Cracker Barrel Chicken & Dumplings
photo by Latinochef296
- Ready In:
- 3hrs 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 14
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
-
Chicken and Broth
- 3 quarts water
- 3 -4 lbs cut up chicken
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
- 1 small sliced onion
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and quartered
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 -6 whole fresh parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
-
Dumplings
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1⁄4 teaspoons salt
- 1 1⁄8 cups milk
directions
- Boil 3 quarts water in a large pot.
- Add chicken, 1 t salt, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf and parsley and simmer for 2 hours.
- The liquid will reduce by 1/3.
- When chicken is cooked, remove it and set aside.
- Strain stock and throw away everything but the stock.
- Put 6 cups of the stock back into the pot. (Leftover stock can be frozen.)
- Add the pepper, 1/2 t salt and lemon juice and reheat while you mix dumplings.
- For dumplings, mix flour, baking powder, 1-1/4 t salt and milk in a medium bowl.
- Stir until smooth, then let dough rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Roll dough onto a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thickness. (Handle the dough as little as possible for good dumplings).
- Cut the dough into 1/2 inch squares (I use a pizza cutter) and drop each square into the simmering stock.
- Use all of the dough.
- The dumplings will first swell and then slowly shrink as they partially dissolve to thicken the stock into a white gravy.
- Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until thick.
- Stir often.
- While the stock is thickening, the chicken will have cooled.
- Tear all the meat from the bones and remove the skin.
- Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and drop them into the pot.
- Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, but stir carefully so you don't break the chicken up.
- When the gravy has reached the desired consistency, ladle four portions onto plates and serve hot.
- (Very good over mashed potatoes.).
Reviews
-
Great recipe. Thanks for sharing. I have made this a few times now and I am still not getting the salt and pepper mixtures exactly right - but it is getting there. I also like the broth thicker than it was getting on it's own (even after letting it cook) - so I added a little corn startch/water mixture to help it a little.
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I've been making this recipe for several years. I sometimes cook the broth and chicken then freeze for later in the week/month. They freeze well - all you have to do is "melt" the broth and make the dumplings. In a pinch canned chicken stock works well too, just cook the chicken pieces in the stock while you make your dumplings. 5 stars at our house!
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Tweaks
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This went over really well with my family. I followed the directions exactly, except that I did add a little chicken bouillon instead of salt. <br/>I agree with Chef #600333. Using enough flour to make the dumplings makes it easier. Since the batter was so "loose", I put a huge spoonful of it on a well floured surface, covered it generously with more flour, pressed it out with my hands and cut it with a large butcher's knife. I gently lifted the dumplings up, let the excess flour fall through my fingers and tossed them into the boiling broth.<br/>Thanks for a great recipe!