You need to make sure you are not dropping the dumplings right into the stock. You want to drop the dumplings on top of the meat and vegetables so they are sitting on top of the liquid. This tip improved my dumplings a lot!

Joanne

I agree, Joanne, if I'm making the "biscuit" type dumplings they are greatly improved by dropping the dough on top of the rest of the ingredients in the pot instead of simply into boiling liquid. Also, I was always told not to take the lid off, even to peek. I don't, I figure Grandma knew what she was talking about, LOL, and didn't dare defy her wisdom.

The other type of dumplings, the ones referred to as "sliders" are more like noodles, dropped into the stock. I don't make those, so I'm not sure what to do if you're making those.

Annie

A suggestion...

Make a batch of batter, and try the dumplings at different simmering "speeds" and depths, as Joanne says.

Put some stones or something into a pot of water to give something for the dumplings to sit on and play with that.

Also, try dropping a spoonful of batter into rapidly boiling water, slowly boiling water, and water that is barely boiling...little bubbles sneaking their way to the top.

Dumplings are the kind of thing that grandma used to teach ma, and ma used to teach daughter. It's sort of like making bread of any other kind, there is a "feel" to it.

(I produced boiled paste lumps in my learning process as well, soldier on and you will get it right)

It's not "gourmet" but it works....
Buy a cut up chicken, put the pieces in a Dutch oven ( if its' a beautiful apple green Le Cruest oven, so much the better!) rough cut up an onion and add to the pot...add a cut up celery stalk too....and 2 carrots. Add enough water to almost cover the stuff, not quite cover,still leaving 1/2 an inch of stuff above the liquid....and 1/2 tsp salt. Put on the lid and slowly simmer for about 1/2 an hour until the chicken is beginning to become tender.
Meanwhile follow the directions on the Bisquick box for drop biscuits......uncover the simmering chicken, drop the biscuit mixture on top of the chicken in the pot....just drop globs of dough on the stuff in the pot, cover and turn the heat to simmer and let them cook, WITHOUT opening the lid!!! for 30 minutes.
Open the lid, season the gravy with salt and pepper as needed and enjoy!
Another time, the dish would be better with bay leaf and parsley....perhaps with some green onions in the mix....and maybe a bit of sage.
But the clue is....make the biscuits, plop globs of dough on top of the cooking chicken, cover, simmer and DON'T peek!
Linda C

omigosh, "snot balls"? This turns me off so badly that, frankly, I hope all your dumplings resemble Elmer's glue is both taste and consistency.

I think it depends too on what type of dumpling you are making? From your description it sounds like what I call Southern Style Dumplings and what others call Sliders. More like a thick slippery noodle used in Chicken Stews.

I have three different dumplings that I make to serve with chicken stew. I use two of them in beef stew too. Just depends on what I feel like.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

--------------------------------------

Regular Dumplings
-------------------------------------
1 1/2 cups flour
1 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening(butter/margarine or crisco
3/4 to 1 cup of milk

Mix dry ingredients and cut in shortening. Add enough milk to make a soft wet dough. Drop by tablespoon on to the top of stew and cover and simmer on low for about 15 minutes.

--------------------------------------

Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter. Add enough milk to make a soft dough. Knead for a minute until smooth and let sit for 1/2 hour. Roll out dough to desired thickness. Dough should be on the thin side. Cut into 1/2 inch strips, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long.

Drop into boiling stew and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until noodles are cooked.

--------------------------------------

Parsley Bread Dumplings
=======================
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 slices white bread, quartered
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Combine parsley and bread in processor; whirl until medium
size crumbs. Add 1 1/4 cups flour, baking powder, and salt; process just until combined. Add 1/2 cup milk and butter; process using on-off pulses just until blended. 5 Drop mounded tablespoons of dumpling mixture into stew.

.
Add chicken to a pot and cover with chicken broth or combination of
water and broth.

Add 1 garlic clove, a few sprigs of thyme and bay leaf. Cook for 15
minutes and add whole peeled onions, celery cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
and simmer until onions are tender. Remove Chicken from pot and
separate meat from bones. Add chicken back to pot. If using potatoes
add now.

Now add what ever dumpling recipe you are using and simmer until
dumplings are cooked.

If you like your stew thicker, mix some flour and milk or cream in a
jar and pour into hot stew.

"....omigosh, "snot balls"? This turns me off so badly that, frankly, I hope all your dumplings resemble Elmer's glue is both taste and consistency."

Wow steelmagnolia2007 that was a pretty "snotty" thing to say. Not exactly the kind of helpful advice that Dreamhouse was looking for.

Ann

I suppose it wasn't the most gracious and helpful comment ever, Ann. But "snot balls"...? Give me a break.

We're talking food here, and her original post sent me into gag and vomit mode. Am I not allowed to register disgust?

