Chicken and Dumplings

“The fricassee with dumplings is made by a Mrs. Miller whose husband has left her four times on account of her disposition and returned four times on account of her cooking and is still there.”

- Lily Rowan

Chicken and dumplings are my ultimate comfort food.  When I'm feeling down about something, a big helping of steaming chicken and dumplings can just about make it all better.  They are great as leftovers, and unless you are feeding a small crowd you will have leftovers.  If I'm making an entire meal to go with the dumplings, I add baked beans, deviled eggs, corn or corn pudding, and broccoli casserole.  I've got to stop!  Talking about it is making me hungry!

Chicken and Dumplings

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4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

water

1 can chicken broth

1 batch Blue Ribbon Buttermilk Biscuit dough (use regular milk and go easy on it!)

Rubbed sage

1. Place chicken breast halves in a pressure cooker and fill to the halfway mark.  Cook at a steady jiggle for 20 minutes.  Carefully release the pressure and remove the lid.

2. Remove chicken breasts to a cutting board.  Add the can of chicken broth to the liquid in the pressure cooker.  Turn heat on medium and allow it to come to a steady boil.  Add a palmful of rubbed sage to the liquid.

3. Shred the chicken (or dice it very small) and keep it on the cutting board.  You may want to cover it so it doesn't dry out.

4. Prepare the biscuit dough with a small adjustment:  use regular milk instead of buttermilk, and only add enough milk to bring the dough together.  Pat out very thin (~1/8").  Use a pizza cutter (or butter knife) to cut the dough into squares.

5. Once liquid is boiling, add the dumplings one at a time and allow them to sink and then float back up before you add too many more.  Basically if you add them all at the same time they will clump together instead of cooking.  You can really add about 4 to the liquid at a time as long as you space them out around the perimeter.

6.  Very gently stir the dumplings with a large wooden spoon so they cook evenly.

7.  Once the dumplings have plumped up (about 4x the original size), add the chicken a handful at a time to the dumplings.  Stir carefully after each addition.  If you stir too vigorously you will destroy the dumplings.

NOTE:  You have to get the dumplings thin because they will stay raw/gummy in the center if they are too thick.  Mine were too thick this time, and while the outer two-thirds of the dumplings cooked through, the center was still uncooked.  It won't hurt you to eat them that way, they just have an odd texture and are a little heavy.  Alternatively, if you don't want to pat them out and cut them (lack of counter space, maybe?), you can use a large tablespoon to make "drop" dumplings.  All you do is drop the dough into the boiling liquid and wait for them to begin to cook.