Chicken and Dumplings

This is my mom's recipe for homemade Chicken and Dumplings. The thin dumplings are what I believe sets this recipe apart from other dumplings I have eaten. i don't like the thick, doughy dumplings most people serve.  This is a great example of simple, homemade, southern cooking. There are few ingredients involved in this recipe. Although, this recipe does take some time to prepare, it is not difficult to make. Most of the time is spent waiting for the dumplings to dry.

• 1 Whole Chicken, rinsed
• 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Cold Water
• 2 T Salt
• 2 t Pepper

Place chicken in a large stock pot and cover with water. Add 1 tablespoon of salt to the water. Boil chicken until done and falling off the bone (aprox 1 hour). 

While your chicken is cooking, you can start making your dumplings. With a dough hook and electric stand mixer, combine the flour, water, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 2 teaspoons of pepper. Let the dough hook do all the work for you. Start out on slow speed and slowly increase the speed to medium high. The flour and water should start to form a firm ball of dough. Once you have a firm ball of dough, remove it from the dough hook and place the dough ball on to a floured surface. Kneed a few times and then with a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/8", cut the dough in to 1" strips and allow to dry on the counter for at least 4 hours. Once the top side of the dumplings have dried, flip them over and allow the underside to dry as well. 

Once your chicken is done, remove it from your stock pot and place on to a platter where it can cool. With a sieve, strain the remaining liquid in the stock pot to remove any bits from the broth. (This will be your chicken broth that you will cook your dumplings in.) Measure the broth you have strained and add enough water to the broth to equal 16 cups. Pour the strained chicken broth/water back in to your large stock pot. 

Once the chicken has cooled enough that you can handle it, pull the meat from the bone and discard the skin and bone.

Bring the chicken broth to a rolling boil, drop the dumplings in one by one making sure to stir the broth frequently. This will prevent the noodles from sticking together and forming one big dough ball. Boil the noddles until tender and broth begins to thicken, aprox 25 mins. When the noddles are tender, stir in the chicken. Simmer for 30 minutes and stir occasionally to prevent sticking.