So, what better way to use up your sourdough discard than by making a batch of sourdough dumplings to top a tasty chicken and vegetable mixture? This is a recipe easy enough for a weeknight but special enough for a family Sunday dinner. Tender chicken thighs and vegetables simmer in a savory sauce and are topped with puffy sourdough dumplings. In addition to sourdough starter/discard, the dumplings have cornmeal in them, giving them great texture as well as taste. Be sure to use a pot large enough to accommodate the dumplings as well as the chicken stew. The dumplings will swell as they cook, filling your pot and, eventually, your tummy with health and happiness!
Chicken and Sourdough Dumplings -- Serves 4 +
Chicken Stew
1 tablespoon of canola oil
3-4 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
8 ounces of sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1 tablespoon of dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of reduced sodium chicken Better Than Bullion
3 cups of water
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
1 cup of low-fat milk
1/2 cup of flour
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and mushrooms and saute for 6-7 minutes until beginning to soften and brown. Stir in the garlic powder, poultry seasoning, thyme, parsley flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir in the water and mix in the Better Than Bullion. Add the chicken thighs to the mixture, reduce the heat to medium low, and cover the pot. Let the chicken thighs cook for 5-6 minutes until done. Remove the chicken thighs, cut them into bite-sized chunks, and return them to the pot. In a bowl, whisk together the milk and flour until well blended. Slowly add the milk/flour mixture to the pot with the chicken, stirring everything well while you pour the milk/flour mixture into the pot. The mixture should thicken a little. Drop large spoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the pot on top of the chicken mixture. The dumplings should drop from your spoon in mounds roughly golf-ball size. Cover the pot after you've added the dumplings, and let the mixture cook on low/medium low until the dumplings have plumped up and cooked through--15-20 minutes. Serve the chicken and dumplings in rimmed plates or bowls sprinkled with a little parsley.
Dumplings
1 cup sourdough starter/discard
1 cup of cornmeal
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of canola oil
1 tablespoon of minced dried onions
1 tablespoon of dried parsley flakes
1/4 - 1/2 cup of flour (optional)
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except the flour until well combined. Let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes. The batter should be thick and spongy. If your starter/discard was especially moist, and the batter seems too thin, you can add the flour, a bit at a time, until the batter reaches a consistency in which it will mound on a spoon. Drop spoonfuls of the dumpling batter on top of the simmering stew.
