I have found that since I’ve moved down to Florida, I’ve become more interested in southern cooking. It’s a way of getting to know my new home better by exploring the local cuisine and learning how to cook it properly. So it made sense to try Martha’s Chicken and Dumplings recipe from page 191. In fact, when I went to my local farmers market earlier to buy vegetables and told the proprietor of my plans to make chicken and dumplings, her eyes lit up and she (half) jokingly asked me to come by the next day and bring her some leftovers. This is definitely a true southern favorite!
For this recipe, I mostly stuck to Martha’s ingredients, adding only a touch of fresh sage from my garden, but I cooked it a bit differently in that I used my big cast iron pan for the whole thing. The reason I did this is because I’m only cooking for myself and Jeff, so my portions are a bit smaller, and also because I really like to use the cast iron pan for things like browning up chicken and onions as I think it cooks up more evenly. I did run into a bit of a problem by the time I dropped my dumplings into the pan, there was not enough room left for a lid to fit properly…so I put the whole thing in a 400º oven for about 10 minutes. That did the trick and the dumplings puffed up beautifully.
This dish was amazing — one of my favorite so far! The gravy was creamy and the seasonings were sublime. The dumplings were about the best I’ve ever had and the chicken was perfectly tender. The carrots and string beans and onions were the perfect vegetable medley for this dish. In fact Jeff said that he’d eat this even without the chicken, and that’s saying a lot because he’s the anti-vegetarian…15 years married and I’ve never seen him eat a meatless dinner, so coming from him that’s the ultimate compliment!
Martha’s chicken and dumpling recipe is truly southern comfort cooking at its best!
