Dumplings

As a child, the combination of dumplings and dressing meant Thanksgiving dinner.  I do not merely like dumplings.  I completely adore them.  Growing up, we did not have dumplings outside of Thanksgiving or Christmas.  I like dumplings so much that I will make them at other points in the year in the form of Chicken and Dumplings.  (When making Chicken and Dumplings, I would add some celery and carrots to cook in the broth.  Then add the dumplings.  Once done, add some leftover pieces of boneless, skinless chicken.)  From what I understand, this recipe was passed down from Grandma Dora's great-grandmother who likely got it from her great-grandmother. 

It starts simple: Flour, egg, and pepper.

Place a few (4-6) cups of all-purpose flour into a bowl.  Use the egg to make a well into the flour.  Add a lot of pepper - perhaps a scant teaspoon - and the egg into the well.

Mixing the egg and pepper.

Use fingers to blend the egg and pepper.  Start to work in the flour.

Egg, pepper, and flour.

Work in as much flour as possible.  Then add three-fourths of a cup of warm turkey broth.  (The broth should not be so hot it would cook the egg.)  Now, mix in more flour removing the egg and flour goop from fingers as much as possible.

Keep mixing in flour.

The flour and egg goop is sticky.  Keep mixing in more flour, scraping the sides of the bowl with fingers. 

Use flour-covered spoons or spatula to attempt to clean fingers.

Add more flour if needed!

Flour mixture starting to form a "ball."

"Add flour" is the answer whenever the dough starts to stick.  Eventually, the dough will form a ball as it is kneaded.  Once this happens, fold it on itself and let it rest for 10 minutes in the bowl.  Pull excess flour from hands with a paper towel and wash them well at this point.

Cut the ball into even pieces.

Cut the ball so that each piece will fit on the surface as it is rolled out.

Floured surface and rolling pin.

Ensure the work surface and rolling pin are heavily floured.  Pat the dough piece until it is flattened.  Then roll out the dough until it is very thin.

Keep pieces floured.

Roll out the other pieces quickly.

Cut into desired shapes.

Uneven edges do not matter.

Once rolled, cut into desired shapes and sizes.  Don't worry about the ends.  They won't matter.

Turkey broth

We do not stuff the turkey with stuffing, so we use the broth from the turkey.  If the bird is stuffed or if there is not enough broth, pre-purchased stock can be used.  Add salt, if needed.

Once the broth boils, start dropping dumplings.

The broth needs to be at a rolling boil before dumplings are dropped one at a time.  Seriously, ONE at a time.

Dumplings will float when done.

Even though some dumplings will be done before all are dropped, keep adding them to the pot.  When the surface is covered, broth will bubble up through dumplings.  Drop the new dumplings on the bubbles and give a stir once in a while.

All done!

Dumplings are pretty forgiving, so they can cook a bit longer if needed.  They will reheat in the microwave well too.  Honestly, dumplings look/seam harder to make than they are.  I've wanted to post about dumplings for a while, but I needed clean hands to snap pictures.

Middle-Niece Laura

This year, Laura did the hard work while I snapped pictures.  She is a natural cook in her own right!