Comfort Food

Today I want to share a recipe that has been in our family for generations. It is the embodiment of simple food that uses a small amount of on hand ingredients to make a wholesome meal that can feed an entire family for a small amount of money. I know my Mother reads this blog from time to time. I hope she will forgive me for sharing a possible secret family recipe! But I believe in these down economic times that we need to share our traditions of making filling nutritious foods with just a few dollars.

Chicken and Dumplings are a subject of great controversy! Some say that the drop dumplings are the original recipe, some swear by the flat dumplings. I grew up on the flat dumplings and I really could care less which is proper! This is the way my great grandfather made them. This is the way I make them!!

Chicken and Dumplings

1 whole chicken around 4lbs (Or split breasts. Also works wonderful with wild rabbit!!)
3 cups of flour
Herbs and seasonings of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste

As you can see, the recipe is pretty open. I throw in what I have available and everything works out just fine. You will need lots of time to make this dish. There is a lot of time waiting for the dish to cool and reheating. So it is not nearly as much labor. But give yourself a free day in the kitchen to stew this wonderful meal. It is worth it!!


Rinse chicken inside and out, removing giblets. Place in a large stock pot or dutch oven and cover with water.


This is where you can season the chicken to suit your taste. Salt is crucial and I add a very generous amount of kosher salt. It is easy to under salt this dish. I also added garlic powder, parsley, thyme, white pepper, and sage. Another thing I do to add some extra vitamins is add any celery tops, onion ends, leek greens, and carrot ends that I have left over. I put any veggie scraps that will work in the freezer and add them to my stocks. Then remove them afterward and discard. It is completely up to you!

Bring to a roiling boil. Reduce and allow to simmer for 1 hour or until meat begins to fall off of the bone easily. If you are using rabbit, especially wild rabbit, you may need to boil longer and keep adding water to cover.


Remove from heat and transfer chicken to separate bowl to cool. Reserve about 2 cups of broth in a separate container.You will need the chicken cool enough to handle with your hands and you are waiting for the fat to rise to the surface of your broth.

When relatively cooled, the fat will have rose to the top of your pot of broth. You want to remove this from the pot but not from the reserve. The oil is flavorless and it would make your chicken and dumplings too greasy. Using a large spoon or ladle, skim the fat off of the top and discard. Remove any veggie bits and discard.

I used a very fat chicken! A full bowl of grease.

Now your broth should look clearer and you can have a taste. You want to taste a little salt, but like it needs more. Since this is going to reduce down in the second stage. If you add salt to taste at this point, the finished stew will be too salty. I hope that makes sense!! The key is to taste taste taste!!

Now, to remove the meat from your chicken. You want every little bit of meat. Don't worry about how big the chunks are, they will break down. But get every last morsel of meat. Don't forget the little chucks of meat on the back near the base of the tail. These are considered the oysters and the best pieces of meat on the bird! Put all of this meat back into the broth and put on high heat. Now on to the dumplings!

This part is so simple it hurts. So many people try to make it so complicated and add too many ingredients. You aren't making biscuits. Just a simple dough. Take your three cups of flour, and in a separate bowl, make a well in the center. This will hold your broth.

Add just a little of the broth at a time!! And mix to make a simple crude dough. It will be the correct consistency when the dough pulls away from the bowl and all ingredients are mixed.

The beauty of using the broth is that it adds flavor to the dumplings themselves. It also adds fat in the form of the chicken fat on the top of the broth. This adds texture to your dumplings.


Turn dough out onto floured surface and roll to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Thinner dumplings are best, but sometimes the simple doughs don't cooperate as well. Don't worry about overworking your dough or keeping it in a uniform shape. You aren't making a pie crust!


Now, take a sharp knife or pizza cutter and cut your dumplings out. I usually keep them about 1 inch wide by 3 inches long.


Hopefully your broth will be boiling at this point. Make sure it is at a roiling boil (A boil that can't be stirred down) and drop your dumplings in one at a time. Try to drop them in at different places so that they don't stick. You may need to stir a little to make room for more dumplings.

Return to a boil and boil for around 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Now for the magic. Or chemistry. As the dumplings heat up, the flour in them starts to absorb more and more of that savory broth and thicken the mix. After your 8 minute boil, turn the heat OFF and let your dumplings cool for 45 minutes to an hour. Then return to a boil, and let sit again. Repeat this process until thickened to your liking!


I serve my dumplings with fresh green peas.

I've researched several recipes for this dish to see how others do it. They all seem so complicated! Here I have only TWO main ingredients. The rest is salt, pepper, and spices. And it is adaptable to your personal tastes. It may not be the most attractive dish, but when I have ever heard the term "Stick to your ribs" this is what always comes to mind!

What do you think? Comment and let me know if you have tried chicken and dumplings my way!