Sean Brock Cooks Chicken 'n' Dumplings with Mom on Mind of a Chef 

I love watching Sean because he makes some of the same recipes I grew up on. My family is a depression family that came to California from Missouri and Oklahoma. My Granny use to make drop biscuits but not drop dumplings. She would cut her dumplings in to strips. She said she would get more out of the pot that way and feeding 5 kids they had to make things stretch. I also learned you'll never go hungry if you have beans and potatoes in the house. And sugar in your corn bread isn't corn bread it's cake. Corn bread isn't suppose to be sweet and the best is made with left over bacon grease. Gosh I miss that old lady.

Much love for mom and son. Good to see them cooking together.

I'm a chef and I think it's fantastic, sweet nostalgic honest and Sean's mom was a little star.

I love watching sean. As a young chef I can honestly say I share his passion for cooking and my heritage food which is eastern European cousine. As a child I always loved helping my grandmother in the kitchen doing classic polish cooking and I've carried that with me through my career as a chef

I love this video and I love Sean. I went to culinary school and he's literally nailed all of the experiences that I've had coming back home for the holidays. I stick with my ethnic roots and cook my food at the restaurant, but I always bring some home to mama because she's the judge

your mom makes dumplings like my mom does, sometimes she would roll them out but mostly drop dumplings& I can't get mine as good as moms was either!! your mom is adorable 🌷

In the old days people that cook or really know how to cook, just eyeball everything and that everywhere you go no matter what continent or country your in. Today everyone is a bit more obsessed about exact measurements vs just cook and learn. It's always nice when you can learn from someone in your family that knows how to cook.

YA'LL ARE SO SWEET MOM & SON.YOU CAN TELL SHE IS A GOOD COOK.. HOW WONDERFUL IT WOULD BE FOR ME TO MAKE DUMPLINGS LIKE HER.

We make this frequently. For all the questions I have seen here are some answers. I use one part chicken stock to one part water. Add salt and pepper to liquid. Stuff bird with 2 small onions, a handful of garlic cloves, and two bay leaves. 1hour on a light boil (covered) is plenty. But let it rest for 30min-1hr to keep it juicy. The butter milk/ milk recipe is exactly like the video. Add to SELF RISING flour until tacky (loosely bound). Salt and pepper over top. It is not bland at all and quite honestly a food that I had always hated until I tried this “recipe” Enjoy!

My Dad always made drop dumplings with Bisquick, keeping the cover on the dumplings until done, about 15 minutes. So delicious.

oh my mum was the same...never measured anything. I had to beg for a long time until she showed me how she did her apple strudel (I'm Bavarian), and she made the dough by feeling its denseness and estimated the amount of apples...when I asked how long she left it in the oven she just gave me the classic 'until its ready'. She's gone now, died of cancer last year. Miss her and the love with which she seasoned every dish...

One of my greatest regrets in life is failing to learn how to cook all these classic family recipes when I had the chance. My grandmother was born in 1921 and I never learned how to make her chicken and dumplings. Sean's mom's recipe is closest to what i remember.

Just got done making chicken and dumplings. It took a long time for me to just remember that simple is more for this dish. Once I quit putting all the extra herbs and vegetables in I finally got it right! Great video!

He didn't comment on it, but you see it in the last frame, the secret to chicken and dumplings is way more pepper than you think. Good black pepper separates good from bad dumplings.

Beautiful memories in the kitchen cooking with your beautiful mom is blessing 💕Thank you for sharing the video

Making this tonight, I love him and his mom! I want to cook with them someday, I'm an "approximation chef" like her!

LOL, I can relate. My Mom never measured anything either. She had measuring cups but just used them as scoops.

My mother is from Pound, Va and my father from Hillsville, Va. This is the kind of dumplings I grew up with. Sean's mother makes it look easy, but drop dumplings can become dense very quickly and it does take experience and technique to get it right and fluffy.

Eyeballing ingredients or not measuring them is good practice. If you do so successfully, then that means you are experienced at cooking. If you are just starting out, you'll often make mistakes (e.g. lacks flavor, too salty, too sweet, etc.) but you learn from them and become better.

