Chicken and Dumplings

A terrific, comforting meal that's really not very hard to make. We like chewy, hearty dumplings in our family. My grandmother's recipe box had the recipe I grew up eating, but I didn't have that recipe when this post first posted! After some trial and error in Betsy's kitchen, some dumpling triage assistance from Carrie via phone, and careful comparison of Mom's recipe, Carrie's recipe, and the "other" potential recipe, here is our compilation (feel free to make it "your way"):

Chicken and Dumplings

• 1 whole chicken, cut up or not as you please
• 1 sprig rosemary, optional
• 1 sprig thyme, optional
• 1 onion, optional
• 2 carrots, optional
• 1 stalk celery, optional
• water

In a large stockpot, place your chicken and cover with water and salt. You can stop there and boil it or you can add any or all of the remaining ingredients. Betsy likes them all, Mom uses the onion and celery, and Carrie leaves it as just chicken. If you use the veggies, just cut them in half and throw them in. They're just for flavor. Remove about 1/2 cup of the stock at some point to let it cool slightly. Boil until chicken is done and remove to a cutting board. Add dumplings* to boiling stock and cook with the lid on for 20 minutes. (You will have to turn the stock down to a simmer once you add the dumplings or the pot will overflow... trust me on this.)

Dumplings:

• 2 c. flour
• 1/4 t. baking powder
• 1 t. salt
• (or use 2 c. self-rising flour instead of the above)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup or so of chicken stock

Mix dry ingredients. Add egg and stock and stir until dough comes together. It will be about the consistency of biscuit dough--just add more liquid or more flour as you need it. Mom's way: roll out dough to a 1/8-inch thickness and cut 1x3-inch strips. Betsy and Carrie's way: pinch the dough into balls about 1-inch in diameter.

Serves 4-6

My grandmother's recipe card pictured below--in her handwriting! I didn't include the back of the card because I've already given those directions above. Still, you can see that she used celery and onion, no carrots, in her broth.