Chicken Dumplings – Easy Recipe

Ingredients
4 ounces (1 stick) plus 4 teaspoons butter in all
1 large onion
2 stalks celery
2 carrots, peeled and cut into bite size pieces
1 whole roasting hen (or fryer chicken)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup ice water
1 tablespoon corn starch
4 ounces frozen green peas
Green onions, chopped for garnish

Directions
1.Trim the chicken to remove any excess skin flaps and the part that crossed over the fence last (that’s what my mother called the stub left from the tail). Rinse the bird thoroughly with cold running water. Let it sit in the sink and drain while you complete the next step.

2.Put the stick of butter in a pot big enough to accommodate the chicken over medium heat. After the butter has melted add the onion, celery and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, for three to five minutes or until the onion turns translucent.

3.Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and add it to the pot. Add enough water to cover the chicken by an inch or two and raise the heat to medium high. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any particles from the vegetables that may be stuck there.

4.When the water starts to boil cover the pot and lower the heat to one mark below medium. Let it cook for about 30 minutes. Check it periodically to make sure the chicken does not stick and burn at the bottom of the pot. When the chicken pulls back from the bone remove it from the pot and let it cool enough to be handled.

5.In a small container mix the corn starch with just enough cold water to liquefy the powder. Pour this slurry into the chicken pot, stirring constantly. Repeat this step if you like a thicker broth.

6.While the chicken is cooling put the flour in a mixing bowl and add the remaining butter. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the butter until the flour is the consistency of coarse cornmeal.

7.Add half the ice water and mix the dough with your hands, adding more water as necessary, until the dough readily forms a solid ball. Roll it out on a floured surface until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into strips that are about half an inch wide.

8.When the chicken is cool enough to handle, separate it into pieces. Remove the skin and pull the meat from the bone breaking it up into irregular size pieces. Collect the meat up into a bowl and when you have it all; transfer it back into the pot. Raise the heat back up to medium high and wait until the broth comes to the boil.

9.Take one dough strip at a time and pinch off about half an inch lengths and drop them into the boiling water. Irregular lengths and widths are fine as long as the dumplings aren’t too big. The dough pieces will expand a little in the hot water.

10.Lower the heat back down to one mark below medium. Add the green peas while trying not to disturb the dumplings any more than necessary. Cover the pot and let it cook, without stirring, for 10 minutes.

11.Ladle into individual bowls and garnish with green onion.

12.Note: If you cook a lot you can use the chicken bones to make stock. If you don’t and you have dogs or cats tell them Christmas has arrived early. If that is not an option for you and they have no further value to you then discard them.