Chicken and Pastry

Ingredience

1½ cups (7½ ounces) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon table salt

1 teaspoon pepper, divided

½ cup milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

1 onion, peeled and halved through root end

1 celery rib, halved crosswise

Pokyny

1. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in large bowl. Combine milk and melted butter in second bowl (butter may form clumps). Using rubber spatula, stir milk mixture into flour mixture until just incorporated. Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter and knead until no flour streaks remain, about 1 minute. Return dough to large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside.

2. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon pepper. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip chicken and continue to cook until golden brown on second side, 3 to 5 minutes longer.

3. Add broth and water, scraping up any browned bits. Nestle onion and celery into pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, roll dough into 12-inch square, about ⅛ inch thick. Using pizza cutter or knife, cut dough lengthwise into 1-inch-wide strips, then cut diagonally into 1-inch-wide strips to form diamonds (pieces around edges will not be diamonds; this is OK).

5. Remove pot from heat. Transfer chicken to plate and let cool slightly. Discard onion and celery. Return broth to boil over medium-high heat and add pastry. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pastry is tender and puffed, about 15 minutes. While pastry cooks, shred chicken into bite-size pieces, discarding skin and bones.

6. Stir chicken into stew and cook, uncovered, until warmed through and stew has thickened slightly, 2 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve

Poznámky

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS We first ate “Chicken and Pastry” at Red’s Little Schoolhouse in Grady, Alabama. It features tender shreds of chicken and chewy bites of pastry in an ultrasavory stock. To prepare a flavorful base, we browned chicken thighs before pouring in broth and water. For the trademark pastry dumplings, we took a cue from Edna Lewis and cut the dough into diamond shapes to give this homey dish a touch of style. Once stirred in and simmered, the pastry became tender and its starch thickened the soup, making it rich and velvety.

Keep the root ends of the onion halves intact so the petals don’t separate during cooking and the onion is easy to remove from the pot.