Recipe - My Favorite Chicken And Dumplings

TO MAKE STOCK
1 Whole chicken
3 Carrots, cut up
1 Yellow onion
4 Stalks of celery, chopped
2 Bay leaves
1 teaspoon Thyme
2 teaspoon Sage
Pepper
Pinch of salt
5 qt Water

FOR CHICKEN SOUP BASE
3 cup Strained stock
2 Carrots, chopped
2 Celery ribs, chopped
1 Small yellow onion, chopped
One half teaspoon Sage

FOR DUMPLINGS
2 One half cup Flour
3 teaspoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Salt
3 tablespoon Crisco
2 tablespoon Chopped parsley or
1 tablespoon Dill weed
1 One fourth cup Milk

Simmer all stock ingredients in water for about 45 minutes. Remove chicken
from pot and cool until able to handle. Skin and bone chicken and cut or
tear into small pieces. Strain stock reserving 3 cups or so. Add chicken
and ingredients list for soup. Bring to a simmer while you are preparing
the dumplings.

Dumplings can either be made with Bisquick or you make them with the
ingredients listed above. Mix dry ingredients and cut in Crisco, using a
pastry blender or two knives. Add parsley or dill and stir milk in with a
wooden fork. Do not overmix. Drop by large spoonfuls on top of the
simmering soup. Simmer 5 minutes with the lid off, then cover and simmer
15 to 20 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

This is adapted from a recipe from Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet, and is
just heavenly.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini