. Let the pot return to a simmer while carefully skimming off any more sediment that rises to the surface. Add the bay leaves, peppercorns, whole clove, ginger, and salt.
4. Reduce the heat to a point where the broth is barely simmering. Continue to simmer, uncovered, for 1½ hours. If you are using a roasting chicken or capon, remove it at this point and let the stock simmer for another hour. If you are using an old stewing hen (fowl), leave it in the pot until the end.
5. Turn off the heat, remove the stewing hen, if necessary, and let the broth settle and cool.
6. Strain the broth into another pot through several layers of cheese cloth and place the pot in the refrigerator. This is the fastest and safest way to cool a perishable hot food like chicken broth. You can safely let the stock cool, unrefrigerated, for up to 90 minutes before placing it in the refrigerator. If you live in a northern climate, during the winter you can take a pot of hot stock on a cake rack and place it on your back porch for super-fast cooling.
Chicken and dumpling stew
On her recipe card my mom called this dish North Carolina chicken and dumpling stew. Since I have never come across a southern recipe that even remotely resembles this dish, I have removed North Carolina from the title. Regardless of its origin, this recipe truly demonstrates how the subtle richness of a homemade chicken broth, combined with the moist tender flesh of a properly cooked chicken, can elevate a simple dish to an epicure's delight.
Dumplings hold a special place in almost every cuisine. Italian cooks make small dumplings, called gnocchi, with a variety of starches including common all purpose flour, potatoes, semolina flour, pumpkin, and cornmeal. They even make a dumpling using ricotta cheese. In Germany they make serviettenknödel, a tiny light dumpling that usually accompanies pot roasts. In western Austria they make kasnocken, a dumpling made with dry bread and flavored with aged local cheeses. Dumplings are also a large part of Chinese cuisine. On restaurant menus they are usually listed as dim sum and are served in a wide variety of steamed, boiled, and fried versions. Some special Chinese restaurants open just for lunch serve only dumplings and tea.
The dumplings used in this recipe develop a light, fluffy, texture when cooked, but they hold together when mixed with the other ingredients in the stew. If you are new to homemade dumpling recipes, I suggest you make the dumpling dough before you start the stew. It will hold well in the refrigerator until it is time for you to use it. Do not hold the dough for more than an hour. If you do, the baking powder will dissipate and the gluten in the flour will over-develop. This will turn your dumplings into slippery, tough hunks of boiled dough. If you are a fresh-dumpling pro, pick your own time during the preparation to make your dumplings. The closer to when you are going to incorporate them, the better.
1 cup all purpose flour
1½ tsp. double acting baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. Kosher salt
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 medium eggs, slightly beaten
1/8 cup buttermilk or low fat plain yogurt
1. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir until well blended.
2. Cut in the unsalted butter with a pastry blender until the flour resembles course corn meal.
3. Combine the slightly beaten eggs with the buttermilk or yogurt. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir the egg mixture into the flour, using as few strokes as possible.
4. Lightly flour your work surface, and turn the dough onto it. Sprinkle a little flour on the dough to prevent it from sticking to your fingers.
5. Gently flatten the dough with the heel of your hand, sprinkling a little more flour if it sticks to your hands or the work surface. Fold the dough in half, and gently press it flat again. Repeat this gentle flattening and folding process until the dough is just smooth. Do not try to knead the dough as you would bread dough. Overworked dumpling dough becomes tough and will not rise properly.
6. Roll the dough on a well-flour