Chicken & Dumplings - A Favorite Comfort Food!

It's a cold, wet weekend here in my little corner of Texas (unusual for our area, which has been in a drought for the past 15 years), and I got it into my head that I needed some comfort food.  One of my favorite comfort foods is chicken & dumplings, just the way my mom used to make it!  I love either style of dumpling - flat-rolled or drop-biscuit - but my favorite is the fluffy drop-biscuit dumplings, so that's what I made.

It seems there are so many ways to both cook and serve chicken & dumplings!  Apparently, I am a starch junkie, because I like it served over egg noodles.  Mmmm.  And I like the dumplings actually dropped into the pot, not just sitting on top and browned like actual biscuits.  My mom tried that a few times, but I think I complained so much each time that it was just like a chicken pot pie that she went back to dropping them in.  That's not to say that this recipe served over biscuits isn't good, because it sure is!  But the drop-dumplings just can't be beat!  Restaurants usually make flat-rolled dumplings, but here in New Braunfels, the New Braunfels Smokehouse makes them just like my mama did.  But today, I need a pot of my own!

 

This recipe is a really hard one to write, because not only do I never really measure ingredients, but it's never been written down in my family, either.  Oops.  So ... I guess I'm breaking new ground here. Before I start on the recipe itself, let's talk about the chicken:

You have a few options with the chicken part of this recipe:

1. The most time-consuming is to use a whole roaster chicken boiled in a stockpot with slightly salted water.  When it is cooked, you need to pull out the chicken, the strain the broth in the stockpot to get the icky bits out.  Save the broth in the stockpot to make the rest of the dish with, and set the chicken aside.  When it is cool enough to handle, pull the chicken off and shred, then add back to the pot.  This method produces the chicken-y-est flavored broth, since the bones are in there boiling, too.
2. The next method is to use a deli-roasted chicken.  Use the same boiling method as above, just don't boil as long.  This will give you a more highly-seasoned broth as your dish's base.
3. Finally, if you're in a hurry, used a bag of frozen, skinless chicken (I prefer dark meat to light in this dish, so I would use thighs).  Boil as above, but add a few cubes of chicken bouillion cubes once you've removed the chicken and strained the broth (what IS that foam that settles on top, anyway?!).

Okay, so on with the rest of the recipe!*

CHICKEN AND DROP DUMPLINGS

Ingredients:

Chicken (see above)
Broth (see above)
2 onions, chopped
1 bunch celery, chopped
2 tsp. powdered thyme
2 tbsp. parsley flakes
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 large bag of baby carrots (or more if you like)
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (or a bit more) water

Add all ingredients except flour and water to the broth and simmer to allow the flavor to enhance, about 45 minutes. Taste now and then and adjust accordingly.  It will look and taste like chicken soup.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and water.  Make sure you whisk away all lumps.  Stir the mixture into the stockpot to thicken the broth to make a thin gravy-like texture.  If you feel you need to do this again, that's fine, too.  The broth will thicken as it simmers.

Now it's time to make the dumplings.  I use the recipe that's on the Bisquick box, but I double it because I make such a huge pot of this dish:

2 cups Bisquick baking mix
2/3 cup milk
(double the above to make a bigger batch if you like)
Salt & pepper

Whisk together the baking mix and milk in a medium bowl, add a bit of salt and pepper to flavor the dough.  Once it is thoroughly mixed, drop it by heaping tablespoons-ful into the stockpot, which should be at a boil.  Cook it uncovered for 10 minutes, then poke the dumplings down a bit with a spoon to re-coat them with the gravy-broth.  Cover the pot, and cook another 10 minutes.  Enjoy immediately, served as is, or over freshly cook egg noodles.

*Right about there, I'd insert a pic of the chicken & dumplings that I made.  Guess what I found out?  Chicken & dumplings doesn't photograph well, and looks kind of gross.  So I skipped that part.  You're welcome.