Chicken Stew with Parsley Dumplings is creamy, chock full of veggies and topped with light and fluffy parsley dumplings.
Chicken Stew with Parsley Dumplings
By Sue Lau
This month for Saturday Soup Swappers the topic all the bloggers are posting on is English stew. I was a little stumped for this one since I tend to look at things a bit literally, and seeing English (as opposed to British or possibly Irish) I really couldn’t think of much that would be unique to England. There is the Lancashire Hotpot and also the Welsh Cawl, but I understand those to be more brothy and basically a soup.
I do have gazillions of cookbooks about so I set out to investigate what might come up in English cookery books but I really came up empty. I decided to do a chicken stew that at least seemed English-like, with my own personal family heritage having a lot of English and Welsh in it. But much of that part of the family is southern, so it would be tinged with a southern type chicken and dumplings type stew. However, I don’t usually put mushrooms or potatoes in my chix & dumplings, but it seems something popular in English cuisine. So I went with that, but don’t take it as textbook English cuisine because it is likely not. More like “inspired by”- but no matter where the thought comes from, the stew is very good, and I am sure any of my English friends would appreciate sitting down to dinner with a bowl full. I hope you do as well.
I’ll be off tomorrow enjoying the day without posting, but look for me to be back on Monday, both kicking off Dairy Week with my recipe for White Cheddar and Bacon Macaroni Salad as well as an extra recipe for National Martini Day when I post my recipe for a White Peach and Honeysuckle Martini. Doesn’t that sound fantastic? Don’t miss either of those.
~Sue
Chicken Stew with Parsley Dumplings
*****Stew Ingredients*****
- 1-1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast, cut into chunks
- salt and black pepper
- 1-1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped rosemary leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 8 ounces fresh whole mushrooms, quartered
- 1 cup fresh cut green beans
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pound small white potatoes, quartered
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/4 cup half and half or light cream
*****Dumpling Ingredients*****
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons cold butter
- 1 cup milk
Method:
- Season chicken with salt and black pepper.
- Brown chicken in the olive oil with the rosemary and thyme in a Dutch oven, then stir in the onions, carrot, celery and garlic, cooking until the vegetables sweat and soften lightly.
- Add the mushrooms and green beans, continuing to cook and stir until mushrooms are semi-cooked.
- Add the flour and stir vigorously to coat the vegetables and chicken.
- Add the bay leaf and the chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the peas and potatoes and stir again, cooking another 15 minutes, covered.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the dumpling flour, baking powder, salt and parsley.
- Cut the butter into small bits and work into the flour using a fork until butter is incorporated, then stir in the milk to form a wet dough.
- Stir the half and half (or milk) into the stew, then top with dallops of dumpling dough by about rounded tablespoonfuls.
- Simmer, uncovered for ten minutes, then cover with the pot lid and simmer for another ten minutes to finish steaming the dumplings.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
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English Stews
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This stew looks tremendous, Sue.
Good for you…I never even thought about chicken! This stew sounds lovely, English or not English!
This looks wonderful, Sue! There may be a hint of Southern in it but it passes as English for me. I know our family would love a nice bowl on the next chilly day!
This looks delicious and fits the theme just fine! I’m looking forward to your martini on Monday!