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Lucille Broussard
My Mom is an awesome cook and has forgotten more about cooking than I will ever know about it. This is one of my favorite meals she fixes. Her dumplings are light and airy and absorb just the right amount of gravy, and are easy to make too!
1 plump Hen (cut up in serving pieces)
1 1/2 c. Onion (chopped)
2 cans Chicken Broth
6 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
4 T. Roux
1/2 c. Green Onions (chopped)
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
In a heavy medium size roaster, fry down the hen pieces, browning and stirring often to make sure all surfaces of the meat brown. You may have to add a little water every once in a while if it gets too dark. Add onion and sauté until translucent.
Add broth and make sure you dissolve all crust from bottom of the pot. Add bouillon and simmer until dissolved. You will have to taste several times to adjust the seasoning, especially the salt. The broth and bouillon cubes have salt in them and you don't want to over do. Add about 4 tablespoons roux and dissolve. If too light a color, I add Kitchen Bouquet sometimes, about 2 - 3 teaspoons. Now just let it simmer with the lid on until the hen pieces are tender.
Add the green onions just before you are ready to make your dumplings. Remove the hen pieces and put in an ovenproof container with a lid. Set the oven at 200° and put hen in oven. Keep the gravy at a light bubbling simmer.
DUMPLINGS:
1/2 c. Milk
1 Egg
2 c. Pioneer Biscuit Mix
1/2 Baking Soda
Beat milk and egg together. Mix biscuit mix and soda together and add to milk mixture and mix just until biscuit mix is all moistened.
Drop by the tablespoon full into the simmering gravy. They cook quiet fast. Turn each dumpling after about 3 minutes and let cook for another 3 - 5 minutes. Take one out and test it to make sure it is cooked in the middle, and this will give you an idea how long they have to cook. Everybody's "simmer" is different, so you have to use your judgment as to doneness.
Just put a few in at a time. If you put too many in at a time, they get all broken up being moved around. Put each batch, after it is cooked, in a large container with a lip around it. I use one of those corning ware dishes that have a lid. The longer you leave the dumplings in the gravy, the more gravy they absorb, and when they absorb too much they fall apart and/or get too heavy. I like mine light.
Some times I put the hen back in the pot with the gravy, and sometimes I don't. If I'm serving from the stove, I put it back in the pot. If we are serving at the table, I leave the hen in a serving dish and put the gravy in gravy boats. I always leave the dumplings in their own container and serve with a broad flat spoon. |
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