Chef Johns Apple Dumplings Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Place chicken in a Dutch oven. Add water, carrot, celery, onion, 3 sprigs of thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove chicken from dutch oven and transfer to a bowl; set aside to cool.
• Increase heat and bring the stock to a simmer. Skim off any chicken fat that appears on top of the stock and reserve in a bowl. Combine 2 to 3 tablespoons of the reserved fat with flour in a small bowl; stir to make a paste, adding more flour if needed. Add the chicken fat and flour mixture to the stock. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove chicken meat from the carcass and add to the stock. Season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Continue simmering for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Whisk creme fraiche, milk, 2 teaspoons of thyme leaves, and eggs together in a large bowl. Stir in self-rising flour until almost entirely incorporated; do not overmix.
• Scoop large dollops of dumpling mixture on top of the chicken stock. Increase heat slightly to medium-high. Cover and simmer until dumplings appear light and fluffy, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve garnish with thyme sprigs.

CHEF JOHN'S APPLE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter a baking dish.
• Combine brown sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, and water in a small pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and boil until all sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and swirl pot gently to combine. Reserve sauce until needed.
• Stir sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Core the unpeeled apples.
• Divide pie dough into 4 portions. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into 4 circles about 1/8-inch thick and 7 inches in diameter, or large enough to fully wrap an apple.
• Place apples in the center of each round of dough. Spoon about 3 teaspoons of cinnamon sugar into the apple cores; fill each hole with a teaspoon of butter.
• Wrap each apple up in pie dough, sealing the dough together at the top. Be careful not to pull and stretch it too tightly around the apple as you wrap, or it might break apart when it bakes; brush lightly with water if dough won't stick together. Even out the top and trim off any excess; shape into decorative leaves if desired.
• Place wrapped apples seam-side up into the buttered baking dish. Ladle some sauce over each to cover completely.
• Bake in the preheated oven, basting with sauce occasionally, until pastry is browned and cooked through and apples are tender, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and baste with more sauce. Serve warm.

APPLE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Make the pate brisee: Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-size pieces remaining. Drizzle with ice water and pulse until mixture holds together when pinched. If dough is too crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time; do not over-process.
• Divide dough into thirds. Transfer to 3 pieces of plastic wrap; knead once or twice. Form into squares and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to overnight, or freeze up to 3 months; thaw overnight in refrigerator before using.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll each square of dough into an 8-by-14-inch rectangle. Then cut each square into two 9-inch triangles and some leaves. Use the back of a knife to make the vein markings on the leaves. Keep the pastry chilled and covered with plastic wrap, on parchment-lined baking sheets, until ready to use.
• For the apples: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel apples without removing stems. Working from bottom of each apple, use an apple corer to remove core to within about 3/4 inch from the top. To remove any remaining seeds, use a 1/4 teaspoon. Mix together sugar and cinnamon. Add butter, raisins, zest; stir until thoroughly incorporated. Divide mixture evenly between the cavities of apples. Place in a 13-by-9-inch baking dish along with 3 tablespoons water and bake, basting occasionally with pan juices, until just fork-tender, about 1 hour. Transfer baking dish to wire rack and let cool completely.
• Place an apple onto the center of each pastry triangle. Whisk together egg yolk and cream. Brush edges of pastry with egg wash. Bring edges of pastry together and pinch or press to seal, leaving stems exposed. Garnish dumplings, as desired, with leaves moistened with egg wash to adhere. Return dumplings to parchment-lined baking sheet. Mix together egg yolk and cream. Lightly brush dumplings with egg wash and chill until firm, reserving egg wash.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush dumplings again with egg wash, and bake until nicely browned, 25 to 35 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

PUFF PASTRY WALNUT APPLE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400.
• Peel and core apples.
• Mix together brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Roll out puff pastry sheets so that they are wide enough to fold over apples. Place apples on top of sheets and spoon walnut mixture into core. Top with butter and pull up corners of puff pastry and twist to seal.
• Beat an egg and brush onto dumplings. Top with cinnamon sugar.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until pastry has browned and apples have cooked through (I cooked mine on a foil lined sheet, apples will leak!)
• Remove from oven and serve warm with ice cream.