Let me just say that I personally find the word offensive. Discuss it among yourselves.

sm

I don't know about vomit mode, but Ann T your pics have definately sent me into salivating mode!! Thanks for posting those great recipes and tips. I love dumplings! Not something a vegetarian gets to make much. I didn't even know there were different kinds.

steelmagnolias, if you didn't like the subject why continue to read it....much less post to it and very much less to say that you hope all other's dumplings resemble elmer's glue?
If you did it to exhibit bad manners, you have succeeded in your endeavor.
Snotty indeed!

Thank you all for your attention and advice. After careful consideration I think the problem is dropping the dumplings into the boiling liquid and not on to the contents of the pot.

Ann T all of your dumplings look wonderful! I think I am trying to get to the parsley ones and will surely try your recipe next time.

As for steelmagnolias, I sincerely apologize. I was even horrified after I read my original post. It was in a moment of total disgust with my last attempt with dumplings. Having had all my children look in the pot and say, "they look like s*&t". Funny thing is, my kids never use that word otherwise. I guess that is why it was in my head when I was typing, so SO sorry.

Again, thank you all for your advice, I will follow it closely; and, again, sorry for the offensive language.

(I think I should go back to lurking)

dreamhouse don't you dare go back to lurking! Your post did not offend most, maybe got our attention, but I would not say offended.

Life is short, join in have fun, don't fret.......besides we need to know how the next batch goes.

Thanks, Chase, you are so kind.

I don't think I will try the dumplings again any time soon - I think the experience needs time to fade from their memories...looking into that pot really traumatized them on the chicken & dumplings thing. Their grandma makes it with Ann's version of the Southern dumpling, that will have to do for now.

Thanks again.

Hey dreamhouse1 stick around and hang with us next thing you gotta do is play with your nipples and balls, need the recipe?

Not offended dreamhouse! Laughing, yes! Offended. Not a chance.

For the record, not much offends me and I figure that's what the delete button and back buttons are for. If I don't like the subject, I don't read it. No need to attack another.

sighs. shakes head.

Deanna

I can't be offended, I'm the one who pulls dinner out of my a$$ on a regular basis.

next thing you gotta do is play with your nipples and balls

Okay, I'm in.....ya'll are nuts.

Just so I'm clear, are there any others words to avoid? I guess "vomit" is okay...as are nipples and balls!!

Yep, nuts, all of you!

Hey, Gina - you got any good recipes???

dreamhouse, ty for acknowledging that your, uh, 'phrasing' was off-base.

I, too, must apologize. What I said was clearly unacceptable. I'm sorry. May all your dumplings be light as feathers. :)

I think my 'overreaction' was because I just so hate the crude language used on the internet. And it's not often used here, so it bothered me. Again, I'm sorry.

sm

Follow what you know is a good recipe, and follow instructions "to the letter" without variations. And.... have patience. Years ago, when I made my very first dumplings for a stew, I was impatient and kept opening the lid to see how things were progressing and to give it a stir! Big Mistake!!

After dropping the dumpling dough into the pot, apply the lid and DO NOT PEEK or STIR!! Wait the amount of time given in the recipe directions...and add a couple of more minutes, to be sure! They WILL absorb a lot of your liquid, so make allowances for this.

Also, make sure the dough is of the proper consistency before dropping into the pot. Lifting the lid of the pot too soon results in gummy, under cooked and not well risen dough balls.

Lisbet, Although I think I let them cook long enough w/o peeking, I am guilty of stirring...won't do that again. This last recipe I used was from the Better Homes cookbook (red & white checkered standby). It called for oil in the recipe, have never seen that before. They were just very gummy, glossy and gluten-y. I don't think I overworked the dough to yield that kind of mess. Ann's looks so beautiful, I think I will try her recipe along with all your suggestions and of course a little prayer. Perhaps it's just practice. I really was disgusted with those last ones though. They drank up a beautiful broth while turning into those awful, unedible blobs.

One thing I didn't mention, is to drop the dumpling dough onto the pot where you see the liquid already bubbling. They need an instant burst of heat to start cooking and puffing up.

Yes "Ann t's" dumplings do look good! Want to try them myself. I always look forward to, and value Ann's posts because they are so good!

Ann t, thanks for posting pictures with the recipes. That really helps me as well. I am very hungry now.

A couple of Websites that nay be of interest!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080227151323AAjq1Q9

Here is a link that might be useful: Making Dumplings

That Taste of Home Video shows using two spoons to get the dumplings into the stew. A second spoon isn't necessary. If you dip your spoon into the hot broth before scooping up the dough, the dough will slide right off the spoon into the stew with out sticking. No need to push it off with a second spoon. Just remember to dip the spoon for each dumplings.

Dreamhouse, don't give up. I hope you will try making dumplings again.

Ann

Dreamhouse, sorry, I've never pulled dumplings out of there... LOL!

Oh Gina, I'm glad to hear that.

