Leftovers from last night.
The way I make chicken and dumplings was inspired by a Weight Watchers recipe. It is virtually fat-free (so feel free to make 'em, Syd) and an entire meal in a bowl and delicious.
I don't really do recipes, per se, but here's how they go:
First I dump one of those big containers of fat free chicken broth in my big pot. Then I add water up to about halfway or so. In that I put four chicken breast fillets, skinless, boneless. I add several cloves of garlic, an onion sliced, several stalks of celery, cut up into bite-sized pieces, four or five carrots, peeled and sliced. Last night I added a bunch of green beans which I'd snapped into smallish bite-sized pieces.
Put all that on the stove and let it come to a boil, then simmer. I add, for spices, thyme, sage, a few bay leaves, some hot sauce, some soy sauce, salt and pepper. Do it like you like it. Probably best not to taste until the chicken is cooked. When the chicken is tender, remove it and let it cool off to the side and adjust your seasons and let everything keep simmering but with the lid off to reduce to the liquid. You want enough liquid but not too much. How to explain? Well, I can't. Besides, it's not going to matter that much. You eat this in a bowl with a spoon and fork anyway.
Add a half pound or so of sliced mushrooms to the broth as well if you like mushrooms. Portabellos are good. So are the regular old white mushrooms. You can add peas if you want. Whatever. Make it yours.
When the chicken is cool, tear it up into shredded bite-sized pieces and put it back in the pot with all the vegetables. Let that simmer for a few minutes.
Get a jar with a lid on it or a bowl and put about a quarter of a cup of regular flour in there. Add water and either shake it with the lid on or wire-whisk it in the bowl to make a smooth paste. Stir that into the pot and let the liquid thicken. You don't want gravy here, you want thickish-liquid.
While that's going on, get out another bowl and put about a cup and a half of self-rising flour in it. Add about a half teaspoon of baking soda. Then add enough buttermilk to make a thin dough. Not like pancake batter- thicker than that. Maybe like whipped cream. Sort of. Stir it all up with a fork. With a spoon, put about tablespoon-sized amounts of this dough/batter into the simmering pot. You can cover the entire surface. Put the lid back on and let those dumplings cook. I turn mine over, halfway through the cooking. This only takes about fifteen minutes.
Done. Serve in nice, shallow wide bowls making sure to get some chicken and and some of all the vegetables in the there with a few dumplings. Serve with hot sauce.
You can add a salad or some greens on the side or whatever you want. Don't add anything if you don't want. It's all in that bowl anyway.
Mr. Moon ate three bowls. You may too. We will eat it again tonight which is good because I think we are going to go get some new babyish chickens this evening around supper time. I may have to make more dumplings tonight when I heat it up. This works fine.
More on the chickens later.
Have a lovely Saturday!
Yours truly...Ms. Moon
P.S. If you are using a tough old rooster as your chicken instead of store-bought boneless, skinless breasts, you're going to have to cook that thing a LONG time. That's okay. Eventually, it will be more than fit to eat.
