Comfort food at its finest is serving up a warm bowl of homemade chicken and dumplings. Both my mother and mother-in-law were such fantastic Southern cooks. They cooked from scratch and most of their recipes were tucked away inside their memories - very few of their recipes were written down on paper. I worked hard to salvage those wonderful foods that my husband and I grew up loving by making numerous trips to our moms' homes as they were cooking so that I could measure and record each step to make into a written recipe. Their recipes and mine are in a collection bound together and published as Country Style Southern Cooking (by Donna Watkins) available on Amazon.com. Now my mom and mother-in-law were both fantastic cooks, yet their style of cooking was somewhat different. For instance, my Mom made fruit cobblers with a thickened fruit filling and a fluffy batter style topping; whereas, my Mother-in-law made her cobblers with thin juice, sweetened fruit, and pie crust strips laid across the top of the fruit which baked up to a thin crisp topping. Both out of this world delicious, yet, so different. Same thing with their dumplings: My Mom made 'drop' dumplings which cozied up with some thick creamy broth. My Mother-in-law cut thin strips of dough and let them simmer in thin buttery broth. Their dumplings were made from scratch, of course. I have included those recipes in the cookbook. Yet, I have found a way to combine both of their recipes with a Quick Fix using flaky canned biscuits. It's not completely homemade but a close cousin and most folks won't be able to tell the difference. These can be table ready in about 20 minutes. So, here is your recipe: (Enjoy)!
Quick Fix Chicken & Dumplings
1 – 2 cups Rotisserie Chicken
1 (6 oz) can Flaky Biscuits
3 (14 oz) cans Chicken Broth
¼ cup Cream of Chicken Soup (undiluted)
1 Tablespoon Butter
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Flour (for dredging)
Preparation Method:
Shred or chunk cut 1 to 2 cups of pre-cooked chicken – set aside. In a large 5 quart saucepan, bring broth and butter to a simmering boil. While broth is reaching a boil temperature, separate the ‘layers’ of the flaky biscuits (there is about 4 layers per biscuit). Spread some flour across a piece of waxed paper – season flour with salt & pepper. Lay each thin biscuit layer onto the seasoned flour and coat both sides . Roll a rolling pin over the flour coated biscuits layers to flatten them. Cut each flattened biscuit layer into 4 strips. Drop the biscuit strips into the boiling broth. As the strips are added they will float. When the biscuit strips cover the entire surface of the broth- gently punch them down into the broth before adding more strips (this keeps them from sticking together). Cook dumplings about 10 – 15 or until a sample check indicates the dumpling is no longer doughy inside. During the last few minutes of cook time, add the undiluted cream of chicken soup to thicken broth – stir in gently . Add in the desired amount of cooked chicken (chicken should be warm). Serve up a steamy warm bowl of this Southern goodness.
Quick Fix Chicken & Dumplings
1 – 2 cups Rotisserie Chicken
1 (6 oz) can Flaky Biscuits
3 (14 oz) cans Chicken Broth
¼ cup Cream of Chicken Soup (undiluted)
1 Tablespoon Butter
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Flour (for dredging)
Preparation Method:
Shred or chunk cut 1 to 2 cups of pre-cooked chicken – set aside. In a large 5 quart saucepan, bring broth and butter to a simmering boil. While broth is reaching a boil temperature, separate the ‘layers’ of the flaky biscuits (there is about 4 layers per biscuit). Spread some flour across a piece of waxed paper – season flour with salt & pepper. Lay each thin biscuit layer onto the seasoned flour and coat both sides . Roll a rolling pin over the flour coated biscuits layers to flatten them. Cut each flattened biscuit layer into 4 strips. Drop the biscuit strips into the boiling broth. As the strips are added they will float. When the biscuit strips cover the entire surface of the broth- gently punch them down into the broth before adding more strips (this keeps them from sticking together). Cook dumplings about 10 – 15 or until a sample check indicates the dumpling is no longer doughy inside. During the last few minutes of cook time, add the undiluted cream of chicken soup to thicken broth – stir in gently . Add in the desired amount of cooked chicken (chicken should be warm). Serve up a steamy warm bowl of this Southern goodness.
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