Chicken and Dumplings

I can hear them now.  The whisperings, the just barely vocalized questions.

Does she really think she can make real Chicken and Dumplings? 

She's not from around here, can she really do it?

Well, she can and she did.

Now...

I have to say that this Dane is no stranger to Chicken and Dumplings, just not quite made this way.

But that's OK, I can learn new tricks.  And I did.   Learn, that is.

There are a couple of cheats here, cause, this is the way I learned how to make it from Sarge, and he used frozen dumplings.

You can make your own from scratch and more power to you, but I'm cooking for an undetermined number of people each week.

We can have 30 people show up for lunch or 50 or more.  I never know.

Here's how I done did it.

First off.  Cook the chicken with some onion, celery and carrots, plus a little more seasoning.   I also roasted the chicken for a little while, I find it adds such a rich flavour profile.   I did use a little chicken base because I wanted a rich, full flavoured stock and I didn't have 16 hours to simmer it.

Take the chicken out, and discard the skin and bones.  Set the chicken aside, and strain the stock.

You don't want any of those veggies in there.

Really.

No vegetables in the Chicken and Dumplings.

Next up.   Put the strained chicken stock into a large pot, and bring to a boil.
Turn the heat down and add the frozen dumplings, stirring them gently to separate them.   Simmer for a good 45 minutes, although I think these would have been better if I'd cooked them a little longer.
I used Mary B's frozen dumplings.   

They will cook up nicely and the stock will get nice and creamy and thick.  
Add the chicken back in, and let it heat up.

Serve with some nice green beans and sliced tomatoes.   We also had some lovely Vidalia Onions, as well as Lemon Bars and Bread Pudding for dessert.

And don't forget that those biscuits.

Coming up tomorrow, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Sauce.    Also known as Galumkis.  And I'm sure they are also known by a few other names.

 I can't believe I'm going to actually make them, I hated them when I was growing up, but I like them now.  See Mom, I do eat my vegetables.  Thank you for telling me that I couldn't say I didn't like something until I tasted at least one bite.