Several of you left comments asking for the recipe for my grandmother’s chicken ‘n dumplins and I’m happy to provide it.
The first thing you have to settle in your mind is that chicken ‘n dumplings simply must not be a low fat, low cal food. It is designed by God Himself to be COMFORT FOOD, so it just ruins it to try to make it low fat. They are soooo easy to make, but they sure do make a huge mess in the kitchen. I have flour EVERYWHERE when I make them. They are best made at least 4 hours prior to eating so they can sit and thicken up.
I buy a pack of chicken or breasts and a pack of chicken thighs (skin on) and put them in a large pot of water. Bring to boil and boil for about an hour. Turn off stove and let cool enough so that you can pull the meat and skin off the bone and shred the chicken, leaving the shredded chicken in the broth.
Mix together 2 cups self rising flour, 2-3 tablespoons Crisco shortening (not oil) and enough buttermilk to make the dumplin dough stiff/firm. You don’t want a soupy or wet dough. I use my hands and knead this well in the bowl. Then I put the bowl of dough in a cold oven and turn on the oven light to warm the dough. Let the dough set in the cold oven with the light on for at least an hour to rise a bit.
Place self rising flour on a clean countertop or board. Use enough flour so dough does not stick. Take 1/2 the dough out of the bowl and place on floured surface. Knead it a few times, then use a floured rolling pin to roll it out VERY, VERY thin. Cut the rolled out dough in strips that are about 1 inch wide and 3-4 inches long.
Remove 1/2 of shredded chicken meat from pot and set aside on a plate. Add into pot 1 stick of butter, 1 tablespoon each of salt and black pepper. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste preference. Bring the broth and remaining chicken meat to a boil. Drop dumplin strips in boiling broth. When all strips are in, reduce heat by half and cover.
Take the remaining 1/2 of dough and repeat the kneading, rolling out and cutting in strips process. Turn pan of broth/dumplins/chicken back to high and bring to a boil. Drop the remainder of the dough strips in the boiling broth. Allow to cook at a boil for about 10 minutes. Turn off heat. Return chicken that was set aside to pan and place on top of mixture. Cover with pan lid and allow to thicken at least one hour but preferably about 4-5 hours. It will stay pretty warm and you should not have to re-warm before serving. ENJOY, ENJOY, ENJOY!!
