This recipe was featured in the 2014 edition of Arkansauce: The Journal of Arkansas Foodways.
Both of my grandmothers were wonderful cooks from whom I inherited my love of cooking I’m sure. They each had their specialities which they shared to tables full of folks on a daily basis. This recipe for my Mamaw’s Chicken and Dumplings was supposedly a family secret – at least a couple of my aunts thought so. Needless to say, they were horrified when they learned that I had been cooking and sharing the recipe since I was twelve!
If you were my Mamaw you would start your Sunday morning very early by going to the chicken coop and selecting an old hen that was no longer laying eggs. You had to earn your keep in Mamaw’s chicken coop or you were headed to the pot. After wringing its neck, plucking the feathers, singeing off the remaining tiny feathers (what a smell), yanking out the innards, and cutting it into pieces, the old hen went in the big dumpling pot where it would eventually wind up on the Sunday table as chicken and dumplings. If you could find a chair around that dining table, you were more than welcome to eat your fill. Funny thing, that chicken and dumpling pot always seemed to hold just enough to feed the crowd that gathered.
Well, I don’t have a chicken coop unfortunately. Even if I did, I’m not so sure that I would be out there wringing a chicken’s neck to make this dish. I think I will just continue to rely on the grocery for that, thank you ma’m.
These are old-fashioned dumplings. No puffy ones to be found here. And they could not be easier to make.
Ingredients
Broth
- 1 baking or stewing hen 3 – 4 pounds or 3 bone-in, skin on chicken breasts and 3 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
- 1 12-ounce package seasoning blend (celery, onions, green and red peppers, parsley) such as Pictsweet
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1 32-ounce package low sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons fresh garlic (granulated garlic can be used – adjust amounts)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- Water to cover (as more as needed)
Dumplings -For this amount of chicken and liquid:
- I would use 3 cups flour to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (adjust to your tastes)
Instructions
Broth
- I place all of the above in a slow cooker and cook on low heat 8 – 10 hours (usually over night). After the chicken is done, remove the pieces from the liquid. Remove the skin and bones; shred, cover and refrigerate the meat until you are ready to make the dumplings. You can, of course, cook this on the stove top.
- I refrigerate the broth so that the fat will congeal and can be removed. (Mamaw would NEVER have removed the fat. That’s probably one reason hers were always delicious.)
- Reheat the broth in a stew pot while making the dumplings. The dumplings are a 2:1 ratio of all-purpose flour to buttermilk (You can use regular milk to which lemon juice or vinegar has been added in order to “sour” it. Do not use the powdered buttermilk as it just does not carry the same tangy flavor as the buttermilk or sour milk.)
Dumplings
- Stir together by hand until it holds together in a rough ball. On a well-floured cabinet top ecloth, press the dough out until flattened then roll to about 1/8th-inch thickness. Cut into strips about 1 inch by 1 1/2 or 2 inches. (I often use my pizza wheel.) Avoid using too much extra flour.
- Bring broth to a slow rolling boil. Return the shredded meat to the pot. Drop in dumplings one at a time. After all dumplings are added, stir once, turn heat to lowest setting and cover. (Mamaw always turned hers off completely, but she had a gas stove with a pilot light which I do not have. The dumplings will cook in the hot liquid.) The dumplings should be ready to serve in 15-20 minutes. I always take one out and test it – a cook’s privilege ya’ know.
- If you want a thicker broth, make a slurry of flour and water and slowly add this to the broth. Stir and allow to thicken.
- Adjust seasonings to suit your taste. Garnish with minced parsley if desired.
- We usually have leftovers which I reheat in the microwave and add additional water if needed. I don’t really like to freeze the dumplings as they tend to get mushy.
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After traveling to Boxley Valley to view the rutting elk and remaining trumpeter swans on a very unseasonably cold Saturday in NWA, this was a very welcomed dinner indeed. Comfort food at its best.
Dear Santa,
Just a reminder…you know that new lens I’ve been hinting for……I’ve been a very good girl
.
Ok, I’m going out to the chicken coop right away! (Or the local meat counter at the grocer’s.) This is so good sounding I just have to have it. Great picture.
Chicken and Dumplins from Mawmaw will be on my Sunday table. Thanks for sharing in spite of your aunts’ wishes. Drop by tumbleweedcontessa.com and leave a cookie recipe for our Holiday Cookie Exchange.