Chicken and Dumplings

Description

Chicken and dumplings is a thick, savory stew made with boiled chicken meat and soft pieces of dough cooked directly in a rich poultry broth. Its origins are firmly tied to the South and Midwest during the early to mid-19th century. Early printed recipes for similar boiled meat dumplings appeared in Mary Randolph’s 1824 cookbook The Virginia House-Wife, but the combination of stewed poultry and flour dumplings became especially widespread during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Farming families often used older, tough egg-laying hens that no longer produced eggs, simmering them for hours until the meat became tender. Large amounts of inexpensive flour and water were then used to stretch the valuable animal protein and feed large households on a strict budget. Preparation begins by placing a whole bone-in chicken in a large pot of water with chopped celery, white onions, and carrots. The pot simmers steadily for several hours, until the meat falls away from the bones and a rich yellow broth develops. The solid ingredients are removed, leaving only the seasoned liquid behind. The chicken meat is shredded by hand into bite-sized pieces and set aside, while the bones are discarded. The dumpling dough is made by cutting cold vegetable shortening, lard, or butter into all-purpose flour, then adding baking powder and mixing in whole milk or buttermilk until a cohesive dough forms. The way the dough is shaped strongly affects the final texture of the stew and creates clear regional differences. In the drop method, a wet, highly leavened batter is scooped with a spoon and dropped directly into the boiling broth. This creates fluffy, round dumplings that resemble soft, wet biscuits. In the rolled method, a stiffer dough is rolled out on a heavily floured surface and sliced into flat, wide squares or thick strips. When these flat pieces enter the hot broth, the extra surface flour dissolves into the liquid, thickening it into a dense, opaque gravy. Small ingredient changes can easily shift the basic flavor and texture. A prominent Appalachian version replaces wheat flour with coarse cornmeal, producing denser, grittier dumplings that absorb broth without falling apart. Some modern kitchens add heavy cream or evaporated milk in the final minutes of cooking, creating a richer, whiter sauce. Another common adjustment is to add frozen green peas or diced sweet carrots back into the strained broth along with the shredded chicken, bringing color and mild vegetable sweetness. The shredded poultry is returned to the thickened broth just long enough to heat through. The steaming stew is then served directly from the stove in deep, wide bowls. A heavy dusting of freshly cracked black pepper usually covers the surface. Because of its rich fats and heavy starches, chicken and dumplings function as a complete main course.