Is it supposed to look like this?? Chicken and dumplings

[hecatesmoon]

I'm only just starting to learn what real food actually is. Sad, I know!

 

[CarolJ]

For chicken & dumplings: Cook chicken in a large pot - cover it with water. Chop some onions, celery and carrots to put in the pot with it. Add salt/pepper. If you have some herbs (fresh or dried) such as sage or parsley - add a little of that, too. Boil it gently until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. What I call "scum" will form on the top of the boiling liquid. It won't hurt you - but it doesn't look wonderful. So I skim it off as the chicken cooks. Once the chicken is cooked, take it out of the pot - leaving the broth & vegetables in the pot. Let the chicken cool, then take the meat off the bones. I usually chop or shred the meat. Set the meat aside.

Make your dumplings (lots of different recipes for dumplings. I mix self-rising flour with chicken broth, salt/pepper, and some chopped fresh sage. Mix it and then roll it out on a floured board. Cut into approx. 1 inch x 2 inch strips).

Set the pot (with the chicken broth and vegetables in it) back on the stove and bring to a rolling boil. If there is not enough liquid - you can add more chicken stock to it. Drop the dumplings in one at a time. No stirring. Once the dumplings have cooked, add the chicken back into the pot. And your chicken and dumplings are ready to eat.

 

[hecatesmoon]

Thanks so much. I am finding that basically nothing looks like what you buy in the store and doesn't taste the same either which isn't neccessarily a bad thing, but tends to freak me out or confuse me!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I give you a big thumbs up for learning to do it yourself.

Good luck with the meal and don't be afraid to ask for help here at BYC.
Most of the people are very nice and willing to give advice. I am always learning something new.
My chicken and dumpling recipe is pretty close to CarolJ, but I use an egg in my dumplings and they are coated in flour to help thicken the soup somewhat. I also skip the sage and use dill weed.

 

[CarolJ]

Yes - I always coat the dumplings with flour, too. I just forgot to include that step. Sorry! Like wyoDreamer wrote, it helps to thicken the broth.

Once you start cooking from scratch*, you won't want to eat prepared food as much. Home-cooked food generally tastes so much better.



*Cooking from "scratch" - a saying that comes from the time when cooking started with the scratch of a match against the wood cook stove. I learned that not long ago and I thought it was interesting.

 

[hecatesmoon]

Well, I thought I would let you all know how it went. The chicken tasted like the smell of the wet feathers I plucked last night! Lol Sooooo bad!

 

[Oregon Blues]

I'm not sure what water you are talking about.

If you put the pieces of chicken into a pot of water and have simmered it, the "water' turns into broth and it will no longer be clear. There will be some floaties in the water that is part of broth. Commercial broth has been filtered to make it pretty.

If there is a film on the bottom of the pot, you are very close to burning the bottom of your pot. I suggest that you turn the heat down and occasionally stir the pot to scrape up the bottom, and that means moving your spoon around so it scrapes every single inch of the bottom.

I never made chicken broth with just chicken. i add an onion and a stalk or two of celery, plus a twist of black pepper. that should be simmered, not boiled. You want to see the surfacve of teh water moving gently, not bubbling.

 

[Kikiriki]

The chicken should not have gone bad while you went to the store. Food poisoning happens two ways: a bacteria grows on the raw food and the food is not cooked enough and you end up eating live bacteria that makes you sick. Or bacteria grows and creates a toxin in the food that makes you sick even if the food is cooked really well.

Then after you got sick from a certain food your brain decides (without consulting you) that you should never eat that food again and you end up with a food aversion.

Anytime you make a soup or broth turn the temperature down after it reaches a boil. You do not want the water to bubble. The water temp should be 180 degrees if you have a thermometer. When you see that white or brownish stuff on top, that is called scum...you use a spoon to or something like a net to scoop it off. It wont hurt you, it just makes the soup look less good. Ive missed scooping it out and Im fine! I just read about cooking an old bird and I think they said to cook it for four hours at 180 so the meat is not tough.

My dad makes awesome chicken soup. He adds 3 peppercorns, salt, dill, one onion, parsley, carrots and celery. I like to add garlic. I also love peas added at the end. Otherwise they get mushy.

 

[redhen]

What helps me a LOT if i am unsure about how to make a certain recipe..i just go to Youtube.,.and type in "Chicken and dumplings recipe"... and a whole lot of "how to" videos will pop up and show you how to make it...

 

[featherfriendlyinIowa52]

I like to add garlic, a bay leaf and carrots also to the onion and celery. Sometimes I add thyme or even a herb bouquet. If you don't like cloudy broth, you could clarify it by straining the broth and adding a beaten egg white and the shell to the hot broth. Simmer it a bit and let it sit. All the gunk will separate. Strain thru cheeseclothe. Makes it pretty like the broth in Chinese soups.