Several years ago, I was introduced to
Alton Brown's world of Good Eats. It's this great little show that tackles one food topic per episode introducing the audience to basic science principles, basic food history and basic recipes about the theme of the show. I am not usually a fan of "science shows" but the material is presented in such a fun way at such an elementary level that I seldom ever feel overwhelmed by the actual science that is being taught. I have discovered that while the show is entertaining, it is also quite informative, allowing me to add many recipes to my collection. (My absolute favorite?
AB's Guacamole. The BEST Guac that I have ever eaten. Runner up?
AB's "Instant" Pancake Mix. Easy, Cheap, and yummy.)
So today, I became intrigued when I started watching this week's episode of Good Eats. Chicken and Dumplings was the show's theme, and through the course of the episode he covered the two basic types of "from scratch" dumplings--flat and fluffy.
Now, Chicken and Dumplings is one recipe that I have never attempted as a home cook. Lord knows I have dished up and served many plates of them after working at Cracker Barrel during my college days, and I have eaten my fair share as well. But cooked them? Never. And I certainly have never thought that cooking themfrom scratch would be an easy feat.
I was wrong. It was easy. And man it's cheap.
Before I tell you what I did, you might want to go take a look at what the recipe looks like that he demonstrated on the show. I changed things up a bit, only because I didn't have a whole chicken or a pressure cooker on hand.
Here's what I did:
- Boiled about a pound of boneless skinless chicken breast in 32 oz of chicken stock.
- Strained the chicken from the stock when it was done cooking.
- Took one cup of stock and transferred it to a 2qt sauce pan to boil.
- Added 3 Tablespoons of Butter to the sauce pan to melt into the stock.
- Added 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt to the sauce pan.
- Added 1/2 Cup AP Flour to the stock/butter/salt mixture.
- Stirred mixture until it formed a soft ball.
- Took the electric mixer to the ball and ran it until it looked like couscous pellets.
- Added two eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated.
- Transferred mixture into a zip top bag, cut off the tip, and piped the mixture into the big pot of stock.
- Boiled the mixture for 8-10 minutes....but I made mine too big so it took a bit longer.
- Shredded the chicken and served the broth and dumplings over the chicken.
We all really liked this recipe. I will definitely be making it again! What are some of your favorite things to make?
*Yes. I say "Dumplins". If you pronounce the 'g', you're not making the right recipe!
Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 5:39PM 
