Chicken and Dumplings

GRANDMA'S CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Grandma knew how to feed us. Her Chicken and Dumplings is a meal in itself. The aroma when you got home on a cold winter day would set your mouth watering.

The dumplings were always light and satisfying.

Give it a try. Your family is sure to enjoy it. And if you want to cut down on preparation time, then try some of the tips at the end of this page.

Chicken and Dumplings Soup

1 fryer (2˝ to 3 lb) chicken
6 cups cold water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
6 peppercorns
3 whole cloves

Soup Base
1 can (10ľ oz) chicken broth
1 can (10ľ oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 can (10ľ oz) cream mushroom soup
1 cup chopped celery
1˝ cups chopped carrots
Ľ cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped potatoes
1 small bay leaf
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
Cooked fryer, cut in bite-sized pieces
Reserved chicken broth, strained
1 tsp seasoned salt

Feather Dumplings
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Ľ tsp white or black pepper
2 tbsp melted butter
4 tsp baking powder
1 egg, well beaten
2/3 cup milk

Place fryer, water, bouillon, peppercorns and cloves in large soup pot and bring to boil.
Reduce heat; simmer until chicken is tender (about 1˝ hr. or 30 minutes in pressure cooker at 10 lb pressure; 15 minutes if using chicken pieces).
Cool chicken just slightly; cut into bite-size pieces and set aside.
Strain and skim chicken broth. Put reserved chicken and broth in soup pot; add cans of broth, chicken and mushroom soups, celery, carrots, onion, potatoes, bay leaf, peas and seasoned salt.
Put cover on pot; simmer soup on low heat for 2 to 3 hours (5 minutes in pressure cooker without cream soups; add cream soups after and heat uncovered)

About 30 minutes before serving, mix up feather dumplings by sifting dry ingredients together. Add egg melted butter and enough milk to make moist stiff batter.
Drop by teaspoons into boiling liquid. Cook covered and without peeking for 18 to 20 minutes or until dumplings are done.

To speed up preparation here are some tricks and tips

Use a cooked chicken from the delicatessen. Strip the meat from the carcass. The carcass can be frozen and used to make broth in the Slow Cooker (crockpot) later.
Use 1 liter of canned chicken broth instead of home-made.
Turkey can be substituted in place of chicken meat. So whenever you have left-over turkey, just freeze it for this recipe.
Use frozen vegetables
A pressure-cooker is also one way of having chicken and dumplings soup on quicker.

PRESSURE COOKER METHOD:
After dropping dumpling batter over boiling liquid, cook uncovered for 5 minutes. Cover cooker with GASKET REMOVED and allow a small stream of steam to escape from vent tube for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Open cover when steam stops flowing.

If you enjoyed this Chicken and Dumplings Recipe try the others which can be found at
Chicken | Turkey | Cooking methods, recipes and flavorings