Part Two – Old Fashioned Good Guy, Pat, Prepares Slightly Speedier Chicken And Dumplings

Here is the Neely version of Chicken and Dumplings.

Down Home With The Neelys with Pat and Gina Neely

Old School

Fried Dill Pickles

Neely's Chicken and Dumplings

Pat and Gina remember the old school version of Chicken and Dumplings. Pat tells us this is one of the first dishes of any kind that he remembers. 

Today, they are preparing Aunt Faye's Chicken and Dumplings in a way that won't take all day. I'm not sure what Pat means when he says his Aunt Faye "used to put her FOOT in some chicken and dumplings". Does that perhaps flavor the stock? 

Right off the bat, something looks weird. They're using chicken PIECES and Gina is pouring boxed chicken stock over. Won't all that chicken make a lovely stock of its own? PLUS they’re only cooking it for TWENTY minutes? How is that enough time...even with pieces? Tyler’s goes for an hour.

Gina says she's adding the stock to give it more flavor. Well, if she used a whole chicken she wouldn't need that. Oh it seems as if they actually BOUGHT a whole chicken and then cut it up. Who wants to do that? And who wants to buy all that stock if you don't need to?

They do admit Aunt Faye didn't do it this way. Way to go Aunt Faye! Pat adds fresh thyme and a bay leaf. They simmer it on low for about 20 minutes. Gina says not to rush it and let it take its time. Well! 20 minutes is not letting it take its time. Even if you're using pieces, it could simmer slowly for at least 40 minutes. I personally don't like bloody thigh meat in MY chicken and dumplings.

Pat chops garlic and an onion, while Gina tackles the carrots and celery. We've now heard about Aunt Faye so much that if they don't bring her out at the end, I'll be really po'ed. I don't care if she's on a stretcher.

Gina starts the dumplings by pouring one cup of heavy cream into a pot. Why does she say heavy WHIPPING cream? Is there a heavy cream that's NOT capable of being whipped?

Then she actually says something sweet about how certain recipes can take you back in time. I really like Gina's spiel to the camera about hoping her girls will want to carry on good things from HER kitchen as they go on in life. That was not unmoving.

(Let's see...what does MY daughter make?  Oh yeah, chocolate cake in a mug from hot cocoa mix. What does my son make? Not much of anything... Actually he can sauté a steak and boil green beans and make a salad...as long as I've made the dressing in advance.)

Back to wet ingredients for the dumplings, Gina adds 2 tablespoons of butter to the cream with Pat adding a teaspoon of thyme and a tablespoon of parsley. He says this is going to wake them up! Gina heats up the butter and cream while Pat sautés the chopped vegetables in a large Dutch oven. He adds salt and pepper.

Gina says something ELSE I agree with. She says once you have your vegetables sautéing nicely you can take it anywhere...you can build the whole world on top of that. I so concur. Sorry, I was just thinking of Frank Abagnale.

For the dry ingredients, Gina adds 2 cups of flour into a bowl with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of baking powder.

Pat interrupts Gina to ask if he can be her chicken while she could be his dumpling?

How does one answer something like that? She gives him a look, like Get Back To Cooking! I am liking Gina today! She whisks the dry ingredients together.

Pat pulls the skin off the chicken and shreds it. Gina pours the cream mixture over the dry ingredients. She mixes the dumplings by hand, forming one big dough bowl. Pat adds the chicken to the sautéing vegetables. He takes the herbs out of the chicken stock and pours it over the chicken and vegetables in the big pot.

Gina rolls little dough balls from her big dough ball and drops them into the pot. She handles the dough quite a lot, which I thought was big no-no. She covers the pot and doesn't peek.

As an aside, the Neelys fry up some dill pickles with Pat's brother Tony. That's funny, I just saw a chef contender do that on Chopped, as a little garnish.

Pat and Gina serve up the fried pickles on a platter and the chicken and dumplings in bowls.

I guess the real difference between theirs and Tyler's dish is that the Neelys serve the dumplings as basically a garnish to chicken soup. The dumplings take the place of noodles. Tyler's base is thickened and stew-like and the dish becomes much more entrée-like. Plus, the fried pickles are weird. Really weird. As a tiny addition..that's fine, to a rich meat dish, perhaps. But on their own and served with Chicken and Dumplings? I'm not convinced.

No sign of Aunt Faye anywhere. Maybe she saw their recipe and thought better of coming. Actually, this recipe is okay. There are just some odd things in it. Why bother to cut up the chicken first? The cooking time should be longer anyway and why use stock instead of good old plain water?

