Pop’s Chicken and Dumplings
Recipe Courtesy of April Stamm
1 chicken, quartered
4-6 cups chicken stock
4 stalks celery, cut in half
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 cup whole or 2% milk, approximately
freshly ground pepper
In a Dutch oven or stock pot, cover the chicken and celery with enough stock to cover by 1/2 inch. Season the stock with a little salt and pepper (not too much, stock will reduce a bit when cooking). Over high heat, bring the stock to a boil and lower to a simmer. Simmer for 1 hour. Take the pot off of the heat and take chicken and celery out of the pot, and keep it warm in a 200 degree oven.
For the dumplings:
Sift together the flour, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening until the lumps are pea sized. Break the egg into measuring cup and beat slightly. Fill the measuring cup with egg inside with milk until it reaches 1/2 cup. With a fork, mix milk and egg mixture gradually into the flour mixture until a soft dough is formed. Turn onto a floured board and knead 20 times, working bench flour into the dough until it is pliable, not gooey but not too stiff. Roll as thin as possible using flour extremely liberally; the extra flour clinging to the dumplings with thicken the broth. Cut into strips about 1 inch wide and 2 inch long. Bring the stock back to a boil. Drop the dumplings one at a time into the boiling chicken stock, stirring constantly. When all of the dumplings are in, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure dumplings don't stick. You can either serve the dumplings separately along side the chicken and celery, or pull the chicken off of the bone and fold it into the finished dumplings.
