Meme's Chicken & Dumplings

The finished product

This is a total comfort food for me. Whenever I would visit my grandma (Meme), she would have a pot of chicken and dumplings on the stove for me. And, whenever I was sick, this is what my mom would make for me. The dumplings are a little easier to make because they are drop dumplings (requires no dough rolling like the Art Smith ones). Try out both recipes and let me know which ones you like best!

Stock:

• one 3 to 3.5 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 4 carrots, sliced into rounds (I like carrots in my soup)
• 2 1/2 quarts water
• 2 - 3 bay leaves 
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Dumplings:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 beaten eggs
• milk to moisten the dough (I estimate we used about 3/4 - 1 cup of milk; will all depend on how dry your flour is)

Saute onion, celery and carrots in dutch oven until softened. Add chicken, water 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to boil over high heat, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface. Reduce heat to low and cover tightly. Simmer, occasionally skimming broth, until chicken is tender, about 50 minutes.

Using tongs, transfer chicken to platter (keep the broth and veg simmering) and allow chicken to cool until it's easy to handle. Discard skin and bones and cut meat into bite sized pieces.

Increase the heat of the stock and vegetables until it reaches a boil. Mix the ingredients together for the dumplings. The dough will be moist and think. Use two spoons to drop the dumplings into the stock mixture, making the dumplings about the size of a tablespoon (they will get larger in the broth). Cook for 20 minutes with the pot half covered. Stir the chicken back into the pot, add fresh parsley and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Then, enjoy!