Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Healthier Chicken and Dumplings

{Photos updated 3/10/2013}

I originally saw a version of this recipe on America's Test Kitchen and then got on the Internet to find it.  I made it the original way a few times and it certainly was delicious.  It just seemed like a little too much.  Too much time, too much fat.  The original recipe calls for bone in, skin on, chicken thighs.  Okay, that is something I never have on hand.  I really like to keep recipes down to things I would normally buy and use, so I didn't love having to buy skin-on thighs for this.  You brown the skin on the chicken in batches and then wait for them to cool, remove the skin and then cook them in the stew for an hour and then take them out and get all the meat off the bone, and on and on.  Don't get me wrong, I am totally willing to spend my life in the kitchen if it's necessary.  In this case, I just wasn't sure it was.  I decided I still liked the taste of the dish and the idea of it; I just wanted it to be a bit more streamlined and healthy. (That way I can have dessert too.Ü)  I still recommend the full version because it is really good, but this is the version we make most often.  It can be on the table in about 30 minutes and is much easier to execute.


Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients: 
1 onion, diced
1 T oil
1/4 cup white cooking wine (or just white wine)
1 cup chopped carrots, diced (I food process these and the celery)
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
7 frozen chicken tenders
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp marjoram (optional)
4 cups water
6 chicken bullion cubes
1 cup milk (canned milk is also really good!)
3-6 T flour

For the Dumplings:
2 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup of warm milk (about 90 degrees)
3 T oil or melted butter


Heat oil in a pan over med-high heat, add onion and cook until tender and translucent.  Add wine and cook 1-2 minutes.  Add water, carrots, celery, bullion, pepper, marjoram and chicken tenders.  Cover and let simmer until chicken is done.  Remove chicken and shred or cut into chunks, return to pan add peas and corn, 
whisk flour into milk.  (I like mine bit thicker because I like to serve it with Mashed Potatoes, so I use 6 T of flour, but if you want it more like a stew, I would go with 3 or 4 T)  Add milk mixture to pan while stirring.  Cook and stir until thicker and bubbly.

For the dumplings:  Combine dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and mix until just combined.  The soup should be simmering while the dumplings cook, but not boiling since it's hard to stir.  Turn heat to medium and drop dumpling mixture by the spoonfuls into the pan about an inch apart.  (I used a 1 oz cookie scoop)
They should all be pretty close to the same size so they cook evenly.  Cover and let simmer about 15 minutes, depending on how big your dumplings are.  (This step is probably the hardest of them all, make sure your soup doesn't stick and burn by sliding a spatula under the dumplings and stirring on the bottom of the pan every couple minutes.  Make sure to recover the pan after doing so.)
When I think they're done, I always take a dumpling out and check.


Serves: 8
Keep in mind, the nutrition facts below do not include the mashed potatoes. :)  Calorie information from Caloriecount.com.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 331 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories
297
Calories from Fat
84
% Daily Value*
Total Fat
9.4g
14%
Saturated Fat
2.0g
10%
Trans Fat
0.0g
Cholesterol
21mg
7%
Sodium
1166mg
49%
Total Carbohydrates
39.7g
13%
Dietary Fiber
3.2g
13%
Sugars
6.0g
Protein
14.1g
Vitamin A 55%Vitamin C 9%
Calcium 11%Iron 16%
Nutrition Grade A-
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points
Bad points

1 comment:

  1. I love this stuff too! No wonder I am overweight. I am not sure if you being a great cook is good for my weight problem.

    ReplyDelete

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