i hate fluffy dumplings.

this is what chicken & dumplings should look like!!

I'll never forget the first time I tried to make homemade chicken and dumplings. I was maybe 12 years old, just starting to peruse cookbooks on my own and imagining myself the budding chef de cuisine of our household. Looking back on those days, I'm sure I was a disaster and a half in the kitchen, but I had an awesome mom who was willing to take a step back and let me exercise my independent nature, and even compliment my efforts - which were surely dubious sometimes. (Thanks, Mom!)


Anyway, I decided one day that I wanted chicken and dumplings. It was my favourite thing to get at Cracker Barrel whenever we were on a road trip. Alas, there were no Cracker Barrels anywhere near Waterloo, so I hit the books in search of a recipe. I think I picked the first one I came to, in a church cookbook from Frederika or Sumner, and carefully followed every step. Though slightly confused as to why one would spoon the dumpling mixture into the boiling broth almost like drop biscuits, I faithfully adhered to the directions and covered the simmering pot.



When I lifted the lid the prescribed 20 minutes later, I was just a wee bit horrified at what I saw. It looked something like this: 


                  


This was NOT the chicken and dumplings I knew. This was most definitely NOT the chicken and dumplings I loved. This looked more like doughy, over-sized, imitation cauliflower than anything. This recipe would be more aptly titled, 'chicken and goo-balls.' I slunk away from the stove, defeated. 


It wasn't until ten years later, when I ran across a scrumptious spread in Southern Living magazine about chicken and dumplings, that my hopes for delicious homemade not-fluffy dumplings were revived. (You can find that recipe here.) Turns out the ingredients were suspiciously similar to the old scary chicken and goo-balls; the method was the main difference: rolled, rather than dropped, dumpling dough. So it turns out that all that bafflement had a very simple solution after all!


While you all know I think from-scratch chicken stock is the way to go, making chicken and dumplings the good, old-fashioned way takes a bit more time than I'm sometimes able to dedicate to dinner... So here's the best cheater version of chicken and dumplings. And of course, you can always change things up a bit to suit time and needs. (For example, I discovered a lack of poultry seasoning  in my spice rack when I made this the other night, so I substituted some garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and celery seed.) 

biscuit 'dumplings' and carrots,
ready for the pot

Chicken & [not-fluffy] Dumplings
Pulled meat from 1 rotisserie chicken
4 C chicken stock, broth or bouillon
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 can refrigerator biscuits, pressed thin and cut into strips
1-2 C fresh vegetables (I usually use carrots), peeled and diced

just after adding the biscuit strips

Bring chicken meat, stock, soup and poultry seasoning to a boil in a stockpot. Drop the biscuit strips into the soup one at a time, stirring constantly. Add the vegetables, turn heat down to a simmer, cover the pot, and let cook for 15-20 minutes.


There ya have it, folks. And if you really want fluffy dumplings (*shudder*) you'll just have to consult someone else... a church cookbook from a small Midwestern town, perhaps. As for me, I'll just keep rollin' 'em out.


Cheers!