Arkansas Chicken and Dumplings

Submitted by jessymroberts

"From Best of the Best from America Cookbook by Gwen McKee & Barbara Moseley, c. 2005."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 10mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 1 dish
• Serves: 8-10

ingredients

• 1 large broiler-fryer chicken
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter

• DUMPLINGS

• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chicken broth (cooled)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour

directions

1. Boil chicken in 2 quarts of water, to which salt and butter have been added, until tender. Remove chicken, strain, and reserve broth. Remove skin of chicken and bone. Cut meat into large pieces.
2. DUMPLINGS:.
3. Mix egg, salt, butter, and broth together. Add flour, mixing with a fork, a small amount at a time. Knead in flour until a stiff dough is formed. Roll out very thing. Cut in strips. Bring chicken broth to a boil. Pull apart and stretch strips of dough as you drop into broth. Reduce heat and cook about 10 minutes (covered), stirring occasionally. Add cut-up chicken to dumplings and enjoy!

Reviews

[jasonme1976]

This recipe is my Great Grandmother's, Maudie Clearly (Bab). The original recipe is from "The Great Taste of Arkansas" cookbook. I grew up eating this dish and it is as good as it gets. The homemade dumpling strips are worth making. My mom usually adds parsley flakes to the dough. Making this tonight!

 

[LifeIsGood]

Such a comfort food classic! This was a great version. We really loved the dumplings. They had a great consistency. I took a shortcut and used chicken from a rotisserie and a quart of chicken broth. I'm sure it would be even better prepared as written, but this worked for me on a busy night. It was so yummy! Thank you!

 

[Jostlori]

I've attempted to make chicken and dumplings many times, and have always been disappointed! I finally gave up and started using canned biscuits as dumplings, but never really liked them. This, though, is the holy grail of dumplings! I absolutely loved the velvety texture and flavor of the chicken and the dumplings, probably due to the butter added to the cooking water. I was a little unsure about the 2 cups of flour, because it wasn't clear if I was supposed to add MORE flour to get it to a stiff dough. So I did add quite a bit more to get it to the right consistency. Stretching the dumplings made a huge difference, and these turned out tender and delicious. Sorry for the long review, but I'm just so jazzed that I finally found a terrific recipe for this. These remind me of the chicken & dumplings from Cracker Barrel, only better. Oh - and don't be tempted to add more salt. I did, because the dough tasted a bit bland - and lived to mildly regret it. DH loves salty, though, so he was in heaven.