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Vance Family Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

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This recipe for Vance Family Chicken and Dumplings is from The Johnston Family Recipes, one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. We'll help you start your own personal cookbook! It's easy and fun. Click here to start your own cookbook!


Category:
Category:

Ingredients:  
Ingredients:  


One whole chicken
2 tablespoons ‘Better Than Bouillon’ mix, Chicken Base
Parsley
Pepper
Dumplings
2 cups Bisquick Baking Mix
1 cup milk

Directions:
Directions:
Immerse chicken in water in large stew pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat and continue cooking until done, 45 – 60 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Add bouillon to broth and bring to a low boil.

While chicken is cooling, mix Bisquick and milk and flour flat surface. Using about a baseball-sized portion of the dumpling mix, roll out the dumpling mix on the flat surface to desired thickness, usually about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch. Cut the dough into diamond shapes with a pizza cutter and gently add to the boiling broth. Continue this process until all the dumplings are in the broth.

Remove the chicken from the bone and break or cut into bite-sized pieces. Add chicken to the broth. Stir and let cook for another 5-10 minutes. Add parsley just prior to serving.

Serve with crusty bread and cole slaw.

Number Of Servings:
Number Of Servings:
8
Preparation Time:
Preparation Time:
90 minutes
Personal Notes:
Personal Notes:
It was at a Vance family reunion when I first watched as one of the cousins, Eldridge, chatted with me while she cut the diamonds of dough and gently placed them on a spoon balanced on the edge of the kettle of simmering broth. As the weight of the 'diamonds' accumulated, the spoon slowly lowered into the broth. The diamonds floated up off the spoon, puffing out as the rose to the top of the broth.

I loved the gentle artistry Eldridge, an elder aunt, displayed in this simple act that displayed years of tender practice. I wanted to do the same magic in my kitchen so I asked Catherine, Jack's aunt, about the recipe. The part about the buttermilk and the flour and the backing soda was fine but then she said I should take 'some lard . . . about a golf-ball size amount,' I knew this might be trickier than I had expected.

I tried using the directions several time and the dumplings never floated anywhere. They were as heavy as little diamonds of lead. I decided to try using Bisquick instead of the buttermilk and lard and have had much better success.

Someday when I have more time, I may try to master the original. I think I owe it to Eldridge and Catherine.

 

 

 

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