Photo by Sam Hanna.
Chef Eric Cook's "My Mom's Chicken and Dumplings"
Serves 4–6
When I was growing up and it was my birthday, I could request whatever I wanted for dinner and my mom would cook it for me. I always asked for chicken and dumplings. It’s not a big-deal dish and it’s easy to make, but Mom always made it well and it made me feel good. When I opened Gris-Gris, this was one of the first dishes on the menu. I quickly found out I wasn’t the only one who had great memories of it. A large rotisserie chicken is the way to go here. Just pull it apart and reserve the bones for stock (see recipe below). The dumplings are a treat, but this quick stew is also just fine over rice or buttered noodles.
Ingredients
For the Chicken Sauce
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into quarters
1 cup diced celery
1/2 teaspoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 quart chicken stock
2 bay leaves
4 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried, plus more fresh thyme leaves, for serving
2 teaspoons black pepper
Kosher salt
For the Dumplings
2 cups all-purpose flour
11/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
Chicken Sauce
Melt the butter in a large cast-iron Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring well, until caramelized, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the flour and stir to fully mix all the ingredients. Add the garlic, stir, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and the bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, then add the chicken, thyme, pepper, and salt to taste. Stir and let the sauce simmer while you make the dumplings.
Dumplings
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Slowly add the buttermilk while whisking, until the mixture reaches biscuit consistency, about 10 minutes.
To Assemble
Use a tablespoon to scoop the dough directly into the sauce. Place the dumplings around the pot so they don’t clump together. Press them down so they are just under the surface of the sauce. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low so the sauce simmers and the dumplings cook. After 15 minutes, remove one dumpling and cut it in half. If it is the same opaque texture all the way through, then it’s done. If it is doughy in the center, cook the remaining dumplings for 3 minutes longer. Don’t overcook or the dumplings will fall apart. Serve garnished with fresh thyme.
Chicken Stock
Ingredients
Makes 1 gallon
2 pounds chicken bones, raw or roasted (roasted bones will result in a darker stock)
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 medium head garlic, cut in half crosswise
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
Instructions
Place the chicken bones in a stockpot set over low heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, peppercorns, and 1 gallon cold water and cook at a very low simmer (do not boil) for a minimum of 3 hours. Cool and strain the stock. Discard the solids. Can freeze in an airtight container for 2 months, or keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Recipe excerpted from Modern Creole: A Taste of New Orleans Culture and Cuisine by Eric Cook with Jyl Benson, Photography by Sam Hanna. Reprinted by permission of Gibbs Smith Books.
