Chicken and Dumplings

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• Ok, I am going to try to do this. I don't measure but this recipe is pretty easy to do. The hardest thing for me over the years was making the dumplings. I got it down now so i hope giving u the tricks will help. This recipe will make enough for about 3 people for dinner and some for lunch the next day. If you want more just double it. If you want to add celery and onion and carrot to chicken while boiling do it. I have done it many ways and i like just plain chicken. Put the chicken in the pot and put enough water in the pot to cover the chicken. You will have to add more water during the boiling process. It needs to boil for about 2 hours. Salt and pepper the water. I would guess about 1 tsp or so of salt in water. You want to taste the salt in the stock. After the chicken is done taste the water and adjust seasoning. Take the chicken out and put aside to cool a bit. Then strain the water back in the pot to get out the fat and little bones. Seperate the meat from the fat and bones and make sure you get all the meat off the neck and the little pieces that is in the stuff you strained. The white meat you can either keep in larger pieces or cut it up small (whatever you like) . Take 1 cup of the juice and set aside then put the chicken back in the pot with the stock. You will probably need to add 1 to 2 cups of water in the stock.
  

Now the dumplings. You will need a pastry mat and a rolling pin. Take about 4 cups of sifted flour and make a crater in the middle. Add 2 table spoons of shortening and fork it to mix with the flour in the crater. The shortening helps the dough stay together in the stock. Add some salt in and lots of pepper. Now take a little of the juice and pour in the crater. genty fold the flour with the juice with a fork till juice is gone. keep doing this till the whole cup is gone. your want to not fold too much or dumplings will be too tough. You might need to add more flour duiring this process. The measurement of the flour i dont know because you just add as necessary. Once the cup of juice is gone and you have the dough it cant be sticky. If it is sprinkle flour on all sides and then put in a bowl and let rest for 15 minutes or so. You will have to wash and dry the pastry mat before the next step or it will stick when rolling. Now flour the mat and the rolling pin well and take a piece of the dough and roll it out pretty thin. If it tries to stick to the rolling pin sprinkle a little flour on it. I like to roll out a bit then flip it and sprinkle a little flour then roll some more. Once rolled out thin take a sharp knife and cut across the dough in strips and then cut the strips in pieces about two inches long or so. The stock should be boiling ( a rolling boil) Drop one by one the dumplings in the stock and then repeat till the dough is gone. Do not stir the dumplings shake the pot every once in a while. This needs to boil for about 25 minutes or so and to make sure none are sticking to bottom you can take a wooden spoon and put to bottom of pot and gently scrape the bottom. Shaking the pot back and forth works good. After 25 minutes turn down to simmer and put a lid on it. The dumplings have to cook and takes about an hour total. After an hour if you let them set they will be better. You can taste a dumping and tell if it needs to set more. They always taste better the next day. The old folks make a plain white cake and put a piece of cake in the bowl when they eat them.

1. 4lb chicken or so
   
2. salt and pepper to taste lots of black pepper is good
   
3. start with about 4 cups sifted flour
   
4. 2 tablespoons of shortening
   
5. 1 cup of the chicken stock
   
6. salt and lots of pepper on the dough
   

Enjoy




I hope I did a good job explaining this i will add pics of the process next time i make this. I think that this is the cheapest meal that i make and i think it is one of my best. It took me 5 or 6 times to get it down ( because of my name Nub) but man its good.
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Its nice to see you ladies trading cooking tips.

yeah what he said.

There's nothing wrong with trading cooking secrets. Right Nubbie?