Smh. Oh my. I remember my mom Chicken and Dumplings she made them just like that The chicken be in the pot and my mom would add carrots 🥕 and just pop them in there and cover and when it’s done yum yum yum. Oh thank you for sharing this video you brought back a wonderful memory.

I loved watching you cook with your Mom. What a sweet video, thank you for posting.

mom made them similarly, but get a decent dash of poultry seasoning or sage in the gravy it's delicious

“Southerners considered cuisine the most important ingredient in being southern.” -Mary Boykin Chesnut

Every culture seems to have some version of a chicken or poultry soup lmao. This simple recipe reminds me of Filipino/Spanish Arroz Caldo. Good shit.

YAY real dumplings!

4:51 My mom's a sniffer, and the rest of the family made fun of her for it, but, now that I'm older, I do that too! It's a different sensorial appreciation for food.

No veggies? really? I bought your book and looking forward to reading South :)

Wow this is almost exactly the way my mom makes it!

haha This how it for me and my mom now. I use to love to cook with her and she with me. But now that i am in a culinary program she hates cooking with me for the same reasons. Im trying to be all disciplined, especially with sanitation and cross contamination or cross contact of foods. Ugh the worst is having to use dull knifes so i have to use my own.

Truth of life mother's cooking and recipes cannot be dupicated thats why we only have one mother

Such a simple dish that I've never mastered either. Sean what is the other liquid your mom added to the flour? My Grandma make excellent chicken and dumplings, and my family was depression era as well. And yes she sent my mom, or another sibling out to slay a chicken for Sunday dinner.

Just tried this with duck. Had to stew it quite a bit longer but it worked out just fine after that. Num num!

My father was a great baker, me? Not so much ! But quite a good cook ..... We called the dumplins, dough boys ! Put them in a beef stew as well !

momma always makes the best . and yes i could care less about the chicken , give me the dumplings yummmmmmmm !!!!!

I love this so much!💖

Chinese love chicken feet and neck. There are many tiny to-go-only eateries along the streets of every Chinese city that offer ONLY chicken feet, and folks line up to wait for these treats.

If nothing else, it is a great base to start from. I'd add some thyme and sage and stick an onion in the pot with the boiling chicken.

Secret ingredient: mamas love

There is some type of seasoning in the water. Probably chicken stock from previous cooking. The chicken is definitely not put in a pot of just tap water.

Mom of a chef

You got a real chicken...….RESPECT

Amazing !

Ive never had the dish, but i'm sure its good. How come no spices or vegetables are added to elevate the flavor. Also, the dumplings would taste better with some fillings, right!?

Don't think any Chinese household has any sort of measuring equipment. "Eyeball it" is the way to go.

So did she add any crisco to the flour or just milk?

For the dumplings, no salt? No oil / shortening?

Sean! You should have tared out every vessel, then put every ingredient on a gram scale before and after she cooked!

Looks incredible. Does anyone have a link to the recipe?

11 culinary idiots gave it a thumbs down :D Four ingredients? So what?! This dish looks great!

Was it chicken stock?

its not dumplings its dumplins.

Chicken and pastry, where I am from ;)

wow

Missing the veggies always served with the chicken and dumplings

So it looks like the chicken is being cooked in chicken broth? Or is it just water?

proper

Where's the seasoning?

What are the 4 things I no one is chicken flour and butter milk and and never heard of this please

No seasoning?

salt pepper onion carrot celery thyme parsely paprika ? garlic?? What?

No salt? Did I miss it?

That chicken got feet woah

OMG. Put those feet in the stock! So much better.

4:40 Sean, how are you able to grab the pot with bare hands? Are they made of asbestos?

why doesnt sean just weigh the amount of every single ingredients her mom uses? thats easy

No I love the rolled out FLAT DUMPLINGS.

Dammit, Bourdain - you skipped the finer points in this demonstration. Put the bourbon down for a sec and tell me: do Mom and Sean start with chicken, or vegetable stock in that $150 Le Creuset? And when is the fourth component (salt) added, if at all? This is the shit that keeps me up at night, FFS.

no mir poix???

You don't make any sense, Sean! Chefs don't measure. Sorry, this episode is sweet, nostalgic and all, but to a chef it sure feels forced and dishonest.

bland watery chicken with bland watery dumplings and bland watery soup? hell naw