Chicken and Dumplings

Now that the winter holidays are officially over (at least in the U.S.), we can stop thinking about turkey and dressing and ham and cranberries as daily fare. This time of year is perfect for hearty soups, stews, and steaming crock pot meals. Chicken and Dumplings are a favorite among Southern food lovers, for sure, and make a great meal for a cozy evening with family or when company's coming. My recipe for Chicken and Dumplings is basic, and there are several ways you can make the dumplings to go along with the creamy chicken base. Since we're all returning to our hectic post-holiday schedules, this post will include one of the easiest dumpling methods there is. I'll post more on dumplings later. Until then, email us any dumpling recipes you would like to share to thesoutherndish@gmail.com. [Also, if you want a little change of pace try adding a nice herb such as tarragon to this recipe!]

Chicken and Dumplings
one whole chicken, prepared for boiling (you can use chicken parts; if you do this, though, you'll get the best flavor from a mixture of white and dark meat)
2 small onions or 1 large one halved
1 celery stalk, chopped into large chunks
1 large carrot, chopped into large chunks
1 bay leaf
butter for sauteing
sour cream
any desired fresh herbs, such as tarragon, optional (not usually in the "classic" recipe)
sour cream, to taste
1 large can good quality biscuits, such as Pillsbury Grands
Salt and pepper to taste

Using a large stock pot, cover the chicken with water. Add 1 small onion or 1/2 a large onion, cut into chunks. Add bay leaf, celery and carrots. Cover and bring to a low boil. Boil until chicken is falling away from the bones, about 90 minutes. Remove from heat. Carefully remove the chicken from the pot if you want it to cool faster. Once it is cool enough to handle, remove bones, skin, and any inedible bits from the cooked chicken, and chop or shred the chicken. Set aside.

Remove bay leaf, carrots, celery and onion from the broth. Reserve broth. In another large pot, saute the remaining raw onion, diced, in butter until tender. Add the chopped chicken to brown slightly and to coat in butter. Slowly and carefully, add in broth, stirring as you do so. (Add any fresh herbs you want and simmer for 1o minutes or so to release their flavor; this is not necessary, but can be a nice change.) Bring stock and chicken to a slow boil.

Separate canned biscuits. Add bits of biscuit dough that you'll just pinch off the canned biscuits to the simmering broth. Occasionally stir so that the "dumplings" don't just sit on top of the stock. Once you have added the desired amount of dumplings and the dough has cooked through (5-10 minutes depending on dumpling size), remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Take out 1/4 c. of stock and, in a small bowl, combine with 1/2 c. or so of sour cream, stirring until smooth. Add mixture to chicken and dumplings. Repeat process until you have it as creamy as you like. Add salt and pepper to taste.