Saturday I packed lunches (ham & cheese crescents, hard boiled eggs, oranges, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, basically anything we had in the house) and sent my two oldest kids and husband off to ski together for the day. I can't wait until the baby is no longer nursing and I can go too, but for now I'm perfectly content to stay at home with the babies. I spent the morning thinking about cooking Chicken and Dumplings and how yummy they would taste. I spent the afternoon cooking Chicken and Dumplings and thinking about how yummy they would taste to my skiiers. I mean what could be better after a long day of skiing? What could be more comforting for aching muscles and cold toes and total exhaustion? This was always my favorite meal as a child. When it was my birthday I would request Chicken and Dumplings (a tradition we have carried on with our children who coincidentally always request Chinese Dumplings). Smitten Kitchen is officially my favorite food blog and I have been thinking about these Chicken and Dumplings ever since I saw them a few weeks ago. (Click on this link to see how beautiful they are.) My skiiers had a really great day together and came home happy and hungry. They liked them. Jonah said, "Mom, these aren't dumplings they're just, like, bread." We sat around our table and ate and talked about how Roxcy went off a jump and landed on her stomach and how Jonah went down the really big hill (Lover's Lane) and about the tiny sheep that grazed the grass that surrounded the slope (not a great snow year) and they told me they got to sit ON TOP(!) of the van to eat lunch. You know that scene in Ratatouille where the critic eats the ratatouille and is immediately engulfed in warm childhood memories? That's what happened to me as we ate. These Chicken and Dumplings turned out amazingly. They were beautiful, they were flavorful (think thyme and tarragon), they were the ultimate comfort food. We finished the meal with warm Toll House Chocolate Chip cookies. It was a good meal.
7 comments:
Wow! This looks so good. I have never made chicken and dumplings before, in fact I don't think I've ever eaten chicken and dumplings before. Do you have to have a Dutch Oven for this recipe to work?
I don't think you do. I used my enamel cast iron pot (like a le crueset), but I think you could just use a big stockpot. I'm guessing using the dutch oven has more to do with maintaining a constant, consistent temperature? I forgot to mention another favorite of this recipe: you remove the chicken skins, shred the meat and discard the bones and fat so you are left with clean pieces of meat. Also, it's not as good the second day so definetely make it the day you are serving it. I started mine about noon, cooked it for an hour then turned it off (took the meat out and shredded it) and let it sit. I came back to it about 5 to finish it up with the dumplings.
This sounds like the perfect winter weather food. I'll have to try it. It's so chilly here! I remember well growing up skiing on icy fake snowy hills back east. That's great they had so much fun!!!!
What a beautiful family day for all of you.
I've never had dumplings of any kind. But I did like the movie "The Apple Dumpling Gang" when i was a kid:)
You not only make good food but you write about it with such a lot of emotion--as well as skill--it makes me long for chicken and dumplings too! I'll have to try your recipe.
Hey guys Iwas there skiing unlike the blogger and it was awsome.I was the one who had the idea of eating ON the car.
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