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    Home Β» In the Kitchen Β» Review of Good Eats - Don't Be Chicken Of Dumplings

    Review of Good Eats - Don't Be Chicken Of Dumplings

    Published: Mar 24, 2010 Β· Modified: May 30, 2019 by Eric Samuelson

    good_eats_logo

    This past Monday aired a new epsiode of Alton Brown's "Good Eats" entitled "Don't Be Chicken Of Dumplings". It was the 7th episode in series on American Classics. Alton told the store of two dumpling recipes, one from his mother, and one from his mother in-law. The making of the dumplings is very different.

    Alton's mom
    She makes what is known as swimmers, which are big, fluffy dumplings. The steps include:

    Boil butter with water
    Adding flour
    Beating til it's cool
    Working in the eggs

    This recipe is much like the process of making pate shoux. This is the quicker of the two and I think I have seen dumplings like these one more often.

    Alton's mother in-law
    She makes slickers which are hard, flat dumplings. The process involves these steps:

    Mix in flour
    Cut in fat
    Add liquid
    Briefly knead

    That is the same method you would use for making biscuits or crackers. For the liquid Alton uses skim milk. I was disappointed that he never explains why skim milk, as typically whole milk is used in most recipes. Making these dumplings also involves an 8 hour wait period for them to dry out, so you have to plan ahead.

    As for the chicken, he uses the same chicken in both recipes. He cooks the chicken in a pressure cooker and then removes it and uses the broth in the final dish. He uses a stewing hen for the chicken. This is a hen that has passed her days of being useful laying eggs. It's an older bird, so it has more flavor, but also has more connective tissue and more gelatin to be had. So it can make a flavorful broth, but it takes time, hence using the pressure cooker.

    Overall I thought it was a good show. I enjoyed how he prepared two different types of dumplings and gave the geographical history behind them. My wife felt the recipes lacked depth of flavor, and there really isn't seasoning used besides salt and freshly ground pepper. I have never cooked a stewing hen, normally we roast young fryer chickens. So it would be interesting to taste the difference in flavor between the fryer and the hen. You could just as easily use any chicken, prepared whatever way you want and use homemade or store bought chicken stock or broth. I will definately be giving both these dumplings recipes a try.

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    Hi! I'm Eric : Father of 4, living just south of Ann Arbor, MI. I'm a reformed picky eater finding a new way to not conform. Eating what's in season is my jam (I also make it!)

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