Chicken & Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings is the most quintessential southern recipe that every southerner crew up eating. If you were a southern kid like me, you probably sat in the kitchen watching or better yet, helping your Grandmother with this wonderful one pot meal. The simplicity yet time consuming of this dish will make you reminisce of the smells and flavors of the warmed cooked chicken with the pillowy dumplings in a savory broth. It will not only bring you back to the days when things were made with time and preparation, but it will make you think of a time when things were simple and made with love. Reconnect with your southern roots by making this old fashioned meal and continue to share it with future generations. They will enjoy it just as much as you did as a kid, maybe even better.

I had a sudden attack of my childhood memories last week. Just reminiscing of a time when things were simple and a lot more relaxed. One of the foods that triggered the memory is one of my most favorite dishes, chicken and dumplings. I remember as a youngin' sitting on a bar stool in my Grandmothers kitchen watching her boil the chicken for what would seem to be hours on end and rolling out the dough for the dumplings. The only thing my Grandmother would let me help her make was the dumplings. Making the dough was my favorite thing to do because it was like playing with play doh and also I loved eating it too, raw. I was a strange kid. I always wondered if my Grandmother had enough dumplings to cook after me eating most of it. I mean it is part of the meal (hence the name). If it didn't have any dumplings it would be just chicken. Even if it didn't have many dumplings, it still made a lasting impression on me and is still to this day one of my favorite southern dishes.

Here is the recipe:

Prep time:15 min Total time: 2 hrs 15 min

2 pounds of boneless chicken breasts
2 quarts (8 cups) of chicken broth or water
1 onion (largely chopped)
3 celery stalks (largely chopped)
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp of salt
1 1/2 tsp of whole peppercorns or cracked black pepper
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of garlic powder

Dumpling Dough:
2 cups of all purpose flour plus 1/3 cup (for slurry)
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
4 tbsp (1/4 cup) of shortening
3/4 cup ice cold water or milk

The first thing I did was get my 5 quart stock pot out and put my chopped onion and celery in. Placed the 2 pound boneless chicken breasts in, poured 2 quarts (8 cups) of chicken broth, salt, pepper, and 3 bay leaves in. Bring the chicken and broth to a full rolling boil on medium high, then lowered to a simmer and simmered it for 1 1/2 hours or until chicken was fork tender.

Meanwhile, while my chicken was boiling, I prepared my dumpling dough. *You can wait until your chicken is done boiling and cooling off to get started on the dumplings. I just wanted to get started on the dumplings in advance so I can be prepared to put them in to cook right away. I was a girl scout and the motto is "always be prepared," right?

The way I prepared my dumpling dough is that I got my large mixing bowl out, sifted 2 cups of all purpose flour, 1 tsp of baking soda, 1/2 tsp. of salt. Cut 4 tbsp. (1/4 cup) of shortening into the flour mixture until it resembled like crumbs. Poured in 3/4 cup of ice cold water in and mixed it with a fork. Poured the dough out on to a well floured service, floured my hands real well to knead the dough and roll it out into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Got a pizza cutter and cut 1- 1 1/2  inch squares.

After an hour and half of the chicken simmering away, took the chicken out and placed it onto a cutting board to cool for at least 15 minutes. * This is when you can start making the dumpling dough if you haven't already done so.

While my chicken was cooling off, I took the broth that the chicken was simmering in and poured it through a strainer lined with 2 large paper towels criss-crossing each other like a plus sign. Strained the broth until all the onion, celery, and other extremities were out. *You can use cheese clothes if you have them. If you do not have them, paper towels work just as well and is a lot cheaper. Poured the broth back into the pot, turned the stove back up a medium high heat to bring it to a rolling boil. *Now after the broth has been simmering for over an hour and strained, the amount of the liquid that you started out with has reduced to about half (4 cups). If you feel like this is not enough liquid when you put your chicken and dumplings in, you can add a little more water in.

After the chicken was cooled, I did this the old fashioned way and took 2 forks and shredded the chicken. Now if you don't want to choose the old way, you can shred the chicken by placing it in a bowl and using the hand mixer. It's a lot quicker that way, but you will have a lot more dishes to wash. I thought I would save myself from having to wash a whole load of dishes. 

Once the broth was up to a rolling boil, placed my shredded chicken back in and lowered the heat down to a simmer and simmered it for at least 15 minutes. After 15 minutes of the chicken simmering, turned the heat back up to a rolling boil and put in my dumpling squares one at a time so they wouldn't stick to one another. Boiled them in with the chicken and the broth for at least 15 more minutes. 

While it was boiling, took 1/3 cup of flour and placed it into a bowl, poured in some broth a few tablespoons at a time, and stirred it in until a smooth like consistency. *This is called making a slurry as the southerners call it. Poured it back into the pot and let it thicken up the chicken and dumplings.

There you have it, homemade chicken and dumplings just like your Grandmother used to make. Serve you up some warm southern comfort in a bowl with a warm fluffy biscuit and a big mason jar of sweet tea. Go sit on the porch, put your feet up, and reminisce on the good ole days.

Now take a bite and Enjoy!