As I get older, sometimes I find myself reflecting on the way things "used to be". I can remember the days of going to the store which would be just a few minutes down the road to a small, local country store to get gas, snacks, and catch up on what's going on in the community. I realize now that my children will never know or be familiar with some of the simple things that I took for granted unless I teach them.
One of the things that stick out in my mind the most from my childhood was my grandmother's cooking, especially her Chicken-n-Dumplings.
I remember the family gathering back at my Grandparent's house after church on Sunday and on Holidays. Sometimes it's almost funny what you remember, sometimes a laugh or a smell as you walk through the door. I remember the smell of dinner cooking on the stove which was usually followed by someone smacking my hands to "Stay out of that until it's on the table". We all usually ate till we were ready to pop, then sat around and either listened to the men tell stories or run off and play till someone called for us. I have been very lucky to have my mom stick around long enough to hand down some of these recipes and things I remember from growing up. One of my favorites, is my Mamaw Hazel's Chicken-n-Dumplings. It's
pretty simple, so don't over think this recipe. I have found that some of the best tasting food maybe almost to simple to make.
First you want to par boil your chicken. I prefer
the whole chicken with the skin (ads more flavor); however, once you
get high cholesterol you can use boneless, skinless chicken breast, lol.
Boil it hard for a good hour or two
till it's good and done and is falling off of the bone. It's better if you use chicken stock and cubes
when boiling rather than just plain water. Once your chicken is boiled,
remove the bird and set it aside to rest. While your bird is cooling,
add about a tablespoon of butter to your stock (2 is better) ha ha, then return
the stock to a hard boil. The dumpling is as simple as it gets. Regular
self rising flour, I don't really measure but probably at least a good 4
cups in a large mixing bowl. Flavor your flour with a generous amount
of salt and pepper, then mix enough of your chicken stock from the pot
to make your dough. Be careful when you mix the stock into your dough because it will be very hot. Once you have worked your dough down, roll it out
pretty thin, cut it in strips and in half, then back into the pot it
goes. Make sure your stock is at a hard boil when you return your
dumpling to the stock or it will fall apart. Fill it full of dumplings.
Try not to stir it to much at all because this may also cause them to
fall apart. Cook approx. 25-30 minutes, shred your chicken, then throw
the bird back into the pot for about the last 5 minutes or so, and they
will get happy, happy, happy. Good luck. This recipe will make a thin, sort of tough dumpling. This is not a drop dumpling, which might I add that my wife likes. Remember as you work your dough for your dumplings, the more you "whoop it" or roll it out and knead it, the tougher the dumpling will be.
If you are looking for an an old fashioned recipe for Chicken-n-Dumplings, I hope you consider this one. It has in my mind, always been one of my favorites. Thanks for reading and have a great day.
