Chicken Dumplings with Sauteed Onons and Leek in Wine Sauce

 Good Evening to you,

'It's been a long day working in the kitchens as there's much cleaning to be done now that spring has arrived.  There are also guests visiting the King and his Lady so there's extra mouths to feed.  All coming out of our stores which makes it hard on the kitchen help'.

'When there are visitors that stay at the castle,  the castle staff is responsible to feed the visiting staff, the guests and their horses.  Why we even pay the wages of the servants that come with the visiting guests. Yea, that's right.  You see, a common day's wage is typically a loaf of bread, a gallon of ale, and perhaps one cooked dish and a fire in the hall they could sit near. So these would be paid from the castle's store of supplies.  If guests happen to stay a fortnight or even a month or more it could cost dearly. Yet, I don't worry.  King Richard's resources are plentiful and we have a bountiful supply house and tenants on the castle land that pay their dues promptly and abundantly.

I snuck another peek at the Master Chef's little recipe book.  I found a nice one for ye today.  A tasty dish that is made up of chicken dumplings in a nice onion and leek sauce.  You're sure to enjoy this one.  Be sure to serve with fresh bread either cut in a thick slice and used as your trencher or plate or serve it on the side.

I enjoy the bread as a trencher, the flat surface that the food is put on, as in this dish it soaks up the tasty sauce. Have plenty of vegetables roasted and served hot with the chicken dumplings and ye have a nice, hot luncheon or light supper.  Mmmm, for a simple meat like chyken it is a hearty enough dish.  These being the Middle Ages it's good to know that everyone consumes large quantities of meat. It is the primary ingredient on the menu and in the King's lavish kitchens we have plentiful amounts of all meats from Oxen, Beef, Mutton, Swine, Venison, Chyken, Swan, Ducks and such.

The recipe as if appears in the Chef's cookbook looks like this:

Transcription: 

(.xj.) Bursen. Take þe white of lek(es) slype he(m) & schrede he(m) smal. take noumbles of swyn & p(ar)boile he(m) i(n) broth & wyne. take hi(m) up & dresse hi(m) & do þe leke i(n) þe broth. seeþ hi(m) & do þe noumbl(es) þ(er) to. make a lyo(ur) of brede. blode. & vyneg(er) & do þ(er) to poudo(ur) fort. seeþ oyno(u)ns mynce he(m) & do þ(er) to þe self wyse make of pigg(es). 

I hope you enjoy it, and good eating to ye'   Mrs. Pippery

(A translation by the author is as follows: 

   Dumplings of swan in an onion soup

Take the white part of leeks, slice them and shred them small. Take noumbles (dumplings) of swan and parboil them in broth and wine. Take them and dress them and do the leek in broth. Seep them & do the noumbles to make a lyour of bread, blood and vinegar & sprinkle with powder dust.  Saute’ onions, minced and per tp be self wise make of pigges.)

A modern version as created by author using chicken and eggs.

Chicken Dumplings with Sautéed Onions and Leeks in Wine Sauce

2 cups of shredded cooked chicken meat. 

Sliced and minced leeks (the white part) appx ¼ cup

¼ cup butter

½ cup bread crumbs

1 raw egg

¼ teaspoon each: ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, black pepper and salt.

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup white wine

1 cup sliced sweet onions 

1 cup sliced & leeks

Serves 3 - 4 for a light luncheon or 2 for a hearty dinner.

Sautee’ the leeks in the butter until soft and transparent. Place chicken meat in mixing bowl. Add sautéed leeks when cooled to the chicken meat. Mix thoroughly and then add the bread crumbs, and lightly beaten egg. 

Add the spices and mix the mixture together as one would for meatballs or meatloaf, which is to mix lightly but thoroughly until all ingredients are evenly distributed throughout  the meat mixture.  Then form small meatballs or dumplings of the meat mixture by taking appx ¼ cup of mixture and forming into a ball in the palm of your hand. 

After forming the chicken dumplings, set aside on a plate.  Combine both the wine and broth in a sauce pan or dutch oven on the stove top. Bring the liquid both to a simmer and place the sliced onions & leeks in the broth and cover for 5 minutes until the vegetables wilt slightly,  then gently place, by using a tablespoon, each chicken dumpling in the broth and when all are gently settled and the broth is gently simmering, cover the pit and let cook for 15 minutes.  The chicken meat used is cooked so a final heating through and cooking the egg is all that is required.  Try not to overcook as this will make the dumplings tough and rubbery. 

Right before they are finished, mix together 1 tablespoon of flour and ¼ cup water and mix thoroughly then pour into the broth and stir gently.  Add a splash more wine or broth if it thickens too much. The original recipe is more like a soup with balls of meat in it, whereas I thicken the sauce and make the meatballs the primary focus off this dish and not the soup.

Serve dumplings with a side salad of lettuce, endive and watercress and onion.  Make an authentic Medieval sallat or salad by mixing a simple balsamic vinegar 3 Tablespoons with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil dressing that you add finely chopped fennel, garlic, parsley and shallots.   

Serve with sides of roasted carrots dressed in honey and butter right before serving, buttered peas and buttered asparagus with lemon juice squeezed over. (A modern choice of side dish that would go very nicely with this dish would be mashed or roasted and seasoned potatoes, though this would not have been an option in the Middle Ages as potatoes were native to South and Latin America and had not been introduced to Europe yet.)

This recipe was originally made with swan meat, and blood but it has been adjusted to 21st century cookery, where swan is a rare item on our modern menu.  We use beaten egg which is the modern substitute in this recipe for the blood, which is no longer used in modern American cooking and most would find it unpalatable and then there’s the problem of finding a place that sells blood for culinary purposes.) 




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(Author's Note: I will allow Mrs. Pippery to tell the story of her encounters with the Forme of Curye, the recipe book of the Master Chef for King Richard II during the years 1367 - 1400. The owner of this manuscript (University of Manchester, Manchester, England, see Attribution Section below) does not currently know the actual name of the Master Chef. Accordingly, as used in this series of articles, the names of the Master Chef, Mrs. Pippery and any other principals mentioned, are fictional. This author’s personal comments, translations or interpretations of the manuscript are presented in parenthesis and in italics. The supporting story including the description of the day-to-day life of the characters were created by the author, using her historical research of the time period. The modern recipes provided are based, in part, on the author’s interpretations of the recipes appearing in the manuscript, adapted to today’s cooking equipment and techniques.) 

Attribution: The Forme of Curye is an ancient manuscript owned by the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, under its Manchester Middle English Manuscripts, of the John Ryland's Library Middle English Manuscript Digitisation Project. The transcription as they appear in these article were done by or for the University and appear as released by the University for research and for the use of scholars and other interested parties.