Dumplings

[Donna F]

I used to make chicken stew with dumplings all the time. I would use bisquick and milk mixture and spoon it on top of the chicken for the last few minutes of cooking. I have gluten-free all-purpose flour and I'm wondering if anyone has ever tried making gluten-free dumplings, and if so, how?

Thanks,

-donna

[kactuskandee]

Good Question Donna,

I don't have the answer, but was thinking the same thing myself today since I'm expecting company, and older man with a special needs diet...soft stuff...and was thinking he could have chicken and dumplings, but wanted to make it gluten-free so we all could have it.

I hope our experts come to our rescue!!!

Kandee

[kabowman]

I have used a receipe out of the Gluten Free Comfort Foods book by Hagman that works great - that book also has a good egg noodle receipe. I kept checking it out of my local library until I received one for Christmas this year...nobody could tell they were different from the old bisquick ones.

-Kate

[Donna F]

Kate,

Can you recall at all how it was made? Did it need sugar? Or egg? Oil? Any type of flour?

Thanks,

-d

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Well, as a german I have a little problem in translating "chicken stew with dumplings". Maybe I had it before, but at the moment I'm not quite sure, what you guys are talking about now. There's this language problem again. I guess, you guys mean dumplings made out of bread, that's a little bit older already. Well, I use to make our good old bavarian potatoe dumplings all the time. And I bind them with potatoe starch. They hold together very good and they are so soft. Hmmm! YamYam! Should work with all kinds of dumplings, I guess.

If anybody needs the recipe for these bavarian potatoe dumplings, just ask. I'll put it on here then.

Hugs, Stef

[granny]

  stef_the_kicking_cuty said:

If anybody needs the recipe for these bavarian potatoe dumplings, just ask. I'll put it on here then.

Hugs, Stef

HI Stef,

I'd love to have your recipe and I'm sure the others would too. My husband was asking me the other day if I'd found a dumplin recipe yet with gluten-free four. Thanks in advance. Granny

[kabowman]

I would need to go home to check the receipe on the dumplings. I know the egg noodles almost by heart but not those...Kate

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

I can't find the recipe right now, but actually it's really simple. I try to explain without the recipe:

First you bring water to a boil and then throw the potatoes in. I always take about 4 or 5 big potatoes for about 4 dumplings. Let them cook until they are real soft. Then take them out, peal them, throw them in a press.

I never actually found a potatoe press over here, though. My mom sent mine with mail from germany. But maybe you have them over here, too. If you want I can post a pic of mine. The press has two handles that you can hold and press the potatoe together. And the actual press has lots of little holes, where the potatoe comes out in stripes (they look like spaghetti noodles a little bit).

OK, then with 4 or 5 potatoes you take about a tablespoon full or potatoe starch (the "Manischewitz" brand is glutenfree) and mix it under the pressed potatoes. But take care, don't be too rough when mixing. The "noodle-like-look" should stay, not that it's like mashed potatoes in the end. It's not gonna work with mashed potatoes dough. Then bring water to a boil again and throw about 3 table spoon salt in the pot. Then take some of the pressed potatoes into your hand. Get a good handfull actually, because potatoe dumplings are bigger than normal dumplings. Throw each dumpling in your hands back and forth until they are nice and smooth. Then take one of the bigger spoons, put the dumpling on it and put it (don't throw, they will fall apart eventually) into the hot water. The dumplings will sink down first. They will be done, when they begin to float. Sometimes they "stick" to the ground, so that they're not able to float. So if you dig in with a cooking spoon and "push" them gently, they might start to raise. The water can get pretty turbid (? i'm looking for the right word here ?), so you might have to look for them.

Hope this helps, Stef

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

You can make a slight variation, when you put a little bit of chopped chives in the dumplings. Or another variation is, when you put a piece of bread in the center, when you form them. The bread should be glutenfree of course. And we took old bread for it, that we baked until it was crunchy in the pan, before putting it into the dumpling. Hm! Yam! Yam! That's one of my favorites. The bread crumbs alone are that good, that you start eating them out of the pan .

Hugs, Stef

[granny]

  stef_the_kicking_cuty said:

You can make a slight variation, when you put a little bit of chopped chives in the dumplings. Or another variation is, when you put a piece of bread in the center, when you form them. The bread should be glutenfree of course. And we took old bread for it, that we baked until it was crunchy in the pan, before putting it into the dumpling. Hm! Yam! Yam! That's one of my favorites. The bread crumbs alone are that good, that you start eating them out of the pan .

Hugs, Stef

Stef,

Thanks for the recipe. I don't have a potatoe press but it sounds so neat. I was just thinking mashed potatoes till you said that wouldn't work. I'll check with my daughter and see if she has one-she has more goodies than I have. The recipe does give me the idea to use a little potato starch in my potato patties instead of rice flour next time, and see how it does. I've used a lot of old recipes and just used rice flour blends instead of the original wheat flour. Thanks again and maybe someone else can use it and enjoy them. Oh, for the bread in the center, is the bread cubed before cooking in the oven to crisp it? Do you put chives or anything on them before crisping it in oven? That's just a neat idea that I want to try with potato patties and then pan fry. We'll see how it works. Granny

[granny]

I mistakenly posted my last message twice and this is an attempt to correct it.

Sorry about that. Granny

[Donna F]

Sounds very good, Stef, thank you!