The other big difference in the two dumplings recipes is that Tyler uses eggs, the Neelys don't. I admit I am a bit confused about the place of eggs in dumplings. It seems intuitive to me that an egg would help bind everything together and make them lighter and fluffier, but plenty of recipes don’t include an egg in the dumpling batter.

Joy of Cooking's dumpling recipe has eggs, so does James Beard’s in his American Cooking, so I guess mine will too.

My Chicken and Dumplings - Tyler's recipe

Note: I found 2 great pieces of advice from Joy of Cooking and James, unfortunately, only AFTER I had made mine:

From J of C – To get the dumpling batter off the spoon easily, dip your spoon first in the stock or stew and then in the dumpling mixture. Do this with each dumpling and your spoon won’t get all gunked up.

From JB – separate the eggs for a lighter dumpling. Beat the yolks into whatever liquid you’re using and mix the batter as usual. Then fold in the beaten whites. Cook as usual.

Just for fun I took a look at the FN website to see what other versions of Chicken and Dumplings they had.

This one was a blast, unless you think of it as a REAL recipe. I guess I should have known that Aunt Sandy's version would feature a store-bought cooked chicken, PRE-CUT carrot and celery sticks, a roll of buttermilk biscuit dough AND a can of gravy.

Seriously, really and truly...no joke, her show should be banned by the food police. Even scarier are the mostly very positive reviews that were given to this recipe.

Listen, it's a free country, but we don't legalize heroin, so why should we allow canned gravy and biscuit dough to be a substitute for dinner?!!

AND if you look at Sandra Lee, YOU KNOW she's not eating her own food...well, the cocktails, maybe, but not the food. Even the Neelys look like health food aficionados next to her. 

Hmmm – A Tyler Version Of Chicken And Dumplings And A Neely Version…Which One Will I Prefer?

Part One – Old Fashioned Good Guy, Tyler, Prepares Classic Chicken And Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings is such a homey, delicious meal that I was happy to see it done recently on two Food Network shows. The first was on Tyler's Ultimate. 

Ultimate Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings

Apple Brown Betty with Ice Cream

Tyler was psyched when he was a kid and he came home and knew it was Chicken with Dumplings Day. Now, HE'S the one getting kids off to school and he wants to create that same warm family feeling. (A man who is a good father is sooooooooo hot!) 

Tyler says he’s dusting off the recipe and making two classics – Chicken and Dumplings and Apple Brown Betty. (This is about chicken, but I may have to find time to mention the dessert.) 

He starts with an organic, free-range chicken and slow simmers it until it’s falling apart. He’s going to make his dumplings with buttermilk. Sure sounds like home to me…

Tyler explains that the poaching will give a beautifully cooked chicken AND a great broth that will be used in the final dish. 

He places his 3½ pound chicken in a big pot. He always looks for one that has a yellowy color. He adds peppercorns, bay leaves, fresh thyme and a halved HEAD of garlic and a little salt. He pours over water, just to cover, and simmers it for an hour “low and slow”. 

(That’s what should be on your stove if you’re trying to sell your house. It will smell fantastic! And The Apple Brown Betty coming up wouldn’t hurt either. ) 

I can’t help myself, I have to tell you about the dessert:

First, Tyler tells us the difference between an Apple Brown Betty and an Apple Crisp. A Crisp has apples with a cinnamon, brown sugar streusel-type topping. A Brown Betty dates back to Colonial America and has 2 ingredients – fruit and bread. It’s almost like a bread pudding without the custard. (The ONLY part of bread pudding I like is the custard, so this is going to be a bit of hard sell for me.) 

He slices the crusts off a day-old brioche. It will absorb more butter if it’s a little stale. He melts a stick of butter and slices the bread and then shreds it into similar-sized small pieces. (I guess it has THREE ingredients.) He likes the buttery eggy taste of the brioche in this dish. He pours over the hot melted butter and stirs it thoroughly.

Then Tyler peels and cuts up 6 Granny Smith apples. He adds 1 tablespoon cinnamon and “a nice little shower” of freshly ground nutmeg with 1 cup of light brown sugar, which he likes because of its molasses. He adds lemon juice to brighten the flavor. He adds Calvados. Don’t worry if you don’t have it, he says, but, “It’s really going to hit that apple note home.”

He also adds a bit of salt…like everyone else on earth and stirs it all together. Tyler butters a baking dish with butter and coats it with white sugar and begins to layer it all together, starting with the brioche. He adds a layer of apples, more brioche and then the apples on top with all their juices. 