Ann, As you may have guessed, I was having trouble getting them off the spoon, this made for some quite interestingly shaped dumplings. I will try dipping the spoon, feel kind of silly for not thinking of that on my own.

Well, I feel quite encouraged and just might give it a try again very soon. The weather is getting hot here very quickly and I just don't think to make a 'stew' during our very hot, humid summers.

I will keep you posted. I have to admit, I did buy a box of Bisquik today, just in case my homemade versions are again unsuccessful. I have also heard of using biscuit dough out of a can---that's really cheating, huh?

Alas, my children might run from the kitchen as the word "dumpling" passes my lips forever! I'll just send them to grandma's house!

I will keep you posted on my next dumpling adventure.

I thought you were supposed to cook them on top of the bubbling stew for ten minutes uncovered then ten minutes covered. I'm probably wrong since I am SO not an expert on anything related to cooking. Does anyone do it that way? My mom does and they do not resemble snot -- snot at all. I love her dumplings.

It's funny how we've grown up on different things. I'm in Florida and have only seen or made the "slider" version of dumplings. We (my family) have just called them homemade noodles. When we drop the dough on top, we called them "biscuits".

When I think of a dumpling, I think of somthing like Asian dumplings. Like potstickers. In fact I thought that's what this post would be about before I opened it.

Oh and Dreamhouse, your post made me laugh! Not offended in the least...in fact it sounds like something I would say too!

Kathy, I think it must be a regional thing. I'd never heard of the "Slider" version until we were living in Grand Rapids and even then my first experience with that style of dumpling was made by a friend from Alabama so I've always referred to them as Southern Style Dumplings. Sharon (Chase) was the first person I ever heard call them Sliders.

Pam, I find that the regular dumplings only take 10 to 15 minutes to cook so I just cover them for the total cooking time. I've actually seen dumpling recipes that call for leaving the lid off for the first 5 minutes and then covering.

Dreamhouse, my mom wasn't a very good cook but she made a good beef stew. She always used Biscuit to make her dumplings.

Um, y'all? Here in middle Tennessee, sliders are little cheesebugers. I've never heard chicken 'n dumplins called sliders. And folks here mean those skinny fat noodle lookin things. Maybe it's because it's missing the "g". Dumplings would be pot stickers.

Here on the East Coast, those mini-burgers are known as "slyders"....however, I am in persuit of the "sliders" that are dumplings (Southern or Midwest?) used in stews and soups. To date have not found a dumpling recipe for them. Are they a type of thick noodle?

Yesterday on TV, Martha Stewart had a young chef on her show. He made an "Old Fashioned Chicken & Dumpling" dish. His dumplings were rolled out. They seemed like noodles to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Old Fashioned Chicken & Dumplings

Lisbet, yes, that is what Southern or Slider dumplings are. They are like a thick wide noodle. I posted a recipe for them above.

Now I have a craving for Chicken and Sliders.

Ann

Welcome dreamhouse1, I hope you keep posting, this is a great group! We do have a tendency to speak our own language at times, all in good fun and *usually* in reference to cooking!

While Gina pulls dinner out of mystery places, many of us POOF dinner, which means, pulled out of freezer.....

Then there's Jessy.....you never know. I'm surprised she didn't explain how to lube your sliders...:))

Nancy

I made AnnT's parsley bread dumplings tonight (first time I ever made dumplings, DH doesn't care for them) and they turned out beautifully! Nice floaters. There was no time given for cooking but I went for 20 minutes. Thanks AnnT!

The dish I call Chicken and Sliders is a favourite recipe amongst the large French Canadian population living in the Southwestern area of Ontario, specifically around Chatham.

Amongst themselves it was usually called "Putzin" but the English, who adopted the recipe, called it "Chicken and Sliders".

Interesting the different names we have for the same dish, bet there are lots more!

Oh. I thought Southern meant, southeastern US, but it's the southwestern portion of Ontario, when you say, "Southern dumplings". That south. I am SO kidding!!!

:) all silly smiles!!!

South is all relative.....

okay another point of view on the OP description..Parents know exactly what that word means..LOL And I thought it was perfectly acceptable to use it to explain what she was trying to convey.

I want all those dumplings Ann!

Isn't it amazing what topics can generate this many posts? We sure can discuss something to death....but isn't it fun?

Had to satisfy my craving for chicken and dumplings. Started a pot of chicken stew before leaving for work yesterday morning. Just had to add the "Southern Dumplings" when I got home. Served with mashed potatoes and peas.

Ann, I am salivating and JEALOUS! If I ever produce a dumpling like that, I would be so proud!

Your pictures look like they belong on a magazine cover or in a cookbook. Had that been my plate it would have been half gone before you could get a photo.

You are going to start a new 'dumpling' craze!!

Beautiful!

Looks awesome! Pass some my way? MMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm

slurpy, slurpy, slurp!