Tiny Dumplings With Dill Recipes

Steps:

• Heat 3 tablespoons butter in a large Dutch oven or wide pot over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, parsnip, bay leaf, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons flour; stir until toasted, about 1 minute. Gradually pour in the chicken broth, stirring. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until slightly thickened and the vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour with the baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons butter into small cubes and rub into the flour mixture with your fingers until pea-size pieces form. Stir in the buttermilk and chopped herbs with a fork until combined. Divide the dough into twelve 1 1/2-inch balls.
• Stir the chicken into the pot. Arrange the dough balls on top. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until the dumplings are firm to the touch and cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Top with more dill and chives.

Steps:

• 1. Cream butter and egg. Add salt, baking powder and flour.
• 2. Bring soup or broth to a boil.
• 3. Drop dough from teaspoon into boiling mixture, cover, and simmer for 8 minutes. *If the steam hurts your hands, this is an alternative way to drop in the dough: Put the mixture into a zip-lock plastic bag. Snip off a corner. Keep a cup of cold water next to you to wet you fingers, and squeeze out the dough through corner of bag, snipping off dough with your fingers. Wet finger tips as needed. This way your hands can be held to the side of pot, rather than directly above the steam.

Steps:

• For the soup stock: Combine the chicken, peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, thyme, carrot chunks, celery chunks, quartered onion, parsnip chunks, 3 sprigs dill and 3 sprigs parsley in a large pot. Add cold water to cover by 2 inches (about 5 quarts). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is very tender, for at least 1 1/2 hours (or up to 2 hours if you have the time. The longer the better!) Add more water, as needed, skimming off scum (there won't be much) and, if desired, some fat.
• Carefully strain the stock, discarding everything except for the chicken. (You should have 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 quarts of stock.) Set the chicken aside to cool briefly while you put together the rest of the soup. Return the strained stock to the pot and bring it to a simmer. Add the sliced carrot, sliced celery, chopped onion, sliced parsnip, chopped dill, chopped parsley and the salt. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the dumplings: In a small saucepan, bring the butter and 3/4 cup water to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour. Let cool for a few minutes so it's not so hot that it will cook the eggs, then whisk in the salt, sugar, nutmeg and the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated into a slightly lumpy thick batter. (It'll take a little work to whisk in the eggs.)
• Drop heaping teaspoons of the dumpling mixture into the simmering soup, then cover and cook until the vegetables are tender and the dumplings are cooked through; begin checking for doneness at 15 minutes.
• Pull the chicken meat off the bones and chop into bite-sized pieces. Season it with salt, then add it to the soup along with the ground black pepper. Taste and add more salt as needed. This is important: The amount of salt in a chicken soup can mean the difference between unappetizing chicken tea and the elixir of bubble love that it should be. So don't skip this step, and don't rush it, either. Taste your soup, and if it doesn't make you smile reflexively, add more salt, about a 1/2 teaspoon of it, and give it a few good stirs so it can dissolve. Taste and repeat, as needed, until it tastes good.
• Serve, garnishing with fresh parsley.

Steps:

• Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in medium size bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk to make a soft dough.
• Drop by spoonfuls into boiling stew. Cover and simmer 15 minutes without lifting lid. Serve.
• To make parsley dumplings, add 1 tablespoon parsley flakes to the dry ingredients.