One whole chicken
4 cans of canned biscuits(or less, we like a lot of dumplings and some will disappear during cooking)
Flour
Poultry seasoning
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt & Pepper
Place in pot large enough for water to
cover chicken. Set on stove to boil.
Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and poultry seasoning to water. Just a few (4 or 5) sprinkles of each (maybe 1/2 teaspoon except 1 teaspoon of salt). Swish it around in the water.
Leave to boil until the chicken is almost falling apart. You can turn the chicken over if you feel it needs it. I usually just turn the heat down enough where the bubbling isn't
splashing over the sides and then let 'er cook. I check it after about 1 hour.
*The above notes are also good if you want to make chicken soup or chicken noodle soup. It's all about the soup stock. *
If the water is/has evaporated too
much, add chicken broth or more water to the pot.
Lay out a dough rolling cloth, sheet, or just make sure your counter top is very clean and dry. Sprinkle a layer of flour across your rolling surface.
Gather 2 - 4 rolls of canned biscuits. I use the cheaper store brand biscuits.
I then take each biscuit, roll it out, and cut it into 1-2 inch pieces using a pizza cutter.
*You can use a jar to roll the dough and a knife to cut the dough into pieces if no rolling pin or pizza cutter. *
I do all of the biscuits while the chicken is still cooking so it can be ready to put into the broth. You can use as much flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin, cloth, counter top, or each other.
Now it's time to remove the chicken from the broth.
I use a large spoon and a fork to lift the chicken out of the broth. If pieces fall off into the broth, you can recover them using a slotted spoon.
I put a cake pan under a colander to set the chicken into.
CAUTION!!! Chicken will be VERY hot!!
I will run cold water over the chicken,leaving it in the colander, while I pull all the meat off the bones. I Place the meat in a separate bowl and discard the bones, skin, and gristle.
Place deboned chicken back into stock pot. Add more chicken broth or water if needed. Bring to a rolling boil.
Once it's boiling, start adding the cut up biscuits a little at a time while stirring.
The dumplings will puff up, then slowly thin down while cooking.
Add all biscuits then pour in remainder of flour that's left on the rolling cloth. Or just add a bit of flour. This will thicken up the broth.
Once everything is added, turn burner down to low and let it simmer, stirring regularly. Do this for about 30 - 45 minutes.
* It will want to stick to the bottom of the pan so be sure to stir often *
Once it gets to the desired thickness, it's ready.
Add salt, pepper, or any other
seasonings you want to suit your taste.