Chicken & Dumplings - Recipe

It's that time of year again.
We woke up to 18 degrees and this:

 

The good news is,

in a few days we will be back to temps in the 60's

and the white stuff will be forgotten...

until next time.

Whenever the weather turns cold

Mr. B requests his favorite comfort food meal,

Chicken & Dumplings,

and I am happy to oblige.

Once again I turn to my favorite recipe, adapted from,

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

This is a nice slowly cooked meal,

giving the chicken thighs plenty of time to release their

juicy flavor.

By suppertime,

the house spells amazing and we can't wait to dig in!

 It truly is cold weather comfort food at it's very best!

Chicken & Dumplings

Slightly adapted from The America' s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Stew:

5 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Salt & Pepper

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

4 tablespoons(1/2 stick) unsalted butter

4 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 ribs celery, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 onion, minced

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white wine

4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup whole milk (I've used  2% milk and noticed no difference)

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried

2 bay leaves

1 cup frozen peas

3 tablespoons minced, fresh parsley or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried

Dumplings:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk (again, you can use 2% with no problem)

3 tablespoons reserved chicken fat (or unsalted butter)

For the stew:

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt an pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large, heavy dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the chicken and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. We are going for just color here, not cooking the chicken until cooked through. Transfer the chicken to plate and remove the browned skin. Pour off and save the chicken fat. Return the dutch oven to medium-high heat and repeat with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and the remaining chicken. Remember to reserve any chicken fat.

Add the butter to the Dutch oven and melt over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, onions and celery and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Stir in the flour.

Whisk in the wine, scraping up any brown bits. Stir in the broth, milk, thyme, and bay leaves.

Nestle the chicken, along with any accumulated juices, into the pot.

Cover and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and falling off the bone, several hours.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Discard the bay leaves. Allow the sauce to settle for a few minutes, then skim the fat from the surface using a wide spoon. Shred the chicken, discarding the the bones and other unsavory pieces, then return to meat to the stew.

For the Dumplings:

Do Not Prepare Before Ready!

Stir the flour, baking powder and salt together. Microwave the milk and fat (or butter) in a microwave safe measuring cup on high until just warm (do not overheat), about 1 minute. Stir the warmed milk mixture into the flour mixture with a fork until incorporated and smooth.

Return the stew to a simmer, add the peas and parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drop golf ball-sized dumplings onto the stew about 1/4 inch apart (you should have about 18 dumplings). Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until the dumplings have doubled in size and look dry, about 15-20 minutes.

Serve hot and sit back and enjoy 

the oohs and aahs as your family enjoys this, stick to your ribs, meal.

I have never tried but, I would guess that, after browning the chicken,

you could cook the recipe the rest of the way in a crockpot for a weekday meal. 

Let me know if you try it that way.  

Click here to see where I may be partying this week.

And don't forget to come by on Tuesday's
for the link party.

 

Skillet Penne & Sausage Supper

As I shared waaay back at my very first post, here, my favorite cookbook is The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

In that very first post I vaguely mentioned the sausage, spinach & pasta recipe that we love.  It just so happens I made named dish over the weekend and thought ahead enough to take pictures along the way to show you just how fast and easy it is to make! I included some of my own personal tips along the way.

 Skillet Penne & Sausage Supper from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, minced (I only used less than half an onion cuz I am not a fan of onions but, I do understand their place in the food chain)
   Salt 
1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage (you can use Italian turkey sausage if you'd like)
3 garlic gloves, minced (I use the minced garlic in the jar)
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped fine
8 ounces penne pasta (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 5-ounce bag baby spinach (I used about 3.5 ounces fresh from my garden! More would have been better but that's all I had at the time)
1 ounce Parmesan cheese grated (about a half cup) 
Pepper

Fresh, organic, grown with love spinach.

1. Heat the oil in a large non stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

3. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Sprinkle the tomatoes and penne over the sausage. 

Pour the broth and milk over the pasta. stir lightly to mix. 

Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes.  Now I don't know if it's because I am at a higher altitude or what but it takes my pasta about 20 minutes before it is tender. YMMV is all I am saying.
Most of the liquid should have been absorbed by the pasta.

4. Stir in the spinach a handful at a time cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. I just lay the spinach on top and put the cover back on for the 2 minutes.  It wilts the spinach and makes it easier to stir into the pasta mixture.

Stir in the Parmesan and season with salt and pepper to taste.

I serve up in my pretty pasta bowls that I got on sale at Cost Plus World Market topped with some more Parmesan cheese.

As my buddy Jen would say "Get In My Belly Now!"

Serve along with a garden salad and some crusty bread and nom away!  

Don't forget to come by on Tuesday's
for the link party.