Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot (6-quart minimum)
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Whisk
• •Pastry cutter or your hands

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the poaching liquid

   Place your chicken in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot. Add the cold water, celery, half the carrots, half the onion, the garlic, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, salt, and peppercorns. The water should just cover the chicken. If it doesn't, add a bit more. Cold water starting helps draw out proteins slowly, giving you a cleaner, more flavorful broth.

   Reserve half your carrots and onions raw. You'll add them later so they retain some texture in the finished dish.
2. 2

   Poach the chicken

   Bring the pot to a gentle simmer over medium heat. This should take about 15 minutes. Don't rush it. Once you see lazy bubbles breaking the surface, reduce heat to low and partially cover. Maintain this gentle simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the chicken is cooked through and the meat pulls easily from the bone. Skim any foam that rises to the surface in the first 20 minutes.

3. 3

   Remove and shred the chicken

   Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, discarding the spent vegetables and aromatics. You should have about 8 cups of golden broth. Taste it. It should be rich and chickeny with gentle herbal notes. Once the bird is cool enough to handle, shred the meat into generous bite-sized pieces, discarding the skin and bones. You'll get about 4 cups of meat.

4. 4

   Build the base

   Wipe out your Dutch oven and set it over medium heat. Add the 4 tablespoons of butter and let it melt until foaming. Add the reserved raw onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. The kitchen should smell sweet and welcoming. Add the reserved raw carrots and cook another 2 minutes.

5. 5

   Make the roux

   Sprinkle the 1/3 cup flour over the vegetables and stir constantly for 2 minutes. The flour should coat everything and turn slightly golden. This cooks out the raw taste and builds the thickening power. Don't let it brown beyond a pale blonde color.

   If your roux gets any dark spots, start over. Burnt flour tastes bitter and there's no fixing it.
6. 6

   Add the broth

   Slowly pour in the strained chicken broth, about 2 cups at a time, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. After each addition, whisk until smooth before adding more. Once all the broth is incorporated, bring the mixture to a simmer. It will thicken slightly as it heats. Stir in the heavy cream and return to a gentle simmer. The broth should coat a spoon but still be soupy, not gluey.

7. 7

   Return the chicken

   Add all the shredded chicken to the pot and stir to combine. Taste the broth now. Season with more salt if needed. It should taste robust and savory, well-seasoned but not salty. Reduce heat to maintain the gentlest possible simmer while you make the dumplings.

8. 8

   Mix the dumpling dough

   In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 cups flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and minced thyme. Add the cold cubed butter and work it into the flour using your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with some pea-sized butter pieces remaining. Those butter pieces create pockets of steam that make your dumplings light.

   Cold butter is non-negotiable. If your kitchen is warm, refrigerate the cubed butter for 15 minutes before mixing.
9. 9

   Add the buttermilk

   Pour the cold buttermilk over the flour mixture all at once. Stir with a fork just until a shaggy, sticky dough forms. Stop the moment you don't see dry flour. The dough should look rough and lumpy. If you can see smooth dough, you've overworked it. Overworked dumplings turn dense and chewy like pencil erasers. Nobody wants that.

10. 10

    Drop the dumplings

    Increase the heat under your pot until the stew reaches a steady, active simmer. You need that steam. Using two spoons, drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the surface of the simmering stew, spacing them about an inch apart. You should get 12 to 14 dumplings. They'll expand as they cook. Work quickly so they all finish at the same time.

    Dip your spoons in the hot broth between dumplings to keep the dough from sticking.
11. 11

    Cover and cook

    Cover the pot immediately with a tight-fitting lid. Do not lift the lid for 15 minutes. This is crucial. The dumplings cook by steam, not by boiling. Every time you peek, you release steam and your dumplings suffer. Set a timer. Trust the process. After 15 minutes, lift the lid. The dumplings should have doubled in size, looking puffy and matte on top. Insert a toothpick into the center of the largest one. It should come out clean.

12. 12

    Rest and serve

    Remove the pot from heat and let it sit uncovered for 5 minutes. This allows the stew to settle and thicken slightly. Ladle generous portions into warm bowls, making sure each serving gets at least two dumplings and plenty of chicken. Scatter fresh parsley over the top if you like. Serve immediately with nothing but a spoon and a napkin tucked into your collar.

Chef Tips

• •Bone-in, skin-on dark meat makes richer broth than breast meat. If using a whole chicken, save the breast meat for chicken salad and use the rest here. Or embrace the whole bird and accept that some pieces will be more tender than others.
• •The stew thickens considerably as it cools. When reheating, add splashes of chicken stock to loosen it back to a soupy consistency. The dumplings absorb liquid overnight, which is delicious but changes the texture.
• •For even fluffier dumplings, separate one egg and fold the beaten white into the dough just before dropping. This adds lift but also makes the dough more delicate to handle.
• •This dish freezes well before adding the dumplings. Make the base through step 7, cool completely, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight, reheat to a simmer, and make fresh dumplings when ready to serve.
• •A Dutch oven with a glass lid lets you watch the dumplings without releasing steam, if you truly cannot resist peeking.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken can be poached and shredded up to 2 days ahead. Store the meat and strained broth separately in the refrigerator. Any fat that solidifies on top of the broth can be spooned off or stirred back in for richness.
• •The complete stew base (through step 7) can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat to a simmer before making and adding fresh dumplings.
• •Leftover chicken and dumplings keeps refrigerated for 4 days. Reheat gently in a covered pot over low heat, adding stock as needed. The dumplings will be softer but many people prefer them this way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 380g)