There are few things more precious to me than spending time with my family. I'm not exactly sure when I realized it, but at some point,it became very clear that the moments I spend surrounded by those beautiful people are the meaning of life. Those stories, memories, that connection, it's truly as good as it gets.
Last Saturday, my mom invited us over to her house for dinner and said she'd be making Putsin. Putsin is a cherished family recipe on my mom's, mom's side of the family. My aunties and second cousins are always making it in their homes, and it's become a favorite of many of their children. I must have heard of Putsin a million times, but somehow I'd never actually tried it. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to learn how to make it... and let's be honest, I was pretty damn excited about eating it too.
By now, I'm sure you're wondering where the name Putsin comes from. Yeah, me too. Honestly, I have no idea, and no one I talk to seems to know either... including Google. Poutine comes up in an internet search over and over again, but that's definitely not what we're talking about here. I'll keep looking, but for now, we're all going to have to let go of that inherent need to have all the answers. I know, it's hard for me too.
While I was rolling out the dough and cutting the dumplings, my mom kept referring to members of her family: "Auntie Renee makes these all the time, so I called her for tips," and "Grandma said they have to boil for about an hour," etc. We were all there in that kitchen. Mothers, grandmothers, aunties, cousins... all connected in a very wonderful way.
So here it is. From our family to yours. Enjoy!
Putsin
Serves 6-8
Broth
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons canola (or another high heat) oil
2 tablespoons canola (or another high heat) oil
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sage
2 large containers of chicken broth, about 8 cups (you can certainly make you own, we didn't have that kind of time)
Dumplings
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
Pepper, to taste
3 teaspoons baking powder
4 beaten eggs
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried sage
Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.
Combine flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper and sage in a shallow dish or plate. Whisk to mix all ingredients. Coat each chicken thigh in the flour mixture, front and back, and place in hot pan with oil to brown. Cook thighs on both sides, until mostly cooked through. About 3-4 minutes on each side.
Remove thighs from pan and set aside.
Add chicken broth to pot and stir, scraping up all of the brown bits from the chicken. Bring to a rolling boil.
Cut chicken thighs into bite sized pieces and return to pot with the chicken stock.
To make dumplings: Mix all of the dry ingredients, then make a well in the center. Pour the beaten eggs and broth into the well and mix with dry ingredients until it resembles a soft bread dough. Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll thin like a pie crust and cut into 2 inch squares. Drop all prepared dumplings into a bowl of flour and coat completely. Carefully drop the dumplings into the boiling broth and stir gently. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until tender, about 45 minutes to an hour.
Ladle into bowls and devour.
Remove thighs from pan and set aside.
Add chicken broth to pot and stir, scraping up all of the brown bits from the chicken. Bring to a rolling boil.
Cut chicken thighs into bite sized pieces and return to pot with the chicken stock.
To make dumplings: Mix all of the dry ingredients, then make a well in the center. Pour the beaten eggs and broth into the well and mix with dry ingredients until it resembles a soft bread dough. Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll thin like a pie crust and cut into 2 inch squares. Drop all prepared dumplings into a bowl of flour and coat completely. Carefully drop the dumplings into the boiling broth and stir gently. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until tender, about 45 minutes to an hour.
Ladle into bowls and devour.
Hi, I'm an Independent Watkins Consultant who just happened to read a review about Watkins Chicken Soup & Gravy Base. There was a reference in the testimonial about Putsin, so naturally that's how I came across your recipe. Will have to try it with the Watkins Chicken Soup & Gravy Base. I'll let you know how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteMy mother's family were French Canadian from a Francophone village not far from Windsor, Ont. so putsins were a regular part of the supper cycle. Not long ago i was chatting with a friend who was from a different city here in the U.S. and when I described the chicken and dumplings he blurted out "Putsins!" but with a pronunciation that differed from the one I know. His maternal grandmother was also French Canadian.
ReplyDeleteThank you , What town was it? My brother in law's mother was from Pain Court.
