Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:
* chicken
* chicken broth (see recipe below)
* dumplings (see recipe below)
* 1/2 c. milk
* 1/4 stick of butter (cut into pieces)

Chicken and Chicken broth:
The best way to have shredded chicken and chicken broth is to buy bone-in chicken breasts (or thighs or legs - but I think the breasts are the easiest to work with).  To make these and several other chicken recipes, I boiled 9 chicken breasts, 6 - 8 tops of celery stalks, a carrot or two, some onion scraps, and some garlic cloves.  Cook for a few hours.  Take the chicken out, pull off the bones, and discard the bones.  Strain the broth into containers (I use 3 - 5 quart mason jars). Chill.  Once the broth is chilled you can scrap off the fat and use it later for the dumplings.  :)  Believe me, it makes them taste 10 times as amazing if you do this.

Now we have chicken, broth, and fat for dumplings.

Warm the chicken stock (1.75 - 2 quarts) up until warm.  While it warms up, make the dumplings.

Dumplings:
1/3 c. chicken fat (add vegetable shortening if you are short)
3 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
ice water

Cut fat into the flour and salt.  Start adding ice water 1 TBS at a time.  Stir gently with hands until mixture holds together and is the consistency of flaky pie crust dough.  Once mixed, roll out on a lightly floured surface (as thin as possible). Cut into rectangles about 1" by 2".

Add chicken and dumplings to warmed stock.  I add a handful at a time to the stock, cut some more, add some more, cut some more, add some more... etc.  Simmer for 30+ minutes until the liquid begins to thicken. Turn off heat.  Add milk and butter. Stir gently until butter is dissolved.

Can I tell you how happy this makes me?  Thanks again to Ms. Pat and her amazing southern cookbook.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

More recipes to come from this cookbook (that you have to look forward to sometime on my blog):
crunchy crust cornbread
black eyed pea
cheesy ham grits
sweet potato casserole
dirty rice (minus chicken livers) - still have to make
country fried steak (with cream gravy) - still have to make
pan broiled fish
milk gravy
red eye gravy
basic cheese sauce
barbeque sauce
buttermilk biscuits
hot pepper jelly - still have to make
angel food cake - still have to make (what do you do with all the extra egg yolks?)
pecan spice cake - still have to make
caramel cake with caramel frosting - still have to make
fresh coconut cake with seven minute frosting (AMAZING!!)
strawberry shortcake
red velvet cake
coconut custard pie (amazing - I like coconut)

Other recipes (that I will also post sometime):
apple and pork stuffing
cornbread stuffing
cornbread and biscuit stuffing
cinnamon and raisin bread
chicken skewers (chicken in amazing sauce with peppers, onions, and tomatoes)
key lime pie
lemon meringue pie
sweet potato pie
bread pudding with brandy or whiskey sauce
pecan divinity - still have to make this