He sprinkles sugar over, places the dish on a baking sheet and bakes it at 375°F for about an hour. 

Back to chicken dish. To a Dutch oven, Tyler adds olive oil (for high cooking temp) and butter (for flavor). He adds chopped carrots, celery and garlic (no onion?) to the pot to sauté. 

Meanwhile, Tyler removes the chicken from the other pot and shreds the meat using two forks, removing the skin. 

He whisks in a quarter cup of flour to the sautéed vegetables, while telling us that adding hot stock to the mixture will make it easier to make a lump free base for the dish. He says heating up cold stock or boxed, (if that’s what you’re using) will make your life easier. He pours in the entire bowl of stock from the poached chicken. (The recipe says 6 cups.)

He stirs it well and adds a splash of cream, salt and lots of coarsely ground black pepper. He folds in all the chicken and adds peas and pearl onions. This is like Ina’s Chicken Pie. He cooks it for 15 minutes. 

Now Tyler gets to work on the dumplings. He measures 2 cups of flour with 1 tablespoon baking powder and salt. He mixes together the wet ingredients – 2 eggs and a cup of buttermilk. He adds some chopped chives. He mixes the dry ingredients together and makes a well with his hand. 

He adds wet ingredients and stir until he has a nice spongy mixture. He doesn’t emphasis not to overbeat, but don’t overbeat. (The recipe does, though.) 

Tyler uses a big spoon to scoop out a big tablespoon of batter and uses a second spoon to push them off “the gang plank” and into the simmering stew. They cook on one side for 5 to 7 minutes and then are turned over to cook until they’re 3 times the original size. 

He plates up the dumplings and adds stew to the plate. He sprinkles over more chives.  He spoons out a BIG serving of still-steaming Apple Brown Betty. Wait, he’s adding even more of the Betty. He says you can serve it with a “splash” of heavy cream or ice cream as he’s doing today. He scoops the ice cream beautifully and covers the top with powdered sugar. We leave him debating which to taste first. He opts for the chicken. Perfect, he says. 

He’s right about these being American classics. And Tyler is well on his way to becoming one himself.

Cooking notes: I made Tyler's recipe and the only change I made was to leave out the cream in the stew part. It really didn't need it. I was hesitant to add the amount of salt he called for to the poaching chicken, but I was glad I did. Some reviewers noted they didn't add it all and it was a bit bland. 

The dumplings definitely took longer to cook than ten to fifteen minutes. Tyler says on the show, not in the recipe, to turn them over, which isn't easy. I think I would go with the Neelys here (see next post) and cover the pot, although I'm not sure they need 25 minutes. James says 15, covered.

Every 4th Of July Needs A Good Barbecue Sauce

So does Flag Day, Labor Day and any day in between.

This is my all time favorite barbecue sauce, which I always tinker with a bit. I've made others over the years and they never compare to this one. It's definitely a sweet sauce with none of the super sour notes that many Southern vinegar-based barbecue sauces have. It's adapted from a James Beard recipe, so you know it's good.

Jim's recipe was for spareribs. 99% of the time I use this on chicken. It's good slathered on hamburgers too. You can use it as it comes out of the pot, or you can process it into a thick unctuous sauce that glides on food beautifully and can also be spooned on crusty baked potatoes for a robust side dish.

Make vats of it and freeze it. I tailor the recipe to accommodate the amount of onions I have. Once I measure those, I adjust the other ingredients accordingly.

James's and My Barbecue Sauce (makes 2 cups)
(So what if I pretend that we worked on it together?!)

Printable recipe here

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 enormous onion or 2 cups onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tablespoons supermarket chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried basil or 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed medium pot. Add the onions and salt. Stir to mix well over medium high heat. When you hear a sizzle, stir in the garlic, cover and cook on low heat for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When you lift the lid, there should be plenty of steam. If there isn't, raise the heat a bit, cover and continue to cook. The onions should be completely softened, before you go any further.



With heat on low, add the chili powder and cayenne. Stir over lowest heat for 3 minutes. (Okay, 2 minutes is better than nothing.)



Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, covered. Use as is...



OR let cool slightly and pour into food processor, fitted with the metal blade. Process until as smooth as you like it. Cool before freezing.



I like to put a bit on the chicken before it gets baked, broiled or grilled. Then about 15 minutes before the end of cooking, brush it on liberally. Serve (a lot) on the side too.