Recipe: Chicken & Dumplings

Pathmark tends to have kale, mustard greens, collards, and the like on sale for 79¢ per pound.

When that happens I usually buy a bunch of kale to make this dish that is perfect on a cold Winter's Day or cool Spring Evening. I just bought chicken thighs for 95¢ per pound and it's perfect to make this dish. Dark meat has more flavor and hold up well to stewing than white meat which toughens up. This recipe will serve 2.

Ingredients

For the Chicken Stew:

1 pound chicken legs or thighs or mixed

3 cups chicken broth (fresh or low sodium canned)

1 bay leaf

1 celery rib sliced crosswise into 1/4" pieces

2 medium carrots peeled and sliced into 1" pieces on the diagonal

4 small onions skins removed and cut in half (or you can also use 2 cups frozen pearl onions)

2 springs of fresh thyme

1 cup packed of coarsely chopped kale leaves

Salt and fresh ground pepper

For the Cornmeal Dumplings:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1/3 cup milk

Directions

For the stew:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the chicken pieces, broth, and bay leaf and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderate, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Skim the broth of fat that floats at the surface with a spoon. Stir in the celery, carrots, onions, and thyme springs. Cover pot slightly and allow to simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in the chopped kale and season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the dumplings:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. With your fingertips, work the butter pieces into the flour until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in milk until blended.
2. Drop tablespoons of dumpling bater in 8 clumps over the top of the stew. Reduce the heat to low and cover allowing the dumplings to steam and cook through for about 10 minutes.
3. Discard the bay leaf and thyme springs before serving.

Recipe: Chicken and Dumplings

Here is a recipe that I make when it is really cold outside and you want something that is satisfying, comforting, and warms you up. It serves two.

You can use whole chicken legs for this recipe since it is going to be more of a soup/stew and breast meat tends to get overcooked but use any type of chicken you can get at a great price (usually 89 cents a pound or less)
I always have a bag of white all purpose flour and a bag of corn meal handy and keep them stored in a zip-lock bag (they store practically dry for months/years that way).

*Tip: if you don't want to buy whole bags of carrots, celery, and onions (they may not be always on sale at your supermarket/grocer) you can find all three aromatics already chopped for you in a package found in the produce aisle marked as "meal starter" or something to that effect.

Chicken Stew
1 pound chicken pieces
3 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 medium rib celery sliced crosswise
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, peeled and rough chopped
2 springs of fresh thyme
1 cup packed coarse-chopped kale leaves
salt & fresh ground black pepper

Cornmeal Dumplings
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1tablespoon cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
1/3 cup milk

1. Prepare the stew: In a large saucepan combine chicken pieces, stock, bay leaf and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to moderate, turn the chicken pieces over, and simmer for 10 minutes more. Take out the cooked chicken and place on a plate or cutting board to allow to cool so that you can safely remove the skin without burning yourself. With a fork, pull the meat off the bones and put shredded chicken back into the pot. Discard skin and bones.
   



2. Skim the broth of any fat and stir in the celery, carrots, onion, and thyme springs. Continue to simmer partially covered until the carrots and onions are just tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the kale and season to taste with salt & pepper.



3. Prepare the dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. With your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the mixture is crumbly. Using a fork, stir in the milk until blended.



4. Drop tablespoons of the dumpling batter in 8 clumps over the top of the stew. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
   Discard the bay leaf and thyme springs and serve in bowls.