Chicken and Dumplings

      After a rough week at work and several nights of not cooking my own dinner, I felt like tonight was the time for a comforting, leisurely, drink-a-glass-of-wine-while-you-cook dinner.  So I immediately thought of this Cook's Illustrated recipe that I was lucky enough to try over Thanksgiving.  I've always been sort of Ho-Hum about Chicken and Dumplings, but this is THE BEST RECIPE for chicken and dumplings.  I promise.  The dumplings are arguably the best part--light and airy, with surprisingly good flavor.  I made a couple of changes to the recipe.  For instance, i used peas instead of celery, vermouth instead of dry sherry, and the rendered chicken fat instead of butter for the dumplings :-)

IngrediENTS

• Stew
• 6bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
• Table salt and ground black pepper
• 2teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2small onions , chopped fine (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2medium carrots , peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
• 1celery rib , medium, chopped fine (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/4cup dry sherry
• 6cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• 1pound chicken wings (see note)
• 1/4cup Chopped fresh parsley leaves
• Dumplings
• 2cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
• 1/2teaspoon baking soda
• 1teaspoon sugar
• 1teaspoon table salt
• 3/4cup buttermilk , cold
• 2 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled about 5 minutes
• 1large egg white

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. FOR THE STEW Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chicken thighs, skin-side down, and cook until skin is crisp and well browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Using tongs, turn chicken pieces and brown on second side, 5 to 7 minutes longer; transfer to large plate. Discard all but 1 teaspoon fat from pot.
2. 2. Add onions, carrots, and celery to now-empty pot; cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in sherry, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in broth and thyme. Return chicken thighs, with any accumulated juices, to pot and add chicken wings. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook until thigh meat offers no resistance when poked with tip of paring knife but still clings to bones, 45 to 55 minutes.
3. 3. Remove pot from heat and transfer chicken to cutting board. Allow broth to settle 5 minutes, then skim fat from surface using wide spoon or ladle. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin from chicken. Using fingers or fork, pull meat from chicken thighs (and wings, if desired) and cut into 1-inch pieces. Return meat to pot.
4. 4. FOR THE DUMPLINGS Whisk flour, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Combine buttermilk and melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps; whisk in egg white. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl.
5. 5. Return stew to simmer; stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Using greased tablespoon measure (or #60 portion scoop), scoop level amount of batter and drop over top of stew, spacing about ¼ inch apart (you should have about 24 dumplings). Wrap lid of Dutch oven with clean kitchen towel (keeping towel away from heat source) and cover pot. Simmer gently until dumplings have doubled in size and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 13 to 16 minutes. Serve immediately.
   
   
   This gave me a chance to use my new Staub "La Cocotte" that I got for Christmas.  
   
   I was curious about the word's meaning and was delighted to find this: 

   — n
   1.	a small fireproof dish in which individual portions of food arecooked and served
   2.	a prostitute or promiscuous woman The French are so cheeky.