 |
| Last week's ice storm- pretty to photograph, bad to drive in. |
I am not the biggest fan of snow and cold. Warm and cozy food helps make winter more bearable. So today I wanted to try a new cold weather meal. Read a few different recipes, then created my own. Happy to say this was one experiment that had great results! So yummy I had to share.
Ingredients:
5 cups chicken stock
2 dried bay leaves
1 large onion, cut into thin strips
2 cups carrots, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1.5-2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups frozen peas
For the dumplings:
½ cup cornmeal
½ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 ½ tablespoons butter
½ cup milk
In a large pot, bring the stock, bay leaf, onions and carrots to boil. Simmer for around 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper and chicken, and simmer for about 20 minutes longer until carrots are soft and chicken is cook through.
While chicken is simmering, make the batter for the dumplings. Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, then add the milk and mix until combined.
In a very small bowl, melt 3 tablespoons butter in the microwave. Stir in 3 tablespoon flour and combine to form a paste. Remove the bay leaves from the pot and whisk in butter mixture until it is combined with the liquid. Add 2 cups frozen peas.
When the pot begins to simmer again (the frozen peas will cool it down temporarily), add the dumplings. Form 1 tablespoon batter into a fat disk by rolling it in your hands then flattening slightly. Place dumplings on the top of chicken and vegetables. When all the dumplings are formed, cover and allow to simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, until dumplings are plump and cracked on top.
Use a ladle to share chicken and dumplings into bowls while hot. Recipe serves 4-6 people.
Oh man, I cannot wait to eat some leftovers tomorrow! I wish I was hungry enough to eat more right now, haha.
