Saturday, October 24, 2009

By Beth's Request: Bo's Chicken & Herbed Dumplings

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(The above is not a picture of my dumplings but I didn't have one of my own handy--so I "borrowed" that picture...)

Okay, since Beth asked if I would post my recipe, I will try and re-create it here. Since I cook without written recipes, I'm going to try and estimate some of the amounts of things, okay? (But I'll try to err on the side of caution, so that if you like the flavor of a particular spice you can simply increase it if you like.) This is the recipe that's been handed down in chicken & dumplingdom in my family since probably the Civil War. (Or the Revolutionary War, who knows?) (Yes I know they didn't have Bisquick in the 1700's but plain flour works just as well...)

(Is "dumplingdom" a real word?)

(Oh yes, and I herb my dumplings, even though they're made from Bisquick.)

Take 1 pkg of boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 4 or 5 good sized ones) and put them in a dutch oven pot, add water till it just barely covers them, and start them to boil.

When they are cooked (no pink in the middle), lower the boil to a simmer. Take the breasts out of the water. Break them up into large pieces, and then add them back into the water.

Add to the pot (and I've been known to be really liberal with the spices):

4 chicken boullion cubes

1 Tbl sage (I've been known to add more)

1 - 2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 - 2 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbl onion powder

2 Tbl parsley

1 can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup

While you're simmering that for awhile, make up the herbed dumplings. You make the basic dumplings like the recipe on the box of Bisquick. But then I go further.

Mix the following in a bowl:

1 1/3 cup Bisquick

1 Tbl parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp sage

1 tsp paprika

(Toss everything with a fork to mix everything up good.)

Then, add milk until a soft dough forms. And I mean a soft dough---there's been times I added too little milk because I thought I wanted a "firm" dumpling, but they turned out like rubber..eeek! So make it a soft dough.

Okay, then you put your pot of soup on a simmer. Not a boil. And then you've got to "thicken" the soup. So take a ladle and ladle out two coffee cups half to 3/4 full of the soup (no chicken in there). Let them cool awhile (you can put them in the frig if you're in a hurry). Then use flour to thicken both of the cups' liquid--and thicken them pretty gooey and thick. And then after you thicken the liquid in the two coffee cups, raise the temperature of the pot of soup till it's a boil again, and then slowly pour those two cups of thickened soup back into the pot to "thicken" the whole pot of soup, stirring constantly till your whole pot of soup is thick. (Not "glue" thick, but a little bit less than "gravy" thick.)

Again, put your boil back down to a low simmer, and then you take your dumpling dough and drop it by spoonfuls into the pot. I always start in a ring formation and then add them to the center of the ring until the whole entire pot of soup is covered in dumplings.

Cook everything on a LOW simmer for 10 minutes UNCOVERED--not a boil (so as not to burn stuff on the bottom of the pot). Then you put the lid on the pot and LOW simmer them for 10 more minutes COVERED. It may take more than 10 minutes in this last stage. The way you tell if the dumplings are done is if they look cooked on their tops (poke one). Don't be afraid to pull a dumpling out and cut it in half to check if it's totally cooked. (Then plop it back in there to finish cooking.)

That's it! I hope I've written it correctly. The secret is the sage. Most people don't add sage to their chicken & dumplings but it totally makes the chicken flavor come out. And most people don't "herb" their dumplings, but it really makes the dumplings taste better. (God, I hope I wrote this recipe right....)

I've had people tell me these chicken & dumplings were so good "they'd make you stand up and slap your grandma"....

Important for refrigeration of leftovers: If you refrigerate the leftovers, separate the dumplings from the soup into a separate bowl. If you don't, the dumplings will swell up like balloons from soaking up the soup. When you reheat everything, reheat the soup on the stove first, separately, and when it's hot add the dumplings in and heat a little more till the dumplings are hot.

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17 comments:

kg said...

I've done the bisquick dumplings before, but I'm going to have to try your way---sounds good!
Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Wow ... not only did they have Bisquick during the Civil War but they had Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup, too.
How original.

Bo... said...

Why Anonymous, how nice of you to visit again.

