Chicken and Dumplings

I've posted the recipe for chicken and dumplings before, but this batch was so ultimately delicious I had to take another picture and, yes, I'm going to post the recipe again. If you've never attempted this Southern delicacy, please take a little time and make these for yourself and your family. To me, chicken and dumplings ARE the ultimate comfort food.

3 large chicken breasts (bone in) with enough chicken broth or stock to cover completely in a large Dutch oven

1 T. dried thyme

a few grinds of black pepper

1 T. salt

Place the chicken and remaining ingredients in a large Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Let boil for a few minutes and skim off any scum that forms on top of liquid and discard. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Depending on the size of the chicken breasts it will take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half for them to completely cook through.

Remove chicken breasts from stock and put on a plate and let cool. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken and reserve while you make the dumplings.

Strain stock into another large pot and slowly bring to a boil.

Now let's make the dumplings.

2 cups self-rising flour

1 t. poultry seasoning

1/4 cup shortening

2/3 cup milk

In a large bowl, combine the flour and poultry seasoning. Add the shortening and with a pastry cutter mix in with the flour until you little pea sized crumbles.

Make a well and slowly add most of the milk and gently stir with a fork until blended into a wet dough. Add the remaining ounce or so of milk and stir. It's going to be a wet, sticky dough.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for a minute or two until no longer sticky. Add a little more flour if you need to. Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/8" inch. Carefully cut the dough into small squares and gently add them to the simmering broth.

Once you add the dumplings to the broth, DO NOT STIR them. The fragile dough will disintegrate. Let the broth cook the dumpling as you add the remaining squares. Very carefully jiggle the pot occasionally to bring the hot broth over the top of the dumplings.

Let the dumplings cook for 8 - 10 minutes or so and then carefully add the shredded chicken. Gently stir the dumplings into the pot of dumplings. Taste and salt and pepper. If you wish, you can use white pepper. I always use black pepper because I love to see the little specks of pepper goodness against the white of the dumplings