Chicken and Dumplings in Tomatillo Sauce @LucyBurdette #Recipe #booksale

LUCY BURDETTE: By now, you can probably predict what each of us at Mystery Lovers Kitchen is going to contribute, based on the recipes we've chosen to make in the past. Right? 

Krista's all about pork and muffins and cupcakes with photos so mouth-watering they leap off the page. And Cleo's the queen of fun recipes, broken down so we can all make them. And Daryl/Avery is the cheese lady and the standard-bearer for tasty gluten-free. And Sheila loves fish and old-timey things made in her flea market conquests. And Peg makes clever meals for working folks. And Victoria/MJ is always having a party--or she makes it seem that way!

Chicken and Dumplings in Tomatillo Sauce

And I seem to veer from garden vegetables to decadent cakes, with comfort food in between.  

Now that I'm headed toward the launch of DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS, I'm in the comfort food phase. If you happen to have some frozen green tomatillo sauce, this recipe is so easy. Also easy to whip that sauce up, so if you see tomatillos in the supermarket, grab them! I'll link to the recipe for the sauce below. This is chicken and dumplings with a Tex-Mex twist--oh my mouth is watering...

 
Ingredients

Half a cooked chicken deboned and broken into pieces (could also use leftover turkey, about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cups salsa Verde, also called tomatillo sauce *See Cook's note
1/2 cup milk

Dumpling ingredients

1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
One and a half cups all-purpose flour unbleached
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
One bunch scallions, cleaned and sliced
One handful (about 1/4 cup) fresh cilantro, chopped

To make the chicken, melt the butter in a large saucepan, and stir in the flour to make a paste. Cook for a minute or two longer, being careful not to burn the butter or flour.

Mix in the half cup milk and stir until slightly thickened. Then add the salsa Verde and cook a little longer, until the mixture is bubbling and thick. Add the chicken pieces. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 400.

To make the dumplings :

 



In a medium pan over low heat, heat the milk and butter until steaming. Then stir in the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, scallions, and cilantro.

 




Pour the hot salsa Verde and chicken mixture into a well buttered Pyrex bowl. Drop hunks of dough into the chicken. Cover the casserole and bake until the dumplings are cooked through. This may take 20 to 25 minutes. Keep checking.

*Cook's note: I've made a similar recipe using jarred green salsa and it was salty to the point of being inedible. So, worth it to make the salsa yourself if you can find the tomatillos. Recipe here.

 

DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS will be out on December 2, just in time for Christmas stockings! 

Pre-order it here.  

Breaking news! If you *forgot* to buy your ebook copy of AN APPETITE FOR MURDER, it's on sale for $1.99 through the weekend! 

Here's the Amazon link, the others to come.