Chicken & Fresh Milled Dumplings

I have learned a few things from my Meemaw, and chicken and dumplings is one of them! I had to use my experience with freshly milled wheat to adapt an old classic but this recipe is so worth the work. This was my first meal that I made back in my kitchen after my son was born. He was only 3 weeks old and I was able to pull this together for a wonderful and nourishing dinner. There was only enough for one bowl left over from dinner and I ate it the very next day for lunch. We devoured this meal. Everyone kept going back to the pot and adding more to their bowls, which to me--is the greatest compliment.

I hope you make it, and I hope this becomes your new go-to recipe for chicken and dumplings. It really is so special.

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Chicken and Fresh Milled Dumplings

serves 8

1 hour cook time

Ingredients:

2 shallots

5 carrots

4 celery stalks

2 tsp minced garlic

3 strips of thick bacon

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/2 cup of half and half cream

8 cups chicken bone broth

garlic salt and pepper

olive oil

2 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp poultry seasoning

Dumplings:

2 cups fresh milled hard white wheat flour (about 1 1/3 cups of grain)

2 tbsp fat ( from bacon and chicken drippings)

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup warm milk

Directions:

Prep all the veggies: Wash, peel carrots, and dice them into small bites. I will quarter the celery and carrots lengthwise to make them small. Half the shallots, remove the peel, and dice.

In a large dutch oven or large soup pot, turn heat on medium high and drizzle the bottom of the pan in a few tablespoons of olive oil.

Garlic salt and pepper the chicken thighs front and back. This is a measure with your heart situation. I just sprinkle the garlic salt and pepper until it looks seasoned. Add the chicken to the pot and sauté the chicken until it is cooked through, flipping half way to brown both sides.

Remove the chicken when it's cooked to a cutting board to cool.

Cut bacon into small pieces for bacon bits. I use kitchen scissors. Add the bacon to the same pot and cook the bacon in the chicken fat and drippings until crispy. Remove bacon and set aside for topping the chicken and dumplings at the end. Reserve 2 tbsps of fat for the dumplings.

Turn the heat off and make the dumplings.

Mill the flour on finest setting and add all the dry ingredients to a medium bowl. Use a whisk or fork to add in the bacon/chicken fat. Add the warm milk. Mix together with a dough whisk, fork or hands. Knead 4 or 5 times. Don't overwork the dough. Cover and let the dough rest 10 minutes to hydrate.

Lay out parchment paper and roll the dough out thin-ish. The use of parchment paper on this step is helpful for when you want to remove the dumplings and add to the pot. Refer to the video below for a visual. I use a pizza slicer to cut the dumplings into rectangles. Slide the parchment paper with the dumplings onto a cookie sheet--this is helpful when you need to add the dumplings to your pot, and they aren't stuck to your counter.

 Let the dumplings dry and air out at least 30 minutes. My grandmother always did it this way and said it helps the dumpling hold it shape and not fall apart when you add it to the broth. So I have always done this too.

Turn the heat back on the pot to medium high.

Add the shallots to the chicken and bacon fat in the pot. Sauté until translucent. Add the celery, carrots, and minced garlic. Sauté for a few minutes and add all the bone broth to the pot. Bring the pot to a boil. Reduce to medium heat, cover and put the lid on.

While that is cooking, dice the chicken up and trim off any fat pieces. Add the chicken to the pot. Add the salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.

Once the vegetables are cooked through, add the dumplings by hand to the soup. Bring the soup up to a boil. Boil the dumplings 10 minutes. Depending on how thick they are, they may need a few more minutes. Just taste test them to know when they are done. Add the half and half. Stir. and turn the heat off the pot and let the soup stand for 10 minutes . Serve and top with a bacon bits.

ENJOY!

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