Chicken and Dumplings

5 lbs. chicken pieces

1 onion, peeled and quartered

1 stalk celery with some leaves

1 carrot

2 bay leaves

12 to 15 whole peppercorns

2 tsp. salt (approx.)

1/4 cup butter or margarine (1/2 stick)

1 (10-oz.) can cream of chicken soup

3 boiled eggs, peeled, and chopped coarsely (optional)

Put chicken, onion, celery stalk (halved), carrot (in large chunks), bay leaves, and peppercorns in a large stockpot with water to cover.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until chicken is tender, 30 to 45 minutes.  Remove chicken.  Discard skin and fat, and remove chicken from bones in large chunks.  Set chicken aside.

Cool broth slightly, strain and return to pot.  The vegetables can be puréed and added back to the pot also.  Skim fat from surface or refrigerate or put in freezer to congeal fat.  Remove most of fat and return broth to heat.  Boil broth gently until reduced by about a third.  Add salt to taste.  Keep 3 quarts of liquid in stockpot; reserve any extra for another use.  Continue simmering.  When dumplings are ready to put in broth, add butter or margarine and chicken soup.  Bring to a slow boil.  Add dumplings a few at a time stirring occasionally and allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so until dumplings are tender.  Add chicken and boiled eggs.  Adjust seasonings.  This will be a bit soupy and if you are making a big batch, just eat it in a bowl, because when you heat it the next day, it will be just right.  If it will all be eaten at one sitting, thicken broth before serving by mixing 2 Tbsp. flour with 1/4 cup milk.  Add to pot while stirring and stir occasionally until thickened.  Makes 8 to 10 servings. 

Dumplings:

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. melted chicken fat (or other shortening)

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup chicken broth

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder.  Cut in shortening.  Add milk and chicken broth to form a biscuit-like dough.  Add more liquid if needed.  Do not handle excessively.  Divide dough in half.  On floured board, roll out half of the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.  With a sharp knife, cut into strips about 1 1/2 inches wide and 2 to 3 inches long.  Repeat with second batch.

Southern dumplings are much different than the light yeast or biscuit-like dumplings served in the North.  We first encountered Southern chicken and dumplings at Rocky Springs Methodist Church in Madison one Sunday when they had “dinner on the grounds” not long after we moved there in 1951.  I always thought making the dumplings was a skill acquired over many years, like making good biscuits or quilting.  In recent years I’ve discovered it’s really not all that difficult, and chicken and dumplings is something I can count on everyone eating when the family comes for dinner.