Under the Apron Strings: Chicken and Dumplings

My family made this recipe often in the winter because it is comfort. While growing up Mama would serve over a piece of white sandwich bread. Today I present chicken and dumplings in a large soup bowl. This is Blake’s favorite although he always preferred Mama’s over mine. Same recipe, go figure.

Alton had never eaten homemade dumplings until we married. He only knew of Sweet Sue and certainly that is not comparable to those made in a home kitchen.

Chicken

Ingredients

1 whole fryer (3 to 4 pounds)

2 celery ribs, sliced

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 medium onion, decided

1 (14 ½ ounce) can chicken broth

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Water

Directions

• Place the fryer and the vegetables in a dutch oven or a 6 to 8 quart pan. Add water to almost cover the chicken.

• Cook over medium high until boiling and turn down to simmer. Cover and cook for 35 to 40 minutes

• Remove chicken and vegetables from the broth. Remove skin and debone chicken. Chop chicken.

• Add the can broth and enough water to the remaining liquid to cook dumplings.

• Bring to a boil and drop strips of dough (see below) one at a time into boiling broth until dumplings are cooked through. About 15 minutes.

• Add chicken and vegetables back into broth with the dumplings

Dumplings

• Biscuits (I use My Big Ol’s Southern Biscuit recipe from page 48 of my cookbook, Breads and Spreads).

• Roll dough out to a large rectangle about ⅛ inch thickness

• Using a sharp knife, make strips 1 inch wide. Cut strips in half.

• Drop strips into boiling broth until cooked through about 15 minutes

• Serve hot in soup bowl