Most of you know I do a lot of low sodium cooking around here to keep the hubbies kidney's happy. If you've noticed so many recipes call for chicken stock. Even the low sodium version is super high in sodium. One cup is 520mg, that's a lot if you are trying to stay under the 2k mg mark for the day. My other question is what is that stuff....really? I've made real stocks and they NEVER look or taste like that. I'm happy to say if you use the right spices you don't even notice it's missing. Most baking recipes you can't really cut out the salt but I might cut 1/4 off the salt. In most recipes I just leave it out and add it if I need it at the end. Most of you know the Pioneer Woman blog. I have not seen her cooking show, I very rarely watch cooking shows. I made her Chicken and Dumplings tonight. I'm going to paste the recipe and tell you what I did instead.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Butter (skipped)
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (3-4 tablespoons)
- ½ cups All-purpose Flour (mixed in a non salt seasoning)
- 1 whole Chicken, Cut Into Pieces (cut Up Fryer) (used 6-8 boneless/skinless thighs)
- Salt And Pepper (no salt lots of pepper)
- ½ cups Finely Diced Carrots
- ½ cups Finely Diced Celery (also added a sliced up fennel bulb and a bunch of spinach)
- 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
- ½ teaspoons Ground Thyme (used bouqet garni herb mix instead)
- ¼ teaspoons Turmeric (skipped)
- 6 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth (used water)
- ½ cups Apple Cidern (yes and I used it to deglaze the pan)
- ½ cups Heavy Cream (oh yeah!)
- Dumplings:
- 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
- ½ cups Yellow Cornmeal
- 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt (1/4 teaspoon)
- 1-½ cup Half-and-half (used milk)
- 2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Parsley (optional) (I've started using parsley a lot, I love the flavor and the color it adds)
- Salt As Needed (not needed)
Preparation Instructions
Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then dredge both sides in flour.
Melt butter in a pot over medium-high heat. In two batches, brown chicken on both sides and remove to a clean plate.
In the same pot, add diced onion, carrots, and celery. Stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir in ground thyme and turmeric, then pour in chicken broth and apple cider. Stir to combine, then add browned chicken. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
While chicken is simmering, make the dough for the dumplings: sift together all dry ingredients, then add half-and-half, stirring gently to combine. Set aside.
Remove chicken from pot and set aside on a plate. Use two forks to remove chicken from the bone. Shred, then add chicken to the pot. Pour heavy cream into the pot and stir to combine.
Drop tablespoons of dumpling dough into the simmering pot. Add minced parsley if using. Cover pot halfway and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Check seasonings; add salt if needed. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
*Adapted from Gourmet Magazine *** I adapted it all from Pioneer Woman
It was AWESOME! The best part is there is enough left over for tomorrow night. Perfect comfort food on a cold fall night.

