"Slick" Dumplings and Shredded Chicken
Granny's Pot on the Stove: The Weeknight Skillet
Mainstream food media will sell you a bowl of stew topped with fluffy, biscuit-like clouds and call it Southern. But walk into a real kitchen in rural North Carolina or Delaware, and the grandmother at the stove is making something entirely different: the slick dumpling. Born from the agrarian necessity of stretching a tough stewing hen, these are wide, handmade noodles rolled dangerously thin and coated in raw flour. The genius of the dish lies right there—that excess flour washes off into the bubbling broth, naturally thickening it into a rich, velvety gravy. By swapping the old hen for bone-in thighs and leaning unapologetically on the generational secret of concentrated bouillon, we can bring the definitive, unpretentious soul of the South to a Tuesday night.
Ingredients
- bone-in skin-on chicken thighs2 lb
- chicken stock6 cup
- yellow onion1 med
- carrots2 large
- celery2 stalks
- chicken bouillon paste1 tbsp
- black pepper1 tsp
- dried thyme1/2 tsp
- bay leaf1 large
- all-purpose flour2 cup
- all-purpose flour1/2 cup
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- unsalted butter or vegetable shortening3 tbsp
Method
- 01
Sear the chicken thighs to render their fat.
Place the chicken skin-side down in a heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes until the skin yields its fat, providing the foundational flavor for the entire dish.
- 02
Sauté the aromatics.
Toss the diced onion, carrots, and celery into the rendered fat and cook for 3 minutes until slightly softened.
- 03
Build and simmer the broth.
Pour in the chicken stock, bouillon paste, black pepper, thyme, and bay leaf, bring to a rolling boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
- 04
Remove the chicken and reserve a portion of the broth.
Take the chicken out to cool, then scoop three-quarters of a cup of the hot broth into a bowl and set it in the fridge to cool down for the dough. If you prefer to use authentic chicken fat for the dough instead of butter, skim three tablespoons from the top of the pot now.
- 05
Shred the cooled chicken meat.
Discard the skin and bones, then use two forks to pull the meat into bite-sized shreds and set aside.
- 06
Mix the dumpling dough.
Whisk the 2 cups of flour and salt together, cut in the butter or reserved chicken fat until it resembles coarse sand, then stir in the cooled broth until a shaggy dough forms and gently knead it into a ball.
- 07
Roll the dough thin and cut into squares.
Generously dust your counter with the extra flour and roll the dough out to an eighth of an inch thick, leaving the raw flour on the surface to act as the natural thickener for the gravy. Cut into roughly two-inch squares.
- 08
Boil the dumplings gently.
Bring the broth back to a rolling boil and drop the squares in a few at a time, using a wooden spoon to push them under the surface rather than stirring aggressively, which would turn them to mush.
- 09
Finish the dish and let it rest.
After boiling for 15 minutes, the broth will transform into a rich gravy; stir the shredded chicken back in to warm through, remove from the heat, and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Do not fear the bouillon.
Using bouillon or chicken base is the authentic, mid-century secret weapon of Southern grandmothers, providing the deep umami engine that elevates the broth from bland to spectacular.
The ultimate weeknight shortcut is perfectly acceptable.
If you have absolutely no time to boil chicken on a Tuesday, bring high-quality boxed broth and bouillon to a boil, drop in your handmade dumplings, and fold in a shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken at the end.
From Cook Southern Food.