Comfort Craze :: Homemade Chicken & Dumplings

Seeing as it's Mardi Gras, I figure I'm probably the only twenty-something in Louisiana blogging right now after a very unadventurous day, and I can see that many are already far gone from all the parading and partying (oh Facebook, you make me so jealous!). Though I wish I could say differently, I am stone sober and already curled up in bed with my space heater by my feet (this is typically my ideal kind of night, but I've been cooped up in the house for so long now that I'm just plain bored!). Considering today's cold and rainy weather, my empty bank account and the fact that I still worked a full day (yes, some of us still have to work on Fat Tuesday!), I'd say a good home cooked comfort meal was a good way to end my blah kind of day!

I don't know about you, but comfort food to me is basically anything tossed in a pot to simmer with enough salt and butter to clog the arteries. This recipe for chicken & dumplings is what my dad's mom (aka Maw-Maw) uses and what I remember my mom cooking, and I love it just as much as I did growing up!

The ingredients are simple... chicken, biscuits, butter, and salt and pepper. But the flavor is amazing! The preparation can be a bit messy and time consuming, but it's worth every minute and every bit of flour spilled.

Before leaving for work this morning, I stuck 3 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts in the bottom of my Crockpot, poured one carton of Swanson chicken broth, filled the rest up with water, sprinkled salt and pepper, and dropped several tablespoons of butter (this part took less than 5 minutes!). I set the Crockpot timer to 6 1/2 hours and went on my way!

Since Marc goes to work well before the sun's even up (I still don't know how he does it!), he ends up getting home a couple hours before I do.. so I had him take care of the chicken for me. I had him take out the chicken and shred it, putting it aside in a bowl. The broth was transferred to a pot that I would later use on the stove.

Maw-Maw goes the old-fashioned route and usually uses whole bone-in chicken for most of her cooking. It definitely adds more flavor and gets you more meat for your buck. As for me, I'd rather save myself some time and energy by using boneless meat.. not to mention, I buy breasts because I prefer white meat to dark meat.

As for cooking the chicken, I highly recommend using a slow-cooker. The chicken falls apart much easier and tends to be juicier than plain old boiled chicken.

For a large pot of chicken & dumplings, you'll want to use 4 cans of biscuits.. and it's important to get the FLAKY kind!

Lightly spray non-stick cooking spray onto a rolling pin (or if you don't own one like me, a large plastic cup will work just fine!) and gently roll each biscuit flat on a light layer of flour.

Each biscuit should look a little something like this...

Then you'll want to cut them into strips about 1/2 inch wide...

Bring the chicken broth to a light boil, and lay each dough strip flat one by one (if you drop them in, the dough will curl up and clump which you don't want to happen). Use a spoon to gently move the biscuits around and let them cook evenly. Cover, reduce the heat, and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Stir in the cooked chicken once the dumplings are close to being done. Don't let the chicken simmer in for too long or it can dry out.

You will most definitely underestimate the amount of salt and pepper you'll need, so do a few taste tests and season to your liking before serving out this delicious feast.

It's not a very picturesque meal, but it's hearty and oh so amazing!

Enjoy!