Chicken and dumplings

Laura called. She wanted a whine and wine night, one in which we all sat around and made dumplings. Asian dumplings, you know potstickers, wontons, shiu mai, gyoza, call them what you will, little noodle wrappers stuffed with vegetables, meat, shrimp, whatever. There are a million filling recipes for Asian dumplings. Of course, mine is the only one I recommend, because it tastes great, and I got it from Priscilla, who lived in China for 5 years and learned how to cook there. (Which is why she still uses oil instead of butter to fry eggs and omelets. Have you ever had an omelet made in oil? Not good.)

So Laura sends me her list of ingredients, which were all wrong. I won't go into detail, suffice it to say, I had most, but not all, of what she needed. No, that's not true, I did have it all, but not in sufficient quantities. I know, I'm such a loser.

Well, we decided we'd take a trip to the Asian grocery to stock up and, oh, while we were at it, we might as well get pedicures. And make sure we had everything for Laura's fabulous cosmos. (her secret is Rose's lime juice. Brilliant.)

As we eased ourselves into the pedicure thrones and dipped our toes into the swirling warm water, we began to talk about the upcoming evening's festivities and Laura's pedicurist perked her head up when she heard the word "dumplings"

"You're making dumplings? How do you do that? Do you use flour?"

"Well, yes and no," I replied, slightly puzzled. An Asian girl is asking me how to make dumplings? I could understand that if she knew me, of course, but she's never laid eyes on me before. "My good friend makes the wrappers herself, but she can't come tonight so we're cheating and using wrappers from a package."

"Oh, you're making Asian dumplings. I thought you were making chicken and dumplings. I'd really like to know how to make that."

Well, darling, it couldn't be simpler. I'll even let you cheat and use Bisquick. The recipe is on the box. The rest of you, though, get out the flour.

Chicken and Dumplings, Grandma Foodie Style (sort of)

Saute a sliced onion and a sliced carrot in a little oil until limp. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown on both sides with the onion. Add enough chicken stock or water to cover and simmer until chicken is almost cooked through, about 25  minutes. Plop big spoonfuls of dumpling dough on top of the stew and simmer, 10 minutes.

***Note: I can't believe I forgot to write this: after you remove the chicken and the dumplings, reduce the stock and add some sour cream to thicken. Spoon it all over the dumplings.

Dumpling dough
1 C sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Break 1 egg into a 1 cup measuring cup. Add milk until the cup is half full, beat well and stir into the flour mixture. Add more milk if necessary, but keep the batter as stiff as possible.

Now, if you hate this recipe, tell me. If you think it sounds good, tell me. I need some comments, people! I know I let you all down by taking such a long blogging break, but your feedback is what keeps me motivated! I'd love to hear from you, good or bad. I can take it.