Chicken and Dumpling Dough

No lie, this was my first attempt at making chicken and dumplings from scratch, and I’m pretty damned impressed with my first effort. The dish is called Chicken and Jalapeño Dumplings and it’s phenomenal.

To prep the chicken, I lightly fried it in seasoning, flour and fresh cilantro. For the dumplings, I used Pillsbury Crescent Rolls dough and rolled it in fresh jalapeños. This is the quintessential cold weather dish. I will definitely be making it again and inviting more people over next time so get on the waiting list…

Be forewarned, it’s a pretty intense dish and took me about three hours from start to finish.

Ingredients

• For the chicken:
• 1 large roasting chicken, about 5 pounds (cut up into 2 wings, 2 breasts, 2 thighs and 2 legs)
• 2 TBSP seasoning (Ingredients below)
• 1 cup flour
• 4-6 TBSP butter
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro


Chicken Lightly Breaded for Chicken and Dumplings



• For the seasoning:
• 2 TBSP paprika
• 2 TBSP salt
• 2 TBSP garlic powder
• 1 TBSP black pepper
• 1 TBSP white pepper
• 1 TBSP dried thyme
• For the dumplings:
• 2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls dough
• 1 jalapeño, finely chopped
• For the sauce:
• 1 stick of butter
• 10 TBSP white all-purpose flour
• 3 TBSP seasoning (recipe above)
• 4 celery ribs, finely diced


Dumpling Dough

• 3 carrots, finely diced
• 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup fresh (or frozen) green peas
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. To prepare dumplings, roll up all dough from Crescent Rolls and knead in the diced jalapeños. Set aside on a non-stick surface.
2. In a frying pan, melt 2 TBSP butter over medium-high heat.
3. In a medium bowl, (using the chicken ingredients) combine flour, seasoning and cilantro.
4. Dust chicken pieces with flour mixture and drop pieces into frying pan in batches, using 2 TBSP butter per batch.
5. Once chicken is browned, set aside on a plate covered with paper towels. (It’s ok if the chicken isn’t cooked through.)


Finished Chicken and Dumplings

6. In the same pot, melt remaining stick of butter, gradually whisking in the 10 TBSPs of flour. Stir until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes.
7. Whisk in chicken broth, remaining seasoning and water and cook until the sauce thickens (about 5 minutes). If it’s too thick, gradually add in additional water.
8. Once sauce has thickened, add in celery, carrots and onion and cook until tender-crisp (about 15 minutes).
9. Add in the reserved chicken meat, heavy cream and peas, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
10. Tearing from the dough, drop in 1- to 2-inch dumplings on top of the chicken mixture then cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through (about 15-20 minutes).
11. Serve in large soup bowls.

Technically, this should make 6-8 servings, but if my experience is anything to go off of, most people will have seconds. This is a hearty dish that is something most Southerners grew up eating.

You really can’t beat the nostalgia of chicken and dumplings, and this recipe lives up to any chicken and dumplings you’ve had in the past. It’s that good.