1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 cups plain flour
Broth from chicken
1/2 stick butter
1 whole chopped sweet onion (I use Vidalia or some other sweet yellow onion, but regular yellow onion is fine. I like onion so usually use a large one.)
Put the whole roasted chicken along with all the juice in in it, into a large heavy pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least 1 hour or until the chicken and bones have released all of it's wonderful flavorful broth. (I learned from my friend Donald, who trains service dogs that if you cook the bones until they are very soft, you can grind them up in a blender or food processor and give them to your dog! Don't ever give a dog a brittle whole bone though as it is very dangerous for them.)
Pull all the soft chicken meat off the bones, discarding skin, and chop or tear up chicken to bite-size pieces and set aside. Try and not leave stray little bones in the broth that would be a choke hazard.
Saute the whole chopped onion and about 1 t. of minced garlic (I used minced garlic that comes in a jar), in a skillet in about 3-4 Tablespoons of real butter until soft. Don't burn!
Pour the sauteed onions into the broth water. If you want more broth, add water and add a big scoop of "Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base". This stuff is AMAZING!! and the base of just about anything I make that calls for chicken broth. Skip the expensive boxes and cans. Never ever use those nasty little cubes. Better Than Bouillon is available at just about any grocery store, but I get it in bigger jars for a much better price at Costco in the spice section. Keep it in your frig once opened. Use this in your chicken and dumplings just to further flavor the broth water. I don't measure anything - I taste - add - taste....you get the idea! At this point, since I'm a taster cook, I'll sample the broth and adjust the flavor to my likening, usually adding a little salt (careful not to overdo!), pepper to taste, and a generous shake of poultry seasoning - probably about 1 t., but again, just taste as you go. Also add about 1/2 stick real butter (you can adjust this too - less or more depending on your preference. You do need this extra fat though as it is what you are making the dumplings with.)
(UP TO THIS POINT, THIS IS GLUTEN FREE, SO IF YOU ADD RICE, FOR INSTANCE, YOU CAN JUST MAKE A GLUTEN-FREE CHICKEN & RICE SOUP.)
Now for the dumplins! These aren't the bread-y or mushy dumplings. These are the hearty, chewy dumplings that are the only real dumplings. No leavening like baking powder or egg. Forget that!
I also don't ever measure this because if I want a lot of dumplings (and who doesn't), I use more flour and broth, but here the the general dumpling recipe - adjust to your preference because it's so crazy easy!!
DUMPLINGS:
In a bowl, mix together 2 cups general purpose flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Add chicken broth from your pan to the flour/salt mixture a 1/4 c. at a time until you have a ball of dough about like bread dough that you can roll out. A note about this: If you use very hot broth, it will immediately start cooking the flour and could get lumpy, so I also let the broth cool down a bit before using it to make the dumplings. Just dip some out of your big pot and set it aside for a bit.
If, after making this once, you decide you want more dumplings, just play with the proportions of flour and broth. That's essentially all the dumplings are made with so you really don't have to measure anything.
Dump this dough onto a floured surface and sprinkle with some more flour to reduce stickiness so you can handle it a bit. Form into a ball - kneading not necessary. Sprinkle with more flour as needed to control it from sticking the the surface or the rolling pin. Roll it out into a thin rectangle and use a pizza roller cutter to crisscross cut into squares that aren't too huge. I usually go for about 3/4" width by 1 1/2" length. Whatever...not a huge deal. Drop the dumplings into the broth which should be at a rolling boil. Drop only a few at a time until you have got them all in. Now - DON'T STIR AT ALL!! Put a lid on your pan, turn down the heat to a simmer - but still boiling, and cook for 45 minutes, covered. Do not lift the lid and stir!
After dumplings have cooked completely, dump back in the chopped up chicken and let it warm up in the broth for a couple of minutes. If you like vegetables in this, you can add them at this time as well. I have used peas and carrots from a can; I've used frozen mixed vegetables that I go ahead and cook in the microwave before adding; I've used just corn. Do what makes you happy but it's good without veges too. Add pepper to taste, or it can be added by individuals at the table.
If you like the soup part to be thicker (I do) I put about 1/2-3/4 c. of corn starch in a small jar and add some cold water and shake it to mix. I pour this straight into the chicken and dumplings as a last step and heat to thicken on low heat - maybe 5-8 minutes, but keep the heat low and stir. Adjust this for your thickness preference.
This is a lot of words, but trust me this is sooooo easy to make. These are just the basic instructions, but you can see this could be easily adjusted by just using more than one chicken, making more dumplings, more broth, veges or not, etc. You'll be making this without a recipe soon, like I've been doing for 30 years.