Yes, I am looking for a bread dumpling - kind of like a bicuit, but I was actually looking through my pantry yesterday and found a gluten-free pancake and biscuit mix that ought to work just fine. If the flour is anything like the Bisquick brand I used to use, I should be able to mix it with water or milk until it's a pasty consistency and just drop them on top of the stew at the end for a few minutes. Aha, I see now. I will follow the pancake recipe on the back of the mix - it is by Arrowhead Mills. Ok.........

1c gluten-free pancake & baking mix

1egg beaten

1Tbs canola oil

1/4 c milk, water, soy or ricemilk (it says 1/4c +1Tbs, but you want it really pasty, not as watery as pancake mix - you may need even less than the 1/4c)

Then you just make a stew. Mine is real simple. Stef I'll put it here since you don't know what it is.

You can use a whole chicken, or legs or just a bunch of drumsticks. Enough to feed everyone. Just put it in the pot and cover it with cold water. Put it on the stove on med-med/high heat. Then add:

I use a cube of chicken broth from Herb Ox

1 or 2 bay leaves

1tsp Tarragon (this is my personal favorite

Salt and Pepper

Onions

Celery

When this JUST starts to boil (you don't want it to boil), turn it down low so that it is just simmering a little. May need to tip the lid so it won't foam over. Cook this for about 45mins to an hour, then add.....

Carrots

Potatos

And cook this for about an hour, or until the veggies are the way you like them. Then mix up your dumplings, drop them on top of the stew, and cook them until they look bready. If there is too much liquid in the stew, take a little out so that the dumplings will sit on top of the meat and veggies and won't get soggy. It's the steam that cooks them more so than the liquid.

When it's all done, just spoon ou the dumplings into a bowl or plate first, then dig into the rest! When I don't use dumplings, I just throw a bag of boil-in-bag rice at the last 15 minutes, and it gives the rice a fabulous taste. Mmmmmm.....I'm hungry now!

~Joy

[kvogt]

The "potato press" described above is known as a potato ricer in the US. It also makes the best mashed potatoes!

[Boojca]

I use Pamela's Mix and I used a cup of the mix and 2/3 cup of milk. I make chicken and dumplings fairly frequently. There is an AMAZING recipe at www.foodtv.com under 30 Minute Meals for chicken and dumplings that everyone raves about.

Bridget

[Deby]

Biscuts that can also be used for dumplings.

Sift together:

2 cups gluten-free flour (any blend you like)

1 tsp salt

1tsp xanthan gum

4 tsp baking powder.

Cut in:

2/3 cup shortening (butter flavor or a combo of 1/3 cup butter and 1/3 cup lard, or if you are trying to go light, try 1/3 cup cream cheese and 1/3 cup no trans fat shortening. Personally, the butter and lard combo works best but I don't always keep lard on hand, so I use Crisco.)

Whisk together in a bowl: (this will get really foamy so make sure your bowl is large enough, as in, don't use a soup bowl :-) )

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cider vinegar

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix until all is moistened. you may have to add extra liquid. If so, add by the table spoon so as not to get the mix too wet. OR, you can add enough buttermilk to get a thick batter that can be used for drop biscuts or spooned into boiling broth to make dumplings.

Turn out mix onto a floured surface and pat out to 1 inch thickness. Cut with a biscut cutter, or if circles don't matter, cut into squares and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees about 15 to 20 minutes until lightly brown. Or spoon into boiling broth to make dumplings. Remember the dumplings will expand so keep the spoonfuls small.

You can make these additions for different flavors

Add 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese and 1 tsp garlic powder to the dry mix.

Add 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon to the dry mix.

add 1/2 cup dried fruit to to the dry mix and a tsp of vanilla extract to the wet.

You may also brush your unbaked biscuts with an egg white whisked with a tablespoon of water. This will give a hard, shiny brown top. If you make one of the sweet variations of biscut, you can sprinkle coarse sugar on the top of the biscuts to add a real bakery touch. Split the baked biscut in half and fill with sliced strawberries or other fresh fruit and whipped cream for an easy dessert.

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Oh, for the bread in the center, is the bread cubed before cooking in the oven to crisp it? Do you put chives or anything on them before crisping it in oven?

Thanks for your recipes. It really sounds yummy, I have to try it.

So it's called a potatoe ricer. You learn something everyday...lol. But with the mashed potatoes. I just wanted to say, it didn't work with me. But maybe, if you experiment a little, it might work. My thought just is, that even, if it would work, the dumplings wouldn't be nice and fluffy anymore. The would probably be too hard or kind of "filled out"??? Hard to describe.

@ granny: Yes, you cube (ha, learnt a new word) the bread before you put it in the pan. And I never crisp (new word again ) them in the oven. I just throw the cubes in the pan. Sometimes I add a liiiittle bit of oil, not much. Otherwise the bread gets too sokey. Depends on the pan, I guess. And then I take the pan at the handle and just shake them a little bit from time to time to get them mixed up and turned around. So that they are baked evenly from all sides. And sometimes I pat them on top with a fork or so to see, if they are already crisp. And then I never can keep from eating some of them. Ohh, it's so good!! I have the urge just to bake bread now and cube and bake some of it just for the taste . This message board always makes me hungry

I wish you all a nice experimenting.

Stef

[Donna F]

Oooh, they both look like good recipes! Can't wait!

-donna