In a world dominated by Instagram food porn and sophisticated dishes, don’t let the things in your life take a backseat. You know what I mean: unpretentious recipes that nourish, comfort and warm you up. Many of these dishes are unpretentious because in their origins they could not have them, since they were born in the context of the cucina povera, the “kitchen of poverty”: cheap ingredients, not too many and many mouths to feed.
It was in one of these settings that one of the stars of Southern cuisine in the United States was born: Chicken and Dumplings, whose birth date is estimated to be 1929, the Great Depression. The dish is basically a chicken and vegetable soup, in which balls of dough are cooked out of flour, some milk and egg, super spongy and juicy. This mass would most likely be made with the intention of augmenting the dish, making it more filling, but they are the most delicious part of it, full of flavor.
This is a slightly more refined version than what was made in American homes in the 1930s: the dumplings, for example, are made with crème fraîche, which adds a wonderful touch of acidity and creaminess. Instead of making the broth with water and a whole chicken, I made it with drumsticks and grocery store brick chicken broth, which makes for a tastier base and gives juicier meat. Halfway through the preparation, a type of white roux — butter and flour — is added to the broth to give it a bit more consistency and to emulsify the fat released by the chicken. Hope you American purists; If there is such a thing, don’t be too offended. In any case, it has the same result as the original: a hot, tasty, simple dish and most importantly, one that makes you feel at home and forgets your problems for a second.
difficulty
Serve the dumplings without breaking them.
ingredients
For soup
- 6 skin-on-bone chicken thighs (approx. 1,250 kg)
- 1 medium onion
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 stick of celery
- 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary or thyme
- 1.5 liters of chicken broth
- 500 ml dry white wine
- 60g unsalted butter
- 30 grams of wheat flour
- Fresh Parsley
- Lemon peel
- olive oil
- salt and black pepper
For the dumplings
- 180 grams of wheat flour
- 6 g chemical yeast (Royal type)
- 4 grams of salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 175 g crème fraîche (or kefir, Greek yoghurt or cream)
- 1 egg size L
- 30g unsalted butter
preparation
Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add plenty of olive oil and sear the drumsticks, skin side, until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn over, add the white wine and let it reduce for two minutes.
Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover pan and cook until tender but still juicy (74 degrees Celsius at thickest point), 15 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion, carrot, celery and rosemary.
Remove the drumsticks from the pan when done and set aside. Clean the surface of the broth from the risen impurities and foam.
In a bowl add the melted butter and flour and stir until smooth. Gradually add two ladlefuls of the hot broth and incorporate. Pour the mixture into the saucepan, mix and then add the vegetables and rosemary. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook covered for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the dumplings: mix flour, dry yeast, salt, and freshly ground black pepper in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the crème fraîche and egg until smooth. Add the melted butter and crème fraîche mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients. Incorporate all the ingredients as little as possible so they have a better texture.
Cover the pot and add the dumpling dough, one spoon at a time, one at a time. Reduce the heat to minimum, cover the pan and let it cook for 20 minutes without uncovering at any point. Meanwhile, cut the chicken thighs into strips.
Cover the pot and add the chicken, tucking it between the dumplings being careful not to break them. Serve in bowls and top off with chopped fresh parsley, lemon zest and freshly ground black pepper.
If you make this recipe, share the result on your social networks with the hashtag #RecipesComidista. And if it goes wrong, complain to the Defender of the Cook by sending an email to [email protected].