Description
Tender chunks of chicken and light and fluffy dumplings float in a rich, homemade chicken broth
Ingredients
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For the Chicken and Broth
- 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), giblets removed
- 12 cups cold water (or enough cold water to cover the chicken; you’ll need at least 8 cups)
- 1 carrot, unpeeled, coarsely chopped
- 1 yellow onion, quartered (leave the skin on)
- 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 3 medium carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 tablespoons chicken base (optional)
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- Salt and pepper
For the Dumplings
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup melted butter
For the Assembled Chicken and Dumplings
- 8 cups reserved chicken broth, divided
- 1 batch of prepared dumpling batter (see above)
- Meat reserved from poached chicken, shredded
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh or dried parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the chicken: Place the chicken in a large pot, and cover with cold water. Add coarsely chopped carrots, onion quarters, garlic cloves, and bay leaves. Season with a big pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cover with a lid. Allow the chicken to simmer for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours, skimming off the foam occasionally. When the chicken is done, it should be tender and easily pulled from the bone, with an internal temperature of at least 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully remove the chicken from the pot, pull off and shred the meat, and set aside.
- Add vegetables to broth: Strain the broth made from cooking the chicken through a fine-mesh sieve. Return 7 cups to the pot, then reserve and set aside 1 additional cup to cool and use later in the recipe (you will most likely have more than the 8 cups of broth needed for this recipe – freeze the extra to use later). Add poultry seasoning, ground turmeric, sliced carrots, and sliced celery. Simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until carrots and celery are not quite tender.
- Season and thicken broth: Taste the broth for seasoning. Add chicken base (this is optional, but I like to add a little chicken base to boost the flavor) and season generously with salt and pepper to taste. In a small bowl, whisk the reserved 1 cup of cooking liquid with the flour until smooth. Stir mixture into the gently bubbling broth (the broth will become slightly thickened, but not as thick as gravy.)
- Make the dumplings: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; add eggs milk and melted butter to the well. Use a fork to whisk the wet ingredients together, then stir in the dry ingredients until everything is combined.
- Assemble the chicken and dumplings: Add reserved chicken meat to the pot and stir. Drop tablespoon-size dollops of the dumpling mixture to the bubbling soup (It’s fine if they sink a bit – they will pop up as they cook.) Place the lid on the pot and simmer for 20 minutes until the dumplings have puffed up and are cooked through.
- Final seasoning, garnish and serve: Taste and adjust seasonings and garnish with freshly-chopped or dried parsley before serving.
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Inactive Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours