I haven’t seen the sun in about two weeks and my days here in Charleston have been full of cold wind and tons of rain. Honestly, I haven’t been in much of a mood to cook so I decided on classic comfort food that was going to warm my bones and that’s definitely something that I like whipping up when the winter weather gets gnarly. I kept things simple with Southern-style chicken and dumplings: just chicken, a good stock, and easy flat dumplings. Using Spice Tribe’s Late Harvest Black Peppercorns, this fragrant and flavor-packed pepper was perfect for the chicken stock and for freshly cracking and finishing the big bowl of dumplings before serving.

Keep in mind, this recipe is split into three sections: the stock, which is mostly hands-off and takes up most of the cooking time; the flat dumplings that are fun to roll out and cut; and the dish itself, when everything comes together. To me, this recipe was simple because I didn’t have to do much babysitting the stove during the cooking process.

You can definitely make a quicker version of this recipe using store-bought flat dumplings (you can find them in the freezer section of most grocery stores) and following the package instructions but I wouldn’t skimp out on making the homemade stock. So let’s get to it!

Chicken and Dumplings

Cook time: 3 hours total (with homemade stock)

Serves: 6-8

Stock Prep

Yield: 10-12 cups

1 5-7lb baking hen or whole chicken

2 large bay leaves

1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms

2 tbsp Spice Tribe Late Harvest Black Peppercorns

1 gallon bag of frozen veggie scraps (see note)

Water

Note: if you don’t have frozen veggie scraps on hand for the stock, simply use 1 large onion, cut into chunks, 1 small head of garlic, halved, 3 celery stalks, cut into chunks, and 2 small carrots, cut into chunks.

In a large stockpot, add the hen or chicken, bay leaves, dried mushrooms, peppercorns, and veggie scraps. Cover with water and bring to boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 2 hours, skimming the pot occasionally to remove excess fat or crud on the edges.

Strain and remove the chicken and set aside. Discard the vegetables. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and break down the bird to shred the meat (I used both white and dark meat and saved roughly 2 cups of shredded chicken for another day and froze it). I also saved a quart of stock for the freezer.

The strained and skimmed stock will be used for the chicken and dumplings dish itself, so pour 8 cups of the stock into another large pot or back into (the cleaned and rinsed) pot you made the stock in. Set aside.

Flat Dumplings

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp buttermilk powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground Spice Tribe Late Harvest Black Peppercorns

1 tsp Bell’s poultry seasoning

1/2 cup fresh chicken broth

1/2 plain Greek yogurt

Next up is the dumplings. You want to make these before making the base of the chicken and dumplings since you want them to dry out a little bit before cooking. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, buttermilk powder, kosher salt, black pepper, and poultry seasoning.

Use a whisk or fork to make sure everything is mixed well. Then, stir together the chicken broth and greek yogurt in a separate bowl and pour it into the flour mixture. Using a spatula, mix well until there are no more dry patches of flour and you have a shaggy dough.

Remove from the bowl and place on a flat floured surface, like your counter or large cutting board. Sprinkle generously with some more flour and then form into a ball, kneading a few times to make sure everything is in one shape. Roll the dough out into a rectangle-ish shape, and don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be perfectly angular, you just want it to be the same thickness. We’re going for rustic vibes here, so don’t worry!

Using a very sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut strips across the dough and then in the opposite direction, making small squares. Carefully remove them and place them on a drying rack and set aside.

Chicken and Dumplings

8 cups chicken stock

Kosher salt, to taste

Ground Spice Tribe Late Harvest Black Peppercorns, to taste

2 tsp garlic paste

4 cups shredded chicken meat

Prepped flat dumplings (from the previous section)

Slurry (1/4 cup cornstarch, 1 cup milk)

5 sprigs fresh thyme, stems removed and leaves chopped

Small handful flat-leaf parsley, stems removed and leaves chopped

In the pot with the strained chicken stock, over medium-high heat, bring it back up to a gentle boil and season with kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Stir in the garlic paste. Using a ladle or spoon, scoop out any excess fat or crud that forms around the edges of the pot. This will be normal! Then fold in the shredded chicken and stir, making sure the chicken is heated back through.

Then drop in the dumplings, one by one, making sure to stir as you’re dropping them in so they don’t stick to each other. Continue this step until all the dumplings are in the pot. Lower the heat to medium-low and cover with a lid.

Cook the dumplings for 25 minutes or until they float and are tender to the bite. Once the dumplings are cooked, stir in the cornstarch slurry to thicken the chicken and dumplings. Simmer until thickened and fold in the chopped thyme and parsley. Serve immediately and garnish with extra freshly cracked black pepper.

¡Buen provecho!