Anson Mills CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

By RoketJSquerl

For this recipe, you will need a heavy-bottomed 6-quart Dutch oven, a pair of tongs, a footed colander, a large bowl, a large fine-mesh sieve, a digital kitchen scale, a small saucepan, a medium bowl, a whisk, a dinner fork, and a soupspoon.

Ingredients

• for the chicken and broth:
• 2 2
• medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped
• 2 2
• medium celery ribs, chopped
• 1 1
• carrot, peeled and chopped
• 10 10
• large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
• 6 6
• fresh thyme sprigs or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs
• 1 1
• Turkish bay leaf
• 20 20
• black peppercorns
• 1 1
• (4-pound) whole chicken
• 2 2
• quarts spring or filtered water
• for the dumplings:
• 1 1
• ounce unsalted European-style butter
• 3.8 3.8
• ounces whole milk
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 4
• ounces Anson Mills Colonial Style Fine Cloth-Bolted Pastry Flour
• 2 2
• ounces Anson Mills Artisan Fine Cloth-Bolted White Lammas Cake Flour, sifted
• 2 2
• teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1
• tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1
• tablespoon minced fresh chives

Details

Adapted from ansonmills.com

Preparation

Step 1

Day 1, cook the chicken and make the broth: In a heavy-bottomed 6-quart Dutch oven, combine the vegetables, garlic cloves, herbs, and peppercorns. Place the chicken breast side-up in the pot, pour in the water, and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for 35 minutes. Using a pair of tongs inserted in the cavity of the chicken, turn the chicken breast side down, cover the pot partially, and continue to simmer until the drumstick moves about loosely in the joint, 20 to 30 minutes more. Turn off the heat and use the tongs to transfer the chicken to a footed colander set in a large bowl. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and shred it with your fingers (fig. 1.1), leaving a fair bit of meat on the chicken so that the broth will be flavorful. Turn the shredded meat into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use. Return the bones, skin, and any liquid in the bowl to the pot and bring the broth to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until it is rich and flavorful and measures 5 cups, about 45 minutes. Strain the broth through a large fine-mesh sieve into the bowl; discard the solids in the sieve. Let the broth cool to room temperature, and then cover and refrigerate overnight.
Day 2, make the dumplings: Skim off and reserve the fat from the surface of the broth (fig. 2.1); the broth will be glassy and congealed (fig. 2.2). Return the broth to the Dutch oven. Weigh out 12 ounces of shredded chicken and add it to the broth (reserve the remainder for another use). Cover the pot, bring to a simmer over medium heat, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
While the broth is heating, in a small saucepan, melt the butter and 1 ounce of the reserved chicken fat over low heat. Pour the milk into the hot fat, whisk to combine, and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and ⅜ teaspoon salt. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix gently with a dinner fork (fig. 3.1) until just uniformly moist—the dough will look like wet biscuit dough. With the broth simmering, use a soupspoon to drop 12 shaggy biscuits (scant 1 ounce each) on the surface of the liquid (fig. 3.2); dip the spoon into the broth between scooping up dough (to help prevent sticking) and place 8 mounds around the perimeter and 4 in the center. Do not fuss with the dumplings once they’re in place. Cover the pot, lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook until the biscuits are fluffy, firm, and cooked through (fig. 3.3), about 15 minutes, pulling the lid just ½ inch to the side if the broth begins to boil. Sprinkle with the chopped herbs. Ladle hot, into bowls, 3 dumplings per serving.