Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

  • 1-3 to 4 lb. chicken

  • 3 to 4 quarts of water

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 1 Clove of garlic optional

  • 1 medium onion quartered

  • 4 ribs of celery

  • Juice of one lemon

  • Peppercorns or just black pepper

  1. Cook chicken with above ingredients

  2. Cool, take the chicken off of the bones

  3. Strain the broth

  4. Discard the veggies that you strain out

While the chicken is cooking you can make your dumplings.

Dumplings

  • 2 cups all purpose flour

  • 1 tablespoon baking powder

  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 3/4 to 1 cup milk

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt make a well in the middle. Add milk stirring with a fork incorporate the milk into the flour, using extra flour, if needed to handle. Let this mixture sit to rest for a few minutes 3 or 4. Now shape your dough into a ball.

2. Flour flat surface generously. Flour dough top and bottom work with it so it is manageable.

With rolling pin roll dough until it is about 1/8 inch thick. This could take a little while.

Let this rest little while

If it has risen flour and roll again until flattened.

Take a bread knife and slice in long vertical strips about an inch thick, then slice horizontally into small squares or long rectangles if you prefer.

3. Have your chicken & broth cooking medium to medium high heat until it is just bubbling. Add dumplings one at a time when top is full stir. Using large spoon make a hole to drop rest of the dumplings into cooking broth, stirring gently as needed.

When all are in pot turn down to simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste I add a little parsley also.

Simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

4. The dumplings will cook down and the broth will thicken up like a white gravy.

My grandmothers used to add a boiled egg cut up into theirs and it is pretty good but entirely up to you.

SERVES 8