DeleteI'm dutch but my husband is French Canadian ( we live in Pain Court) I have tried making putsin, asking about flavor differences and such. His grandmother used the drippings from Christmas chicken/turkey. I've never added sage to the dumplings! Going to give this recipe a try! Thanks so much. I thought I was spelling it completely wrong looking all over the internet several times over the past few years.
DeleteI am of French Acadian decent. We call this dish chicken tricot. We also have a pork tricot version. The defining spice is summer savory (sarriette). Putins to us is a potato ball filled with lean pork. It is a combination of grated raw potato, cooked mashed potato and flour. The generous soft ball sized mass is wrapped in cheese cloth, tied with string and gently lowered into gently boiling water and simmered till done. Serve with butter. Very labor intensive and a winter treat.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy word fricot was change to tricot, so sorry for confusion.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom was Canadian French.
ReplyDeleteI too grew up on PUTSINS. Reason can't find anything online is because the word is actual "POIDSEN" sounds like putzin w/out a French accent 😊 and it means WEIGHT. meaning to put weight on lol
i am writing this in English even tho’ all my knowledge of the dish is in the « kitchen french » we spoke to home when I was a child living living with my grandparents, my parents, my aunt and uncle and 8 siblings and cousins. We have a dish could putsins in english or (perhaps incorrectly) poutine in french with poutine pronounced in quebecois just like « puts in » in english except the accent is more on the « in » than in english.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this dish goes backin our family at least 200 years. Since my granparents had mostly Qubec heritage butalso some New Brunswick Acadian heritage, the dish could come from eiter Quebec or Acadia. I grew in Clinton County, NY, ON THE quebec border. Our ,family came down from Chambly and St Jean sur Richelieu with a large group of of »patriotes » who escaped with their lives and not much more acter the failed « revôution in lower Canada in1837–38. They were able to take up farming on the French Settlement Road in the northrn foothills of thr Adirondacks.
Now the dish: loosely translated!
Ingredients:
For thesoup
1 large hen that has slowed down or an old coq.
peeled white potatoes (patates, never pommes de terres :-) )
chopped onions
chopped celeri with the leaves,
chopped carrots
salt
black pepper
summer savory (if you have it) otherwise a little basil or sage in a pinch
a few peppercorns
(optional: 1or 2cloves and little allspice)
Some folks add a couple of cloves of garlic— we never did.for the putsins:
white flour—:how much depends on how bigmyour pot is: 2—4 cups
salt and pepper
you could add. baking soda say 1/2 tsp per cup flour— i have but Mim’ere never did
instructiond:
place whole chicken in the pot, add water to cover well.
Add half the vegetables, but not the patates, and the spices and a couple of tsp salt and a tsp pepper.
bring to a boil and cook to chicken is falling off the bones, adding water as needed.
Remove the chicken pass the stock through a coarse strainer into another vessel.
Add the other half of the vegetables to the stock and bring to a high simmer/low boil.
Meanwhile mix flour and salt and pepper— about 1/2 tsp of each per cup of flour. in a good size mixing bowl add water to flour gradually about a tsp at a time until the flour sticks together but is a little flaky. Form into a ball.
dust a large board with flour
press the ball of dough into a1/2 to 3/4-inch round disk . With a rolling pin roll out until less than a qurter inch thick. Let dry for 2 hours or so.
Add water to the stock as needed whilst it simmers.
peel the patates and cut into rough quarters if not too big— say 2 inches per quarterPut into cold well salted water in a pot.
when the sheet of dough is dry enough cut into roughly 2 inch squares. Actually this should have been done after the dough was first rolled out. Sorry!
Bring potatoes to a boil as well as the chicken stock.
Take the 2–3 inch putsins and stretch them in both directions but stay short of tearing them.
Drop them into the softly boiling stock.
After all the pusins are in the stock, add the chicken and bring back to a low boil then to a simmer.
When the patates are the right doneness, put one or two pieces of patate in each soup bowl, add pusins, stock and chicken to each bowl and serve. Salt can be added if needed at the table.
Hint: the putsins need their salt as does the patate water; but it is best to be a little light on salt in the stock— allowing people to add salt if desired.
Any way this is the most iconic dish after Christmas tourti’rere. .´´´´po
remove the chicken from the bones and add to the stock