I have to be honest this is the first time I have ever cooked this dish. I think I may only have eaten it once too, so I was going in blind!!! I picked an Emeril Lagasse recipe because I love Emeril and his cooking, like me he's not a Louisiana native but he knows Cajun cooking!
Here is the link to his recipe Emeril's Spicy Chicken & Dumplings. Yes it does say 'spicy' but it's not too bad and actually I found it a little weak on spicy side!
It was a big hit around here and definitely going to be a regular. Although straight up I have some changes I want to make.
1. I only used one large japaleno pepper so that might be why it wasn't as hot so I think I'll add 2 next time and a little Tony's!
2. I cut my chicken up too small and it all fell apart, plus I think I'll cook the cooking time for the chicken down.
3. I'll make my dumplings bigger, maybe 3 inch x 3 inch squares.
4. Oh and I added 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 1/4 didn't do it for me, if you are going down that road you may as well go ALL the way.
Now I do want to talk about the chicken itself, and no it wasn't one of my girls!!!! About a month ago I saw Whole Foods had a sale on their organic whole chicken which made it about the same price as the Gold n' plump variety that I buy (I like it because it's natural and not a lot of skin or extras like Sanderson Farm). So I got a few of the Whole Foods chickens and threw them in the freezer. I used one for this dish and can I say I am a convert!!!! The stock was beyond delicious and I didn't really have to skim too much stuff off the top as it boiled. The meat was juicy and perfect. So Whole Foods please have another sale so I can go get more!!!! I guess it's back to the old saying of quality ingredients make quality dishes.
Happy Home Cooking!!!
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