep in mind the dumplings will expand, so don’t make them too big.
All done! To serve, ladle into bowls and sprinkle with chopped parsley. YUM!
Note to cooks: You can also use a rotisserie chicken for this recipe or boneless, skinless chicken breasts if you prefer white meat. If you would like to add frozen peas, put them in right before you drop in the dumplings.
