"What a dump!"

I've been thinking about chicken and dumplings for days... I've been wishing for that hot creamy comfort food since I got sick last week.  I don't really know why, but I think because everything else made me sick to my tummy, that I had this idea that the perfect food for me would be chicken and dumplings.  Now, Dad does not like the way I usually make dumplings.  He doesn't like the thick fluffy style of dumpling.  I usually drop bisquits I have made into the hot bubbling liquid filled with chicken and broth and cook it uncovered and then covered.  Marc loves those thick kind, as do I, but I was looking for another way to do it so that it would please all of us.  My Aunt Miriam has been known to use flour tortillas for dumplings because of the simplicity and time saving steps.  I think this is a viable alternative, but  I'm only moderately happy with the results of that. I find them too much not like a dumpling.   I started my search on the internet, reading dozens (if not hundreds) of recipes, watched You Tube videos and read through my Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country.  I found many ideas, and thought that I had decided what I would do for my new Chicken and Dumplings recipe.

First I took the leftover chicken, minus the skin and herbs in the cavity, from the fridge, and I put it in my Le Creuset pot.  I used about 3 cups of water to cook through and to soften the chicken up. I wanted to get the bones out, but get as much flavor from the meat as I could.  After the water came to a boil over medium heat, I turned the chicken cavity over to make sure both sides got cooked through.  I turned the broth off when the chicken was all cooked and let it just sit on the stove to cool while I got the rest of it ready.  I used my LeCreuset saute pan and put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom.  I turned the heat on medium and started to chop my onion (1 whole onion) and chopped about 3 stalks of celery.  I put both of those into my pan and stirred them until the onions were transluscent and the celery tender.   By now the chicken in the pot was ready to debone.  I took the larger pieces out and cut them into smaller bite sized pieces and then made sure all the meat was off the bones of the cavity of the chicken.  I put it back into the pot and turned the heat back on it.  I opened a 32 oz (4 cups) box of low sodium Chicken broth and poured about a cup of that into the pan with the onion and celery.  I stirred it to make sure I got all the fond from the cooked vegetables into the broth and then poured it into the pot.  I added the rest of the broth to it and let it simmer on a medium low heat.  I then take the package of chicken thighs out of the fridge and opened them, washed and dried them and seasoned them lightly with my favorite pre-mixed seasoning, Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt.  I put 2 or 3 cups of flour in a paper bag and put the chicken into that bag and shook the chicken parts and flour so that the parts are coated.  I put 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil in the pan and turned the burner on medium.  When the oil was hot, I put the chicken in so that I could fry it.  It took a while, cause I had about 6 thighs, and the pan would only hold 3 at a time.  I fried them until they were cooked through and crispy.  (Marc enjoyed eating the crispy chicken skin as I pulled it off the chicken)  I drained the pieces on paper towels and then pulled the biggest pieces of skin off and "discarded" them. I then cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces and threw it into the simmering broth, vegetables, and chicken.  Although I took off most of the skin, I left on some of the crispy crust, just for fun.  After I did that, I could see that I had lots more chicken than I realized.   After it cooked for 10 minutes or so, I took a slotted spoon and removed most of the chicken from the broth and put it in a bowl to add back later.  I added a second box of broth to the pot so that it could begin to heat up.   Now for the dumplings!!
I took 2 pre-made frozen pie crusts out of the freezer and thawed them while the chicken was cooking.  I unrolled one at a time onto a floured cutting board.  I took some flour and rubbed it onto the upper side so that both sides had a light coating of flour.  I hoped to accomplish 2 things with this... keep it from sticking together, and to give the broth some thickening agent since I wasn't making my typical dumplings.   I used my knife and cut the pie crust into 1 inch squares (or 2 inch, I didn't really measure that carefully).  I tried to make them all close to the same size so that they would cook at the same rate.   When I finished doing that, I turned the heat up on the broth to a medium high temperature so that the broth would begin to boil.  As the broth began to bubble rapidly, I began to drop the dumplings into the pot.  I stirred to prevent the dumplings from sticking, but they actually seemed to do fairly well in the bubbling mixture.  When I finished adding all the cut squares into the broth, I let them cook for about 5-10 minutes uncovered.  Then, I added the rest of the chicken back into broth, spooning it in a little at a time so it wouldn't cool the broth down too much, and stirred it in.  When I finished adding the chicken, and the broth returned to a vigorous bubble, I turned down the heat to medium, put the lid on the pot, and continued cooking for about 10 more minutes.  After that, I checked the dumplings by taking one out and tasting it.  It still tasted kind of doughy, so I let it continue cooking for 5-7 minutes more.  This time when I tasted it, the dumpling was not at all doughy, or gummy, and imparted a delicate chicken flavor in my mouth.  I was actually surprised at how nice the texture and flavor was.  I turned off the heat and finished cooking the green beans and took the pot to the table.  We had a nice red leaf lettuce salad with tomatoes and avocado and the rest of the bleu cheese dressing I made over the weekend to go with it. 
I must say.... .the chicken and dumplings were divine.  I added no more seasoning than what I put on the chicken, yet it was perfectly seasoned!   Even Dad said it was very good and that he liked the dumplings done in this way.   I felt proud of myself and my new recipe!

I took this picture of my plate, with my new camera.  It makes me hungry just to look at how good it looks.  I hope it inspires you to make a nice batch of chicken and dumplings.  It is rich and creamy and oh so good!!

Boulette Appetit!