Bohemian Chicken & Dumplings
Submitted by jingles
Bohemian chicken and dumplings with paprika-marjoram gravy and handmade bread dumplings cooked in the chicken stock. A Czech comfort food classic that’s been warming kitchens for generations.
YIELD
1 batchPREP
40 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
2 hrsThis isn’t your Southern grandma’s chicken and dumplings. This is the Czech version, and it plays by different rules.
Chicken quarters simmer in a paprika and marjoram-scented broth until tender and falling off the bone.
The dumplings are made from day-old bread soaked in milk, mixed with eggs, marjoram, and butter, then rolled into dense little balls that cook right in the stock.
The gravy comes together with a proper roux, cooked until it turns the color of a new penny, then whisked into the stock until it thickens into a silky, peppery sauce.
Everything goes back into the pot together for a final rest in the hot gravy before serving.
Kitchen Tips
- Test one dumpling first before committing the whole batch. Drop a single ball into boiling stock and check that it holds together and doesn’t go fuzzy. Adjust with more breadcrumbs if needed.
- Cook the roux slowly and watch the color. The “new penny” shade gives it a toasty, nutty flavor without bitterness.
- Squeeze the excess milk out of the soaked bread thoroughly. Too much moisture makes the dumplings fall apart in the stock.
- Let everything rest in the hot gravy for 10 minutes before serving. The dumplings absorb flavor and the gravy tightens up.
Ingredients
Directions
Chicken and Gravy: Place chicken with onion, paprika, marjoram and pepper in a large stick pot, with enough water to cover (at least 8 cups). Bring to boil. Reduce heat and SIMMER until tender, about 40 min or until no red juices come out when pierced with a fork.
Remove chicken and cover to keep warm. Save the stock. Prepare dumplings as below.
Roll the dough into one inch diameter dumplings and drop into gently boiling stock.
Boil over medium heat for 25 minutes, turning over after 12 minutes.
Remove dumpling and keep warm with the chicken. Save stock.
Make a roux by melting the butter in a small skillet.
Add the flour to the skillet and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture is the color of a new penny.
Add enough of this roux mixture to the boiling stock to make a medium thick gravy.
If lumps form, whisk them out with a wire whisk. Add a few drops of bead molasses if you wish for color and adjust spices with paprika, marjoram, pepper and salt to taste. (I like more pepper in mine.) Simmer 5 minutes. Return meat and dumplings to gravy and reheat all to just a simmer. Remove from heat. Let stand in hot gravy for 10 before serving.
DUMPLINGS Soak bread in milk. Squeeze out surplus milk. Shred bread into bowl.
Add eggs, marjoram. salt and melted butter. Mix well. Add enough bread crumbs to make mixture into 1 inch balls that will NOT become fuzzy when boiled. Test one by dropping into boiling stock, then adjust crumbs as needed. Cook as above.
Comments
We have a similar family recipe with cracker (saltines) crumbs instead of bread crumbs and sour cream added to the soup. One hungarian hot pepper is also in the soup pot. delicious! my son uses chicken broth & rotisserie chicken much faster.
we have a similar recipe except use cracker crumbs (saltines) for dumplings, one hot pepper in soup and sour cream in the soup with the roux. now use boxed broth & rotisserie chicken to hasten the process.