Best Ever Chicken and Dumplings

chelgilm's Note:

I got this recipe off of Food Network. It is Tyler Florence's recipe. This is definitely the best chicken and dumplings I have ever had. I have tried other recipes of his and so far they are all delicious. You won't be disappointed in these. It really is easy to make. It only takes a while because of the chicken baking first and then making the chicken stock next.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

Roasting Chicken

• 1 (3 lb) whole chickens
• salt and pepper
• 4 ounces unsalted butter
• 1 lemon , halved and juiced, reserve the lemon halves
• ¼ cup chopped fresh rosemary
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• ¼ cup chopped thyme
• 1 onion , cut in half
• 4 garlic cloves , halved
• fresh whole herbs (garlic thyme and parsley sprigs)

For Chicken Stock

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 carrots , cut in large chunks
• 2 stalks celery , cut into large chunks
• 1 onion , cut in halves
• 1 head garlic , cut in half
• reserved chicken bone
• 2 quarts cold water
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 sprigs fresh parsley

For the supreme sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• ½ cup celery , diced
• ½ cup carrot , diced
• 3 garlic cloves , minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 6 cups of the chicken stock
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• salt & pepper , for flavor

For Dumplings

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• ¾-1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. For the Roasted chicken:.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F.
3. Remove neck and giblets from cavity of chicken and discard them.
4. Rinse the chicken and cavity with cold water inside and out.
5. Pat dry with paper towels.
6. Season body and cavity of chicken generously with salt and pepper.
7. In small bowl mash together the lemon juice, chopped herbs, and butter.
8. Rub the herbed butter all over the chicken as well as under the skin.
9. Put the lemon halves, onion, garlic, and whole herbs inside the cavity of chicken.
10. Tie the chicken legs with twine.
11. Roast in oven breast side up for 1 hour or until done and no longer pink.
12. Shred the meat when cool enough to handle.
13. Discard the skin and SAVE the chicken bones for the stock.
14. Chicken Stock:
15. Coat a large stockpot with olive oil.
16. Place over medium heat.
17. Saute the veggies in pot for 3 minutes. Add the reserved chicken bones, herbs, and water.
18. Simmer for 1 hour.
19. Strain the stock to remove the solids and set aside.
20. Dumplings:
21. Sift the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
22. In a small bowl lightly beat the eggs and milk together.
23. Pour the liquid in the dry ingredients and gently fold.
24. Mix just until the dough comes together.
25. It should be thick and cake like.
26. Cover and set aside while making sauce.
27. Supreme Sauce:.
28. Melt butter and heat the oil over medium heat in dutch oven.
29. Add carrots, celery, garlic, and bay leaves.
30. Saute until vegetables are soft (about 5 minutes or so).
31. Stir in the flour to make a roux.
32. Continue to stir and cook for about 2 min to coat the flour and get rid of the starchy taste.
33. Slowly stir in chicken stock, one cup at a time.
34. Stir well after each addition.
35. Let sauce simmer until thick enough to coat back of a spoon, about 15 minute.
36. Stir in heavy cream.
37. Fold reserved shredded chicken in sauce and bring up to a simmer.
38. Add salt and pepper to taste.
39. Dumplings:.
40. Using 2 spoons, drop by heaping tablespoonfuls into hot mixture.
41. The dumplings should cover the top of sauce but not be touching or overcrowded.
42. Let the dumplings poach for 10 to 15 minutes until they are firm and puffy.

Reviews

[lauraepp80]

I gave this recipe a 4 star rating because of a few things.

-I wish that the writer would have put the measurements in the actual instructions, instead of seperating the ingredients and amounts of ingredients and ONLY putting them at the top of the page. I found myself scrolling UP and DOWN over and over.

-I do think that there was far too much batter for the dumplings, I only ended up using about 1/4-1/2 of the batter that I had from the amount made.

I used 3 lbs of chicken thighs, and everything with the roasting of the chicken came out just fine, of course I did have to adjust temp and time for cooking, because the recipe called for a WHOLE chicken. I did the rub and ingredients just as called for, except I couldnt stuff the chicken obviously, so I used lemon pepper and put garlic and onion under the skin of the thighs.

The sauce is SO FREAKING DELICIOUS. It was easy to make, I followed the sauce recipe completely and fully. Its the BEST PART OF THE RECIPE. And since I already told you about the dumplings and the abundance of wasted product that concludes my review of this recipe.

Maybe next time, Ill do this sauce with a different roasted chicken recipe or different dumpling recipe. Who knows?

[sissaroo]

This was AMAZING!!! I was to lazy to use a whole chicken and do all that it required so I used 3 frozen chicken brests put them into an oven bag with the spices all on top and a pat of butter on top of all that and baked for an hour, let it coll and made the entire recipe from there exactly (san's chicken bones in stock-obviously) I also added a Tbl spoon corn meal into the dumplings and added some of my own extra seasonings but it really was the BEST I have ever had, and my first attempt at making chicken and dumplings since childhood!! Thanks we all loved it kids and all...

[kda949]

Very yummy! I really wanted to give it 4 1/2 stars, because it needed a few things IMO- I added thyme and rosemary towards the end. Next time I will add some to the dumpling mix too. I added a bunch of frozen mixed veggies when I realized that the veggies called for was not nearly enough for my tastes (so I would recommend you either add more carrots and celery or throw in some frozen peas once the added chicken broth is added) I also added some chopped onion with the carrots and celery.
OK- I have to fess up.. I cheated a bit! I baked up some bone-in chicken breasts with herbs and a touch of garlic instead of using a whole chicken and I used some homemade chicken broth I had made last month and froze- so the flavors may have been a touch different.
I had a hard time getting the final broth to thicken enough for my liking (it was too much like soup- I like it more the consistency of buttermilk), so I added a bit of cornstarch at the end- before I dropped in the dumplings.
I really enjoyed this recipe as did my family (even my daughter who doesn't usually like soup). I will defiantly make it again!