The Median Sib

Yesterday when I got home from work, it was cold and rainy - perfect chicken and dumpling weather.  Since I had been looking for a recipe for whole wheat dumplings I decided that it was time to try.

I started a pot of water boiling on the stove, added lots of chicken tenderloins, and then I seasoned it with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.  I got two onions, some green, yellow and red pepper strips and several stalks of celery.  I chopped it all finely and added it to the water.  To that I tossed in some grated carrots.  I like my chicken and dumplings with some color and flavor, and all the little bits of veggies do that.  When the chicken was well-cooked, I removed it from the boiling water.  Now for the dumplings.

All the recipes that I had found for whole wheat dumplings had half whole wheat flour and half white flour.  However, I wanted entirely whole wheat.  After all, I reasoned, in the olden days whole wheat flour was all they had.  So surely it’s not that difficult to make whole wheat dumplings.

I mixed up a couple cups of whole wheat flour with some buttermilk and seasonings.  I added baking powder and baking soda and salt as leavening so the dumplings wouldn’t be so dense.  I rolled out the dough, cut it into strips and pinched off little pieces into the boiling broth.  Once the dumplings had boiled awhile, I chopped the chicken and added it back to the pot.

Once it had all simmered awhile, I was ready for the taste test.  My anticipation was high.  Alas, I was disappointed.  I was looking for SCRUMPTIOUS, and I got nourishing.  They’re healthy and nutritious, but they didn’t qualify for the delicious rating.  

Sigh.  RT has been out of town this week and will be home in a couple hours.  I’ll get him to try them and see if his opinion is the same as mine.

However, I trust my taste buds enough to know that it’s back to the drawing board to find a truly delicious recipe for whole wheat dumplings.