A Small Problem

On Tue 04 Oct 2005 09:33:46a, rosie wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Recently , I made Chicken and dumplings, it tasted great but there
was a small problem with the dumplings, they had a tendency to fall
apart..

Here is the recipe I used

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup shortning
1/2 cup milk

sift together flour, salt and baking powder, cut in the shortning.
Add milk to make a stiff dough. Roll out on floured board to i/8 inch,
cut into squares, sprinkle with flour, drop into briskly boiling
chicken stock, cover tightly , simmer about 40 minutes.

Did I use too much milk ? The flour was regular unbleached flour.

Thanks, Rosie

Rosie, the recipe looks fine, up to the point of cooking.

Dumplings should never be cooked at a "brisk" boil. Rolled dumplings
should not be cooked in a covered pot. The cooking time of 40 minutes is
nearly triple what it should take, with 15 minutes being about right. The
combination of these factors would surely disintegrate the dumplings.

The fact that you were able to roll out and cut the dumplings indicates
that you made the recipe correctly and did not use too much milk.

HTH

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

should never be cooked at a "brisk" boil. Rolled dumplings
should not be cooked in a covered pot. The cooking time of 40 minutes
is
nearly triple what it should take, with 15 minutes being about right.
The
combination of these factors would surely disintegrate the dumplings.

OK, thank you Wayne, no wonder I had a problem, will try less time and
more gentle cooking. I guess gentle seems to work for most things...
LOL

Rosie

should never be cooked at a "brisk" boil. Rolled dumplings
should not be cooked in a covered pot. The cooking time of 40 minutes
is
nearly triple what it should take, with 15 minutes being about right.
The
combination of these factors would surely disintegrate the dumplings.

OK, thank you Wayne, no wonder I had a problem, will try less time and
more gentle cooking. I guess gentle seems to work for most things...
LOL

Rosie

On Tue 04 Oct 2005 10:34:12a, rosie wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

should never be cooked at a "brisk" boil. Rolled dumplings
should not be cooked in a covered pot. The cooking time of 40 minutes
is
nearly triple what it should take, with 15 minutes being about right.
The
combination of these factors would surely disintegrate the dumplings.

OK, thank you Wayne, no wonder I had a problem, will try less time and
more gentle cooking. I guess gentle seems to work for most things...
LOL

Rosie

You're very welcome. Let us know how your next batch turns out.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

rosie said:

drop into briskly boiling chicken stock, cover tightly , simmer about
40 minutes.

Did I use too much milk ? The flour was regular unbleached flour.

Thanks, Rosie

Doncha just love chicken and dumplings? Yum.

The amount of milk looks fine. Add your dumplings to a simmering broth,
put a lid on the pot and cook the dumplings for maybe 15 minutes (do not
lift the lid). I cooked mine too long once, and they fell apart.

Good luck.

Becca

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Tue 04 Oct 2005 09:33:46a, rosie wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Recently , I made Chicken and dumplings, it tasted great but there
was a small problem with the dumplings, they had a tendency to fall
apart..

Here is the recipe I used

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup shortning
1/2 cup milk

sift together flour, salt and baking powder, cut in the shortning.
Add milk to make a stiff dough. Roll out on floured board to i/8
inch, cut into squares, sprinkle with flour, drop into briskly
boiling chicken stock, cover tightly , simmer about 40 minutes.

Did I use too much milk ? The flour was regular unbleached flour.

Thanks, Rosie

Rosie, the recipe looks fine, up to the point of cooking.

Dumplings should never be cooked at a "brisk" boil. Rolled dumplings
should not be cooked in a covered pot. The cooking time of 40
minutes is nearly triple what it should take, with 15 minutes being
about right. The combination of these factors would surely
disintegrate the dumplings.

The fact that you were able to roll out and cut the dumplings
indicates that you made the recipe correctly and did not use too much
milk.

HTH

Indeed, for both rolled and drop dumplings, 20 minutes tops.

Jill

Rosie replied to Wayne:

Quoted message said:

should never be cooked at a "brisk" boil. Rolled dumplings
should not be cooked in a covered pot. The cooking time of 40 minutes
is nearly triple what it should take, with 15 minutes being about right.
The combination of these factors would surely disintegrate the dumplings.

OK, thank you Wayne, no wonder I had a problem, will try less time and
more gentle cooking. I guess gentle seems to work for most things...
LOL

Coming in after the problem has already been pinpointed, I wanted to mention
that my dumpling recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of butter rather than your
1/3 cup of shortening. That MIGHT also contribute to the delicacy of the
dumplings, although Wayne is 100% correct about not boiling them hard. I
disagree about cooking them in a covered pot; I think that the retained
steam is essential to getting the dumplings to take on the right texture.

Bob

"rosie" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Recently , I made Chicken and dumplings, it tasted great but there
was a small problem with the dumplings, they had a tendency to fall
apart..

Here is the recipe I used

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup shortning
1/2 cup milk

sift together flour, salt and baking powder, cut in the shortning.
Add milk to make a stiff dough. Roll out on floured board to i/8 inch,
cut into squares, sprinkle with flour, drop into briskly boiling
chicken stock, cover tightly , simmer about 40 minutes.

Did I use too much milk ? The flour was regular unbleached flour.

Thanks, Rosie

Everything looks okay to me Rosie. I've never put them into liquid at a
brisk boil. I may not be correct here but I would think the boiling liquid
would make the dumplings fall apart as you indicated. Mine usually come
out fine by just simmering.

Michael

--
Send email to dog30 at charter dot net

On Tue 04 Oct 2005 07:14:02p, Bob Terwilliger wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Rosie replied to Wayne:

Quoted message said:

should never be cooked at a "brisk" boil. Rolled dumplings
should not be cooked in a covered pot. The cooking time of 40 minutes
is nearly triple what it should take, with 15 minutes being about
right. The combination of these factors would surely disintegrate the
dumplings.

OK, thank you Wayne, no wonder I had a problem, will try less time and
more gentle cooking. I guess gentle seems to work for most things...
LOL

Coming in after the problem has already been pinpointed, I wanted to
mention that my dumpling recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of butter rather
than your 1/3 cup of shortening. That MIGHT also contribute to the
delicacy of the dumplings, although Wayne is 100% correct about not
boiling them hard. I disagree about cooking them in a covered pot; I
think that the retained steam is essential to getting the dumplings to
take on the right texture.

Bob

The butter vs. shortening is probably true, although I've used both and
haven't noticed a remarkable difference. It's imperative to cover the pot
when cooking drop dumplings because they generally rest on the top surface
of whatever is cooking in the pot; e.g., stew, etc., and depend largely on
the captured steam for thorough cooking. OTOH, rolled dumplings cook
totally immersed in the cooking liquid. I can't see what steam would have
to do with making them cook differently.

When I cook rolled dumplings, it's usually in rather large quantity. I
cook them in broth enriched and slightly thickened with cream and egg yolk.
The dumplings are cooked in batches and the the pot stirred occasionally
with a wooden spoon, removing dumplings as they are done and adding more as
there is room. The pot is never covered and the dumplings are perfect.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________

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