Home Made Chicken and Dumplings

I have been making a low fat version of chicken and dumplings for years now...the recipe began with an idea from a book called The Secrets of Fat Free Cooking and I started making this recipe while I was in college...I will not tell you how long ago that was.

A well loved falling apart cook book.

I want to share with you my evolved recipe, since I think it has gotten much better over the years.

I went all out for the batch I made this past weekend. We were having our dear friends Matthew and Kelly over for dinner on Saturday, so I went the extra mile and made chicken stock the night before. You can use the boxed chicken stock if you like, Kitchen Basics is my favorite (I opt for the unsalted version).  I've included directions for the home made stock at the end of this blog.  Bonus!

pictured ready for lunch this week...yum!

Lightened Chicken and Dumplings

• 1 onion - chopped
• 2 large pods garlic - minced
• 2 bay leaves - dried
• 1 bag of carrots - sliced
• 1 bunch of celery - sliced (include the leaves, they add great flavor)
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley - chopped
• 3 chicken breasts with rib meat seasoned with garlic powder and salt  (this time I used bone in, but you can use boneless - skin removed)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch whisked with warm water (for thickening)
• 6 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot sprayed with cooking spray sautee onion, garlic and bay leaves until onion is translucent.  Add carrots, celery, an parsley and simmer about 10 minutes.  Taste the broth and add salt and pepper to taste.  Add chicken, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through (about 15 - 20 minutes).  Make your dumpling mixture while chicken is cooking.

Dumpling Mixture:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup reduced fat buttermilk
• 4 tsp baking powder

In a medium sized mixing bowl combine all dumpling mixture ingrediants and mix together, I usually end up using my hands.  When chicken is cooked through, debone it and pull it apart into manageable sized pieces and return to pot.  While mixture is simmering add cornstarch and water mixture while stirring.  Drop dumplings by the pinch (I'd say mine were about 1 1/2 teaspoons in size) until the entire surface is covered with dumplings.  Do not stack dumplings.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes until dumplings are cooked.  Do not pick up pot lid during this time or they will sink.  Enjoy!

Chicken Stock

• Chicken, sometimes I use pieces of chicken, this time I used a small whole chicken
• garlic pod with ends cut off
• onion with ends cut off and quartered
• celery
• carrots
• water

In a large stock pot add all ingredients and simmer for as long as you can.  Allow the mixture to cool and refrigerate over night.  Skim the fat off the top of the stock then strain.  Any stock not used can be frozen, I freeze it in 1 & 2 cup measurements.