Chicken and Dumplings -- A Hug You Can Eat

The week after Easter is always a letdown, like the house exhaled and forgot to breathe back in. The table is back to two. The leftover ham is in the freezer in labeled containers because I don't waste food — I was raised by a woman who could make a meal from what most people throw away, and that lesson is in my bones. Earl and I have been eating ham sandwiches, ham fried rice (my version, with soy sauce and the leftover rice from Sunday), and ham and bean soup. Earl said if he sees one more piece of ham he's moving to a hotel. I told him hotels don't have me, so he'd better sit down and eat.

Back at Hodge on Monday, and the kids could tell I was in a good mood because I gave them extra fruit at lunch. Mrs. Patterson — the principal — came through the kitchen and said, "Dot, you're glowing." I said, "It's called butter, Mrs. Patterson. I've been marinating in it since Thursday." She laughed. I wasn't entirely joking.

Kayla is counting down to graduation — three more weeks. She's got her cap and gown ordered, her NCLEX study schedule mapped out (that child makes schedules for her schedules), and she asked me something this week that I wasn't ready for. She said, "Granny, will you sit in the front row?" I said, "Baby, where else would I sit?" She said, "I mean — will you sit where Daddy would have sat?"

I had to put the phone down for a minute. I had to just breathe. Because she wasn't asking me to sit in the front row. She was asking me to be Michael. To hold his place. To be the parent in the chair when the parent can't be there. And I said yes, of course I said yes, and then I hung up and I cried in the kitchen for ten minutes while Earl pretended not to hear from the living room, which is his way of letting me have my grief without making it a conversation.

I made Kayla's favorite this week — chicken and dumplings, the kind with the flat, chewy dumplings, not those fluffy biscuit things they serve at chain restaurants. Hattie Pearl taught me these dumplings. You roll the dough thin and cut it into strips and drop them in the broth and they cook in five minutes and taste like being held. That's what dumplings are, baby. They're a hug you can eat.

Now go on and feed somebody.

After the week I’d had — Kayla asking me to hold Michael’s place at graduation, crying in the kitchen while Earl gave me the grace of silence — there was only one thing to make. Hattie Pearl’s chicken and dumplings. Not the fluffy kind. The flat, chewy, rolled-thin-and-cut-into-strips kind that she taught me when I was younger than Kayla is now. This is the recipe I reach for when somebody I love needs to feel held, and this week, that somebody was all of us.

Hattie Pearl’s Old-Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• For the chicken and broth:
• 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), cut into pieces
• 10 cups cold water
• 3 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
• 1 large yellow onion, quartered
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• For the dumplings:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup whole milk

Instructions

1. Simmer the chicken. Place chicken pieces in a large Dutch oven or stockpot. Add cold water, celery, onion, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, skimming any foam that rises to the top, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
2. Remove and shred the chicken. Transfer the chicken pieces to a cutting board and let cool slightly. Shred the meat, discarding skin and bones. Set the shredded chicken aside.
3. Strain and finish the broth. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pot, discarding the vegetables. You should have about 8 cups. Return the broth to a simmer and stir in 2 tablespoons butter. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
4. Make the dumpling dough. While the broth simmers, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Pour in the milk and stir until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently 4 or 5 times — just enough to bring it together. Do not overwork it.
5. Roll and cut the dumplings. Roll the dough out thin, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into strips about 1 inch wide and 2 to 3 inches long. Dust them lightly with flour to keep them from sticking.
6. Cook the dumplings. With the broth at a steady simmer, drop the dumplings in one at a time, stirring gently so they don’t clump together. Let them cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. The broth will thicken naturally from the flour on the dumplings.
7. Add the chicken back. Return the shredded chicken to the pot and stir gently. Let everything simmer together for another 3 to 5 minutes so the flavors come together. Taste one more time for salt.
8. Serve. Ladle into deep bowls. No garnish needed — this doesn’t need to be pretty. It needs to be warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 980mg