Why Your Dumplings Are Gummy (And How to Fix It!)

Pale and slick on the outside, raw dough in the middle, broth thin as dishwater: gummy dumplings were never the cook's fault, honey, they come from what nobody wrote on the recipe card. Mamaw June, eighty-one, learned the fix at her Mama's blue speckled pot, the one that carried dumplings to every sick bed on their eastern Kentucky ridge. One stewing hen and two cups of flour make six bowls of dumplings tender clear through, in a broth the flour off the board turns into gravy. Eight common troubles get mended, from flat broth and sticky dough to a scorched bottom, and the one that can't be fixed still feeds six as stew over skillet cornbread. Her Mama's saying, rolling pin in hand, was "Thin as a promise, hot as a temper, and leave it be." THE RECIPES MAMA'S KENTUCKY CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS (serves 6) Broth: - 1 whole stewing hen, or 3 to 4 lb bone-in chicken thighs - 12 cups cold water - 1 onion, halved, skin on - 2 ribs celery - 1 carrot - 2 tsp salt, plus more 1 tsp at a time to taste - 1/2 tsp black pepper - 1 Tbsp butter or chicken fat Dumplings: - 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus flour for the board - 1 tsp salt - 1/4 tsp baking powder (leave out for slicker dumplings) - 1/4 cup lard or shortening - About 3/4 cup steaming hot broth Finish: - 1 tsp black pepper - 1/2 cup milk (optional) 1. Put chicken, water, onion, celery, carrot and 2 tsp salt in a large heavy pot. Bring up over medium-high heat, skimming off the grey foam. 2. Lower to a gentle simmer with lazy bubbles, about 1 1/2 hours, longer for an old hen, till the meat falls off the bone. 3. Strain into a second pot for 8 to 10 cups of broth. Pull the meat off in big pieces and cover with a plate. 4. Taste the broth. Add salt 1 tsp at a time, tasting between, then the pepper and butter or chicken fat. 5. Mix flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in lard with a fork to coarse meal. Stir in hot broth till stiff, knead a few turns, cover with the upturned bowl and rest 10 minutes. If sticky, work in flour 1 Tbsp at a time, up to 1/4 cup. 6. Roll on a well-floured board to 1/8 inch. If it springs back, cover 5 more minutes and roll again. Cut strips 1 inch by 2 inches; leave the flour on. 7. Bring broth to a full rolling boil over high heat. Drop in one strip at a time, waiting for the boil to roll back each time. Do not stir; press floaters under with the back of the spoon. If the pot goes quiet, hold off 30 to 60 seconds till it boils again. 8. Lower to a steady simmer, lid off, 15 to 20 minutes, sliding the spoon flat along the bottom every 5 minutes. 9. Return the chicken with 1 tsp pepper. Cut one dumpling in half; a chalky white line means simmer 5 more minutes and test again. Stir in milk if you like it creamier. THIN BROTH SLURRY - 2 Tbsp flour - 1/2 cup cold milk or cold broth 1. Whisk flour into the cold liquid. 2. Pour around the edges of the simmering pot and tilt gently. 3. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes. SCORCHED POT RESCUE - 1/2 tsp black pepper 1. Don't scrape or stir. Ladle gently into a clean pot, leaving the last half inch behind. 2. If it tastes faintly smoky, add the pepper. CHICKEN AND DUMPLING STEW (for pasty dumplings) - 1 to 2 cups hot broth - Skillet cornbread squares 1. Thin the pot with hot broth into a stew. 2. Ladle over a square of skillet cornbread. LEFTOVERS 1. Refrigerate within 2 hours in a shallow container; eat within 3 to 4 days. 2. Reheat over medium-low with 1/2 to 1 cup broth or water till bubbling all the way through. 3. Freeze extra broth and meat, labeled and dated, not the dumplings. Roll fresh dumplings the day you want them. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:24 The Blue Pot 0:55 Starting The Broth 1:48 Simmering The Chicken 2:12 Straining And Tasting 2:43 Fixing Flat Broth 4:07 Mixing The Dough 6:10 Rolling The Dough 7:05 Dropping The Dumplings 8:06 Simmering To Done 9:02 Avoiding Scorched Paste 11:58 Storing Leftovers