Chicken and Parmesan Chive Dumplings and Magical Molten Chocolate Cake

Once a year, typically in the long winter stretch of February and March,I get a hankering for Chicken and Dumplings.  The perfect comfort food with cheesy chive dumplings steamed in a simmering chicken stew resulting in a one pot biscuits and gravy dinner.  The key to this recipe is good chicken stock.  There are times when I think store bought chicken stock or broth is just fine, but this isn’t one of those times, it’s worth the time to make the real deal.  I like making mine in the Instapot, the pressure cooker feature really extracts maximum flavor from broth’s, stocks, soups, and stews.

Since dinner was warm and satisfying I felt dessert should be too.  Recently Magical Molten Chocolate Cake was circulating the internet thanks to Food 52, so how could I resist that classic.  Warm, fudgy chocolate pudding cake topped with cold vanilla ice cream, one of the best combinations ever!  It’s very simple to make, I popped it in the oven when we sat down to eat dinner so that it would be the perfect temperature for serving when we were ready for dessert.
Click here for the recipe…

I invited two of my favorite people over for dinner that night, one of them, knowing I’m not a big wine drinker brought over a jug of Whiskey Sour’s, which were delicious and perfect for a good old fashioned meal, and the other brought over a bouquet of bright yellow roses, giving us hope that spring was heading our way!

white bowl containing Dorothy's Chicken & Dumplings
molten chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream in an orange bowl.
yellow roses in a black vase on a table with a Greek poster in the background.

For the Chicken stew:

2 T butter
1 leek, white part only, sliced
8 large mushrooms, sliced
1/4 C port or sherry
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t freshly ground nutmeg
1 carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes
4 C chicken stock
3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 C heavy cream

For the Dumplings

1 1/2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 T butter, room temperature
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 T chopped chives
3/4 C milk
1 egg

To make the chicken stew, place the butter in a Dutch oven over a medium high heat until it’s melted.

Add the leeks and sautee about 8 minutes or until the leeks begin to brown.

Turn the flame to high and add the mushrooms, once the mushrooms start to sizzle add the port and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Cook until all the port has evaporated.

Add the carrot and sauté two more minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and add the chicken and cream, cook for 10 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, make the dumplings.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add the 2 T of butter and work into the flour mixture.  Add the chives and 1/4 C parmesan cheese to the flour mixture and mix well.

In a small bowl whisk together the milk and egg and add to the dry mix, stirring to combine well, incorporating all the flour.  Once the chicken has cooked for 10 minutes add the dumplings.

Using a 2-oz. scoop (or two spoons) scoop the dough directly into the pot with the chicken stew, keep the dumplings in a single layer and arrange them evenly over the stew.  Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan cheese, cover the pot and cook over a low heat 10-15 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through.  This will be a little hard to tell, lightly touch the dumplings and if they are firm to the touch they are ready to eat.

Ladle generous portions of chicken and dumplings into shallow bowls and garnish with extra chopped chives.

Serves 6