Chicken and Dumplings with White Beans

Old-fashioned comfort food at its finest—chicken and

dumplings. Here, I added creamy cannellini beans for a little more depth in

both taste and texture, but the soul

of the dish still comes from tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken and fluffy

dumplings floating on top of the broth.

I made the dumplings with eggs and half-and-half because

I’ve found those two ingredients make a lighter batter and result in silkier

texture. Richer taste too.

And the golden rule of dumplings? They should never be

perfectly formed, symmetrical balls. Just drop small globs onto hot liquid and

watch them get pretty in whatever shape they take.

• 2 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• flour, for dredging
• 1 whole fryer (about 3 1/2 lbs), cut into 8 pieces
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 1 15-oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• Cut-Up Chicken
• For the Dumplings
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup half-and-half

Preparation

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the bacon.

Cook until almost crisp and fat is rendered. Remove with a slotted spoon and

drain on paper towels.

Bacon Beginning to CookCooked Bacon

Add the olive oil to the pot.

Spread flour in a large baking dish. Season the chicken with

salt and pepper and dredge in the flour. Working in 2 batches, add the chicken

skin-side down to the pot and cook, without turning, until golden brown, 12-14

minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Floured ChickenBrown the Chicken in Batches Browned First Batch Add the celery, onion, and garlic to the pot and cook,

stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, 4-5 minutes.

Add the wine and cook, scraping up browned bits, 3 minutes.

Return the chicken and bacon to the pot and add the bay leaves and 4 cups of broth.

Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.

Softened Vegetables Reduced Wine Reduce the heat to low and cook, partially covered, until

the chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the

size of the pieces.

Stew Ready to Simmer Cooked Stew Discard bay leaves. Carefully remove the chicken to a plate (be sure all bones

are removed as well). When cool enough to handle, pull the chicken meat into

pieces, discarding skin and bones.

Return the chicken to the pot and add the remaining 1/2 cup of broth. Stir in the beans and bring

to a simmer. Cook 5 minutes.

Chicken Returned to Pot With the broth simmering, drop teaspoon-sized dollops of

dumpling batter (recipe follows) on top. Cook until the dumplings are cooked

through and doubled in size, about 5 minutes.

Dumplings Beginning to CookCooked Dumplings

Divide the stew among 6 shallow bowls and serve hot.

Chicken and Dumplings with White Beans

For the Dumplings

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In

another bowl, whisk the eggs and half-and-half.

Gradually whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture to

form a slightly lumpy batter.

Flour and Egg Mixtures Dumpling Batter