I really must ask, though, IS THAT the best you can do?

Because as to your ridiculous comment about the Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup, you are totally wrong. They most certainly DID have every single natural ingredient of that soup in both the Civil and the Revolutionary wars. It just wasn't all in ONE CAN. Each ingredient was fresh.

Let's see if I can break it down for your pea-brain....in that soup there is milk, chicken stock, chicken, spices, water, flour, whey. Oh I could go on and on.

Is it difficult for you to be an idiot or does it come naturally? I know, I know, you're one of those YH's groupies who hates me and just LIVES for a moment to engrave your brilliant idiocy in a rude comment on my blog.

But feel free---I can take on all comers successfully.

P.S.--They also had Bisquick then, too. You know...flour and baking soda?

Anonymous said...

Well, Bo, honey, if this is indeed a Civil War era recipe like you say and they did have every single natural ingredient of that soup in both the Civil and the Revolutionary wars. It just wasn't all in ONE CAN. Each ingredient was fresh...if that's the case, Bo honey...why didn't you use the fresh stuff?
I'll tell you why.
Because you got it from the back of the box of Bisquick and just doctored it all up the way we all do.
Don't pretend you're something you're not, Bo dear...we all see through you. We all know who & what you are...an angry little faker who can't stand it when people figure out she's a liar liar pants on fire.
Oh I wish I was in Dixie.....

Bo... said...

To Anonymous #2:

Uh...did I hear you correctly? Did you actually say "Liar liar pants on fire"?

ARE YOU IN KINDERGARTEN???? HEH!

I love you Anonymous idiots. And do you wanna know why? Because you only prove the point that I made in the past about the "company a certain other blogger keeps".

Bo... said...

Hee hee hee!!!!! I'm still laughing my butt off that the groupies of the blogger-who-shall-not-be-named are criticizing a blog post about....CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS no less!!! hee hee hee!!!

Do you know how ridiculous you look? Heh! It's chicken & dumplings for God's sakes! HEE HEE HEE!!!!!! ROFLMAO!!!!!!

LOL!
LOL!
LOL!

Chicken & dumplings!!!! Oh Lordy me, I'm going to print these comments out and frame them! They're priceless! Wait till I tell Fred!

Bo... said...

And quit calling me honey.

Anonymous said...

Ok, sweetie. No more calling you honey.

Bo... said...

You're obsessed with me, aren't you? I'm flattered, I really am.

Anonymous said...

...and for the record, SWEETIE, this has nothing to do with YH and everything to do with you being a lying faker. As my Momma always told me "the truth will out". Oh I may have found you because of the YH dust up from some links on Ravelry but this has nothing to do with me being a fan of anyone or anything other than the TRUTH.

Bo... said...

Whatever you say.....(yawn)...

Anonymous said...

I think this recipe originated in Canada.

Bo... said...

No, the recipe didn't originate in Canada, although on one side of my family I do descend from Louisiana "Cajuns", who themselves were descended from Acadia in Eastern Quebec. (You didn't know I had Canadian descendents, did you?) But no, the chicken & dumpling recipe hails from the Scotch side of my family who lived in the South and Texas since the 1700's when the first one of our Clan arrived in America by boat. My family is really very interesting. I have two ancestors, brothers, who were Pony Express riders in the old West. And I have a great-grandmother who was full blooded Cherokee Indian.

Anonymous said...

"(You didn't know I had Canadian descendents, did you?) "

Actually you have Canadian ANCESTORS

Bo... said...

To All You Anonymouses who are cluttering up my nice comments section with your immature ramblings:

Please go back to YH's blog, from whence you came from. I know you hate me and wish to express that hate, but I'm afraid you're boring me now. When I get bored, I throw you guys out. So go back and worship at the alter of your best buddy.

Night night, kiss kiss. (yawn)

Beth in MN said...

OMG, woman, I don't care what ANYONE says about civil war and ingredients, they just need to be quiet and TASTE the RECIPE ... I'm sitting here eating it, and it's DELICIOUS! YUM!

Bo... said...

Thank you, Beth!!