It's fall, the temperatures are dropping and let's face it - sometimes you just need something comforting in a bowl to make your day better! There are at least a dozen variations on dumplings - my version drops a G and goes straight to dumplins'! G's are optional in Tennessee so I hold no harm on dropping one here and there!
You'll need:
Meat and Broth
1 boneless skinless chicken breast per person
1 envelope Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix
4 C water
Salt, Pepper to taste
Red Pepper flakes (just a tiny pinch_
Chopped Parsley (fresh is preferred but dry is fine)
1 bag peas and carrots (frozen)
Dumplins
2 C Flour
1/2 t baking powder
1 pinch salt
2 T Butter (softened)
1 C Milk
Make your chicken:
You can boil boneless skinless chicken breasts until they are done through the center. Shred them with two forks and add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle lightly with parsley and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Set Aside.
Make your broth:
Mix 4 cups of water with one envelope of Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix, bring to a boil.
Make your dumplins
Mix flour baking powder and salt together. Cut the butter into the dry mix with a fork or a pastry cutter. Stir in milk and mix with a fork until a dough ball forms. Flour your work space liberally. Roll out your dough into 1/4 inch thickness and cut into 1x1 cubes (eye ball it - irregular sizes are fine - smaller is better than bigger). I toss my dough cubes in the excess flour on the cutting board - it makes my broth thicker and I really like that.
Build your dish
As your broth comes to a boil, add your shredded chicken, peas and carrots, Return mixture to a full boil. Drop in dumplins just a few at a time - always retuning your stock pot to a full boil before adding more. Continue to add dumplins (no more than 6 at a time) until all your dumplins are in the broth pot. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes until the dumplins are no longer doughy.
Add salt and pepper to taste along with 2T fresh or 1T dried parsley flakes and just a pinch of red pepper flakes.
In case of dire need - here are the Cheats!
Purchase a deli chicken (deboned and skin off) or use Canned Chicken Breasts
Use canned buttermilk biscuits instead of making dumplins from scratch.
Resist the urge to use boxed broth stock. The sodium is so high and it is an overpowering flavor to your dish. Use your favorite envelope dry soup mix- the seasonings are almost always better!
Vegetarians
This was my first attempt to do this without meat but WOW did this work out great! Make your broth, add dumplins and season to taste. This was A-MAZINGLY good! This was my very first attempt without the meat and I an SO Happy at how yummy this is!
Happy Fall Ya'll!
