CHICKEN AND HERBED CORNMEAL DUMPLINGS

This recipe takes right at an hour but only about 20 minutes of that is work on your part. The rest is cooking time. This is a recipe I got a year or two ago from a Southern Living magazine.

1/4 cup salted butter, divided
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup diagonally sliced celery
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided (Personal note: I only use white whole wheat)
3 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
3 cups coarsely shredded rotisserie chicken (Personal note: Buy chicken at deli!)
1/2 cup coarse plain yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup whole buttermilk
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion; cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the flour and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the broth, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Bring mixture to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened. This will take about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and remove pot from the heat.

Whisk together the cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, 1/2 cup flour, and the remaining salt in a medium bowl. Cut the remaining butter into the mixture using a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, parsley and tarragon, stirring just until moistened.

Place pot back over medium heat and drop dumpling dough by tablespoonfuls about a 1/2-inch apart into the hot mixture. Cook and cook until the dumplings are done and dry to the touch, about 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Yield:  6 servings of 2 dumplings and 1 cup chicken mixture

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