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5 Cut the salmon into 4 portions and serve it skin side up, with spoonfuls of the buttermilk-mint sauce.

bed it down!

•••

Serve the salmon on a bed of simply steamed fresh spinach.

EASY CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

serves 4 • TIME: 35 minutes

Many southern families have a “house recipe” for chicken and dumplings, and those recipes can vary dramatically from kitchen to kitchen. At the richer end of the spectrum are thick, gravy-like stews of braised legs and thighs with dumplings the size of large biscuits nestled among them; at the other end are thin-as-consommé soups with threads of pulled chicken and delicate, noodle-like “rolled” dumplings.

Our simple fresh version of chicken and dumplings aims toward the middle of that spectrum, a luxurious chicken-noodle soup that you can whip up in a flash on weeknights. It’s also an impressive-looking composed dish, with medallions of chicken breast and homemade dumplings in a soul-warming, oniony chicken broth. We should point out that what we call “dumplings” others might recognize as pasta that’s been rough-cut by hand, called maltagliati in Italy.

If homemade dumplings sounds like too much work for a weeknight, let us assure you: they take no more than 10 minutes (and you perform that work while the chicken heats up). The only tools you need are a rolling pin and a knife: no pastry blender, no biscuit cutter required. And this dough is very forgiving: if it gets sticky, simply dust flour on it and keep working.

One note: bring the broth and chicken to a simmer verrrrry slowly over low heat. This keeps the chicken from tightening up and becoming tough.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (1 cup)

1¼ teaspoons kosher salt

3 cups chicken broth

1½ pounds skinless boneless chicken breast halves, sliced on the bias into ⅓-inch-thick medallions

¾ cup sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 large egg, beaten

8 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, large stems trimmed off

1 Melt the butter in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Sauté, stirring, until the onion is translucent but not browned, about 6 minutes. Turn the heat to low, add the broth and the chicken pieces, and very slowly bring to a gentle simmer, about 15 minutes.

2 While the chicken and broth heat up, make the dumplings: Using a fork, mix the flour and remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until they’re combined. Add the beaten egg and toss it with the flour mixture until it comes together in a number of balls of varying sizes. With lightly oiled hands, gather these pieces together into a single ball and knead it against the side of the bowl, gathering any dry flour from the sides of the bowl. Turn the ball out onto a lightly floured cutting board and knead it several times, pushing the dough against the board with the palm of your hand. Divide the dough ball in half. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out one of the balls on the board until it is ⅛ inch thick (if the pin sticks to the dough, scatter flour by ½ teaspoonfuls onto the flattened dough, spreading it out on the surface with your fingers). Cut the rolled-out dough into strips about ¾ inch wide and 4 inches long, and reserve. Repeat with the second ball of dough. Each half makes about 32 dumplings.

3 When the broth is simmering and the chicken is just opaque, gently remove the chicken pieces from the broth with tongs and set them aside. If there’s lots of protein foam floating on the broth and it’s bumming you out, pass the broth through a fine-mesh strainer, or a strainer lined with cheesecloth, and return the clarified broth to the pot. Bring the broth to a vigorous simmer, add the dumplings, and simmer until they’re cooked through but tender, about 6 minutes.

4 Return the chicken to the pot and heat through to serving temperature, about 1 minute. Divide the chicken and dumplings among 4 bowls, submerge a couple sprigs of parsley in each bowl, and serve immediately.

VARIATION

easy chicken and lemon–black