Oh how I love this dish. Most people on the west coast have never even heard of chicken pastry. They have heard of dumpling but not pastry. When I was young I would watch my grandma Anne Mae Whitley roll out the dough on a big white sheet dusted with flour, then cut the dough into strips and drop them into hot broth. When I worked at the mall in Rocky Mount NC I would go to the K&W Cafeteria and eat a bowl for lunch. When Brandy was a little girl she asked me if I would make it for her wedding dinner when she got married. Out of everything that I cook for my family I believe that this is their favorite, the one that everyone wants to be home for.
Chicken and Pastry
1 3-4 pound whole chicken
6 to 8 water
4 bouillon cubes
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
Place chicken in a large pot; cover with water; add bouillon and bring to a boil; cook chicken about an hour or until done. Remove chicken from pot; and cool.
Meanwhile prepare pastry; Sift flour into a large bowl; add ½ to ¾ cup of the broth from the pot to the flour and mix with a fork until a stiff dough forms. Place on a flour surface and knead slightly. Roll out on floured surface to ¼ inch (use more flour as needed it will help thicken the both); let rest. Debone the chicken; set aside.
Bring broth back to a boil. Cut pastry into strips and drop into boiling broth, stirring gently to cover all strips.
When all the strips are in the pot boil 10 minutes; return chicken to pot and boil 5 more minutes. Pepper to taste.
My boyfriend is from Rocky Mount and was raving about the K and W chicken and pastry recently, so I was thrilled to find your super-relevant post :-). I followed your recipe almost exactly and it is DELICIOUS! Linked you too: http://butterandcheese.wordpress.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the deliciousness :-).
My mother made these except she called them noodles.After she rolled them out and cut them she would let the dough dry over night and then in the morning she would drop them into the hot broth. She also would add just a bit of milk to the broth right before serving. I have never heard of anyone else making these. Thanks for the post. I still make these and my kids love them too.
ReplyDeleteThis tasted just like my grandmother's. It brought back so many happy childhood memories. Thanks for helping me make my favorite meal.
ReplyDelete