Easy Chicken & Dumplings

I cooked four chicken breasts last week. The kind with skin and bones because that's the kind that was on sale. And it really isn't hard to pull the meat off the bone when it's done. While I was waiting for the chicken to cool in the broth (Cooling in the broth will make it more tender than taking it out of the broth to cool) I asked Daddy-O what he wanted me to make with the chicken. Actually I was expecting a "doesn't matter to me" answer. But he immediately said "Chicken and dumplings!" Since I have left him at home a lot lately while I've traveled I figured he deserved to have what he wanted.

Plus, I know a secret that makes this a quick, easy dish. I have tried making homemade dumpling more than once but this shortcut method makes dumplings that taste like my favorites from childhood. Okay...let's be honest. This recipe is way better than my homemade attempts. I know that Sarah, our cook, made hers from scratch but I never mastered doing it the way she did. We grew up eating dumplings that were cut into strips and cooked in the broth resulting in a dumpling that has a nice bite to it. A little bit chewy. In other parts of the country I hear that dumplings are light and fluffy and float on top of the broth. This is not that kind.

If you just read "our cook" and thought I grew up in a life of luxury, think again. Back when many moms were stay-at-home mothers, my mother worked. And we had a lady who stayed with us, did the laundry and cooked the meals so that Mother could earn extra money for the family. Sarah and my mother both knew how to stretch a dollar. We thought chicken and dumplings was a treat. And it was. But it was also a budget stretcher. After I was grown Mother told me that we had this dish on a regular basis because a package of chicken backs cost 25-cents and a couple of packages would make a pot full of dumplings. I had no clue until I was grown that anyone in our house thought about "making ends meet." 

Years ago I happened to see a QVC kitchen show and the host David made his version of chicken and dumplings. If I'm correct he is from our neighboring state in a city less than two hours from here. His dumplings were the same kind I grew up with. Maybe it's a regional thing.

I'll give you the basics of what he did. You can adjust amounts to make it work with what you had. This particular night, I used half of my cooked chicken (the rest became chicken salad) and almost a quart of broth. I could have added some water to make more if I had needed more liquid. And I used a small can of biscuits. A 5-count can. When he made it on air, he used store-bought broth. That works fine, too. I've done that many times.

Remember, this is more of a "how to" recipe than a precisely measured recipe. It's based on the notes I took as I watched the TV kitchen demonstration. Funny thing is that I have no clue what product David was selling!

DAVID'S CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS

1 quart chicken broth or 32-oz box of low-sodium broth

2 cups water

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces

1 (10-count) can of biscuits (cheap store brand or flaky biscuits both work)

Taste broth and adjust seasoning. I like a good amount of black pepper in mine.

Heat broth and water to boiling. Add chicken. (Or you can add the cooked chicken after the dumplings are done. Works either way.)

While broth heats, roll out biscuits on a heavily floured surface as thin as possible. (The extra flour on the strips will thicken the broth.) I roll them, flip them over, roll again and continue until they are very thin.

Cut into strips with a sharp knife or pizza cutter.

Drop strips, a few at a time, into boiling broth and cook until done. Maybe 8-10 minutes. Taste one to see if it's done. 

As I said, I cooked bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts this time and used the broth from cooking them. I always add a good shake or two of Lawry's Seasoning Salt when I cook chicken, so the broth only needed pepper to finish the dumplings.

If you don't own a rolling pin, use a smooth sided drinking glass. A wine bottle (label removed) will also work. The biscuits are small so your "roller" doesn't have to be as long as an actual rolling pin. Don't have those either? Look around your kitchen for something else that might work. I'm not sure that patting them out with your hand will get them thin enough.

This is a great cold weather dish. And it's simple enough for a weeknight supper if your chicken is already cooked. To make clean up a little easier, use a sheet of waxed paper to roll out the biscuits in the flour. If you wipe your counter with a damp cloth first and put the paper down on the damp counter, the paper won't slide around as much.