Recipe: Chicken and Dumplings

I know many people that flinch at the thought of making something from "scratch". While some recipes are way more work than they're worth, there are a number of delicious meals (and goodies) you can enjoy that fall into the "scratch" category without spending hours in the kitchen. Chicken and dumplings is an American favorite (especially in the South) and it's actually easier than you would think. I bought a cooked rotisserie chicken at Costco the other day when I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to make dinner. We ate half of the chicken, and I made Au gratin potatoes and sauteed green beans to go with it. Although I often make chicken salad the next day with the rest of the chicken, I decided to squeeze another dinner out of it this time to save on our weekly groceries. I put the chicken in a large pot, filled it up with water until it covered the chicken, threw in some celery and onion, then put it on the stove over medium high heat to cook for about 30-35 minutes. Although this recipe takes a while to cook, the time in preparing ingredients is pretty minimal which makes it a great meal to make when you have cleaning or laundry to do around the house. You can go work on something else while it's cooking and come back to it later to finish up the meal. While this recipe isn't completely from "scratch" (I use a can of soup and Bisquick mix, it has the flavor of "scratch" and all the same yummy ingredients). Hope you enjoy this one!

Chicken and Dumplings

1 rotisserie chicken (whole, half, quarter, whatever you've got!)
1 small onion chopped
3 stalks of celery chopped
approximately 4 quarts of water
2 chicken bouillon cubes or 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
pepper (to taste)
1 cup of frozen peas and carrots
1 can of cream of celery soup
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups Bisquick mix
1/2 cup milk
paprika

To get started, place what's left of your chicken in a large pot. Fill with water until the chicken is completely covered. Place on medium high heat and cover. Chop up the onion and celery. Add to pot and cover. Let chicken lightly boil for about 30 minutes. Take chicken out of pot to remove skin and bones. This can be a little tricky if your chicken starts falling apart on you. Make sure you get a good hold of it from both sides to lift out (a spatula and serving fork work well for me) and place in bowl or on a large plate. Once the skin and bones have been discarded add your tender chicken back to the broth. Add chicken bouillon (mix til dissolved), garlic powder, pepper and peas and carrots. Stir in cream of celery soup. Bring to a boil. In separate small bowl mix corn starch and 1/4 cup of water. Add mixture to pot while stirring. (This will make the broth thicken to a stew/gravy consistency. If you would rather have it more soup like then omit the corn starch and water step and move on to the dumplings. Both ways are tasty, so it's up to you how you like it). In a separate bowl mix Bisquick mix and milk just til combined to a dough-like consistency (overmixing will make the dumplings tough). Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls into boiling stew (about 6-8 dumplings). Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle dumplings with paprika. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes. Congratulations! You just made homemade chicken and dumplings! Enjoy!

P.S.-If you don't have a whole chicken, but still want to make the recipe, you can pan fry 8-10 chicken tenderloins or 2-3 chicken breasts then boil them in approximately 2 quarts water. I would recommend cutting the recipe down to 1 chicken bouillon cube and then adding 2-3 cups of canned chicken stock. You can add salt and pepper to taste.