Enjoy! - - Cheryl
1/2 stick butter
1 whole chopped sweet onion (I use Vidalia or some other sweet yellow onion, but regular yellow onion is fine. I like onion so usually use a large one.)
Put the whole roasted chicken along with all the juice in in it, into a large heavy pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least 1 hour or until the chicken and bones have released all of it's wonderful flavorful broth. (I learned from my friend Donald, who trains service dogs that if you cook the bones until they are very soft, you can grind them up in a blender or food processor and give them to your dog! Don't ever give a dog a brittle whole bone though as it is very dangerous for them.)
Pull all the soft chicken meat off the bones, discarding skin, and chop or tear up chicken to bite-size pieces and set aside. Try and not leave stray little bones in the broth that would be a choke hazard.
Saute the whole chopped onion and about 1 t. of minced garlic (I used minced garlic that comes in a jar), in a skillet in about 3-4 Tablespoons of real butter until soft. Don't burn!
Pour the sauteed onions into the broth water. If you want more broth, add water and add a big scoop of "Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base". This stuff is AMAZING!! and the base of just about anything I make that calls for chicken broth. Skip the expensive boxes and cans. Never ever use those nasty little cubes. Better Than Bouillon is available at just about any grocery store, but I get it in bigger jars for a much better price at Costco in the spice section. Keep it in your frig once opened. Use this in your chicken and dumplings just to further flavor the broth water. I don't measure anything - I taste - add - taste....you get the idea! At this point, since I'm a taster cook, I'll sample the broth and adjust the flavor to my likening, usually adding a little salt (careful not to overdo!), pepper to taste, and a generous shake of poultry seasoning - probably about 1 t., but again, just taste as you go. Also add about 1/2 stick real butter (you can adjust this too - less or more depending on your preference. You do need this extra fat though as it is what you are making the dumplings with.)(UP TO THIS POINT, THIS IS GLUTEN FREE, SO IF YOU ADD RICE, FOR INSTANCE, YOU CAN JUST MAKE A GLUTEN-FREE CHICKEN & RICE SOUP.)
Now for the dumplins! These aren't the bread-y or mushy dumplings. These are the hearty, chewy dumplings that are the only real dumplings. No leavening like baking powder or egg. Forget that!
I also don't ever measure this because if I want a lot of dumplings (and who doesn't), I use more flour and broth, but here the the general dumpling recipe - adjust to your preference because it's so crazy easy!!
DUMPLINGS:
In a bowl, mix together 2 cups general purpose flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt.Add chicken broth from your pan to the flour/salt mixture a 1/4 c. at a time until you have a ball of dough about like bread dough that you can roll out. A note about this: If you use very hot broth, it will immediately start cooking the flour and could get lumpy, so I also let the broth cool down a bit before using it to make the dumplings. Just dip some out of your big pot and set it aside for a bit.
If, after making this once, you decide you want more dumplings, just play with the proportions of flour and broth. That's essentially all the dumplings are made with so you really don't have to measure anything.
Dump this dough onto a floured surface and sprinkle with some more flour to reduce stickiness so you can handle it a bit. Form into a ball - kneading not necessary. Sprinkle with more flour as needed to control it from sticking the the surface or the rolling pin. Roll it out into a thin rectangle and use a pizza roller cutter to crisscross cut into squares that aren't too huge. I usually go for about 3/4" width by 1 1/2" length. Whatever...not a huge deal. Drop the dumplings into the broth which should be at a rolling boil. Drop only a few at a time until you have got them all in. Now - DON'T STIR AT ALL!! Put a lid on your pan, turn down the heat to a simmer - but still boiling, and cook for 45 minutes, covered. Do not lift the lid and stir!
After dumplings have cooked completely, dump back in the chopped up chicken and let it warm up in the broth for a couple of minutes. If you like vegetables in this, you can add them at this time as well. I have used peas and carrots from a can; I've used frozen mixed vegetables that I go ahead and cook in the microwave before adding; I've used just corn. Do what makes you happy but it's good without veges too. Add pepper to taste, or it can be added by individuals at the table.
If you like the soup part to be thicker (I do) I put about 1/2-3/4 c. of corn starch in a small jar and add some cold water and shake it to mix. I pour this straight into the chicken and dumplings as a last step and heat to thicken on low heat - maybe 5-8 minutes, but keep the heat low and stir. Adjust this for your thickness preference.
This is a lot of words, but trust me this is sooooo easy to make. These are just the basic instructions, but you can see this could be easily adjusted by just using more than one chicken, making more dumplings, more broth, veges or not, etc. You'll be making this without a recipe soon, like I've been doing for 30 years.
Enjoy! - - Cheryl
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