Ginny Chicken and Dumpliings

As many of you know I have a few feasts to plan for the first part of next year. To me this means I have to start researching, making, tasting, testing and tasting some more. For one of the feasts I am thinking about something a bit lower key than usual. For one of the courses I want to do chicken with a dumpling soup. The chicken seasoning I am happy with (1 t juniper berries, 1 T kosher salt, 1 T Rosemary, 1 T garlic, 1 T pepper). I knew the juniper berries were risky because they have such a strong flavor, as anyone who has had cheap gin can attest. Fortunately it worked. The dumplings were a different story. I had to find out what a dumpling was in the middle ages. I suspected that they may have been thick noodles, not much different than gnocchi. Fortunately they are not too much different than modern dumplings except that many were stuffed or contained cheese and did not contain baking powder or baking soda. When it comes down to it the unstuffed medieval dumplings were a combination of flour, bread crumbs, egg, butter, firm and/or soft cheese, and occasionally onion or mushroom and seasonings. Amazingly it was easier to find acceptable recipes when searching for modern instead of medieval, once I figured out what the requirements were. I did my first batch today, for my husbands office. For the soup I basically made a chicken soup without the chicken. I used chicken broth, carrots, celery, onion, rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme. I started by gently caramelizing the onions and carrots before I added everything else and brought it to a fast simmer or low boil. Then I went to work making the dumpling mix; 1 egg, 1/4 c flour, 3 T butter, 1/4 t nutmeg & 1/2 t salt. I did one batch with whole wheat flour and the other with white flour. As much as I am a stickler for the rules, if people aren't willing to eat it the authenticity means nothing. Fortunately the guys at the office did not notice a difference between the two and gave the dish thumbs up. I know the whole wheat will work flavor wise and it held well. The flavor of the soup in imperative because that is what gives the dumpling its flavor. Next I think I want to try a bit of herb and Parmesan in the dumpling and see how people like it. Don't get me wrong, both the chicken and the soup got thumbs up and I was left with empty pans. I just think I can make it better. Wait for the second trial of dumpling soup Anthoinette Genheimer