Aunt Poodies Chicken & Dumplings

This recipe takes me back to my  Aunt Poodie's house.  Her real name was Luella and she was my dad's sister.  I have no idea why they called her Poodie, not sure I want to know why! They grew up during the depression.  My Aunt Poodie made the best chicken and dumplings and I remember watching her in the kitchen and she would tell me not to take the lid off the pot or stir the dumplings.  This recipe is as close to what she used to make that I have found and of course I have put my special spin on it as well by adding green peas.

I always make my own homemade chicken stock by cooking the bones of a leftover rotisserie chicken with onion, garlic, lemon and whatever else I might have in the fridge. Using your own homemade stock gives a better depth of flavor to any recipe.

Saute 1 onion, 1 celery stock and 3 cloves of minced garlic in butter until soft, add 1/4 cup of flour and cook stirring into the butter and vegetables and add approximately 8 cups of chicken stock to pot stirring until all flour has dissolved.  Add 3-4 pounds of shredded chicken, 1 Tbs salt, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 Tbs fresh ground pepper, 1 Tbs poultry seasoning, 1tsp dried Rosemary, 1 tsp dried Thyme.  Bring to simmer stirring occasionally.

Dumplings:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp parsley flakes
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tbs shortening

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add dried parsley.  Combine beaten egg, buttermilk and melted shortening  and add to dry ingredients.  Mix until moist.  Flour your counter and roll dumplings out. You don't want your dumplings to thick or thin, about 1/8 inch is good.  I cut my dumplings so they are about 2"x2".  You can also drop these dumplings by the spoonful into the pot if you prefer.  I also typically double this dumpling recipe because I like a lot of dumplings in my stew.  So you might want to double the above recipe.  Now drop dumplings into simmering broth, one by one, do not stir. Once you have all your dumplings in the pot. Put the lid on the pot and let the dumplings steam for 12-15 minutes.

Once dumplings are done and no longer doughy inside, then you can stir the pot and the dumplings will begin to take on some of the broth and the liquid should be thickening to almost a gravy thickness and they will begin to sink into the liquid.  Its at this time that I stir in my frozen vegetables.  I usually just add green peas, sometimes green peas and carrots.  Or sometimes I don't add vegetables at all.  Let your dumplings continue to cook in the broth and once it has gotten as thick as you want it you can turn the heat off.

These chicken and dumplings are so good.  You will definitely want to 

make extra so you have some for leftovers the next day.  These are even better the next day.