Recipe Background
Country Christmas Chicken & Dumplings are a savory, comforting blend of tradition and new beginnings.
The first time I made this Country Christmas Chicken & Dumplings, it was during my first holiday season away from home. I had moved into a cozy little cottage in the countryside, determined to establish new traditions. Growing up, Christmas was always bustling with family, noise, and my grandmother's legendary chicken and dumplings. That first December, snow gently blanketed the fields outside my window, and I yearned for a bit of that festive warmth and comfort. I always have a whole chicken in my freezer, ready for such nostalgic cravings.
I remember stepping into my tiny kitchen with a determined heart, cozied in my favorite wool sweater. Whipping up broth with lemon halves gave the dish a unique brightness Grandma would've loved, while including the classic celery and carrots was non-negotiable. I realized then the joy of creating something my own, yet deeply rooted in family tradition. A key tip I recommend is letting the broth stay at a gentle simmer to keep the dumplings tender and lofty. After deboning the chicken, my fingers chilly and dexterous, I marveled at the aroma wafting through my cottage.
Rolling out dough always reminds me of the holiday cookie marathons my cousins and I had, except this time it was savory, flour-dusted, and earnest. I dusted the work surface lightly, as if decorating with sugar snow, ensuring the dumplings would come out just right. In those 30 minutes of simmering, the simmering broth transformed, and with it, my unease of being away. The simplicity, the transformation, and the heart of this dish make it a perennial holiday keep in my repertoire, calling back old memories while creating new ones.
Ingredients
- 1 (3-4-pound) whole chicken
- salt to taste
- water to taste
- 1 lemon halved
- 2 stalks celery sliced
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 carrots sliced
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more, to taste, for dusting the work surface
- black pepper to taste
Directions
- In a large pot, add the chicken, the salt, and enough of the water to just cover the chicken.
- Place the pot on the stovetop and bring the chicken mixture to a boil.
- Using a fine-mesh sieve, skim any scum that rises to the top of the chicken mixture and discard it.
- Add the lemon halves, the celery, the onions, and the carrots to the chicken mixture.
- Reduce the heat to medium.
- Simmer the chicken mixture until the chicken is cooked through to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F in its thickest part and the meat starts to fall off the bone, about 1 hour.
- Remove and discard the lemon halves from the chicken mixture.
- Transfer the chicken from the pot to a cutting board and allow it to cool. Make sure to keep the broth at a simmer.
- In a large bowl, add 2 cups of the flour, the salt, and the black pepper and whisk to combine.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.
- Ladle 2-3 scoops of the hot broth into the well of the flour mixture and using a fork, carefully mix the hot broth into the flour mixture until a dough forms.
- Form the dough into a shaggy ball.
- Using the extra flour, lightly dust a work surface.
- Turn the dough out onto the prepared work surface and knead it carefully until smooth.
- Roll the dough out into a large rectangle of an even thickness.
- Cut the dough rectangle into small rectangular dumplings.
- Add the dumplings gradually to the simmering broth and cook, while stirring occasionally, until the dumplings are tender, about 30 minutes.
- Debone the chicken and chop the meat into bite-sized pieces.
- Add the chicken pieces to the broth and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.
- Serve.
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