Chickenless Chicken and Dumplings

As some of you know, Chicken and Dumplings was always one of my favorite dishes. But with a pescetarian husband, it’s not something I have very often. I came across this recipe for “Easier Chicken and Dumplings” from Cook’s Country, and it sounded pretty tasty. It occurred to me that maybe I could use fish instead of chicken. And so I did.

Do you think we liked it?

We were so eager to dig in that I forgot to take a photo. But here are the leftovers:

The sherry and thyme made for a very tasty broth. The flavor is a lot different from my normal recipe, but it’s equally delicious. I think I’ll be making this one again.

Here’s what I did:

Cod and Dumplings
Adapted from Cook’s Country’s “Easier Chicken and Dumplings”
Serves 4.

Stew:
2 ½ cups vegetarian chicken-style broth (I used McKay’s Chicken-style instant broth)
1 pound boneless, skinless cod filets
2 ½ Tablespoons butter
2 carrots, peeled and sliced ¼” thick
½ small onion, chopped fine
½ teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
3 Tablespoons flour
6 Tablespoons dry sherry
3 Tablespoons heavy cream*
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
¾ cup frozen peas
2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Dumplings:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 2-3 Tablespoons heavy cream

In a 4-quart pan over high heat, bring broth to a simmer. Add the fish and return to simmer. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer just until the fish is cooked, about 10 minutes. Transfer the fish to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Pour the broth into a large bowl and reserve.

Return the empty pan to the stove on medium-high heat and melt butter. Add the carrots, onion, and salt and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Stir in the sherry, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the reserved broth, 3 Tablespoons of the cream, thyme, bay leaves, and pepper and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until stew thickens, about 20 minutes.

Prepare the dumplings: Stir flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Stir in cream until incorporated (dough will be very thick and shaggy).

Discard the bay leaf and return stew to rapid simmer. Shred the fish into small pieces and add to stew along with any accumulated juices, peas, and 1 ½ Tablespoons of the parsley. Drop golf ball-sized dumplings on top of stew about 1/4 inch apart (you should have about 8 dumplings). Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until dumplings have doubled in size, 15 to 18 minutes. Garnish with remaining parsley.

*(oops – I accidentally added twice that, but this is what it should have been)