Today's post is by Teri Lynne from Pleasing To You. She's one of my favorite blog friends that I've made in the past year. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably noticed the two of us razzing each other during football season. You see, as wonderful as Teri Lynne is in most areas of her life, she has one fatal flaw: she is an Auburn fan. But I can see through even THAT because she's just such a sweetheart. Her blog is uplifting, informative, inspirational and fun. I encourage you to visit, especially on Sundays when she does her Fab 5 for the week. Leave her a comment and let her know you care. :)
Many thanks for sharing this tasty recipe and wonderful post, Teri Lynne! ROLL TIDE! (c'mon, I HAD to do it...)
There's just something about the South.
A hospitality ... a mindset ... a whole culture that is totally unique. It's more than sweet tea or mint juleps. Beyond girls with perfectly made-up faces and the ever-present manicures. It even surpasses the monogrammed dresses on little girls whose brothers are wearing the the matching seersucker romper on Sunday mornings. It's a love for family, for heritage, for tradition.
Now, I'd never say those things are not present in other areas of the country but there is a bond between southerners that even transcends the Auburn-Alabama rivalry. It's the reason we have "Decoration Day" at the cemetery and "Homecoming" at the church. We place a high value on "that's the way we do it."
I'm not a southerner by birth ... I married into it. I'm from the Midwest ... hearty, gritty, and (since I hail from Missouri) definitely the kind of person who lives out "Show Me!" But since I married a man from Alabama (who cheers for Auburn, btw), I have become a southerner by choice. And I feel like I've "found myself "in the grand old south. I love magnolias and live oaks, having a pot of brown beans for dinner and making sure my daughter uses "Sir" and "Ma'am." I love that everything shuts down for the possibility of snow and that "Mamaw" is what you call all your grandmothers.
And I love the food! I mean, I really love the food. And probably my favorite of the traditional southern foods is chicken and dumplin's. (You have to leave the "g" off when you're talking about southern dumplings.) So, when Jen asked for people to share their favorite comfort foods, I knew I had to share my very simple, very yummy recipe!!
Chicken & Dumplin's
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
2 qt. water
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 c. self-rising flour (I only use White Lily)
3 tbsp. shortening (for a richer dumplin you can use butter-flavor Crisco)
3/4 c. buttermilk (NOT sweet milk!)
Directions:
Boil chicken in salt & water. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer 1 hour or until tender. (I like to do mine overnight so it just falls off the bone.) Cool chicken and debone. Bring broth to a boil; add pepper.
Cut shortening into flour until mixture looks like coarse meal. Add buttermilk, stirring with fork until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn out dough onto well-floured surface. Knead four to five times.
Roll dough THIN (about 1/4 inch). Cut into strips (about 1/2 inch wide). Drop dough into boiling broth, one piece at a time. Gently stir after each addition. Cook 8 to 10 minutes at medium heat until desired consistency, stirring often to keep from sticking. Stir in chicken.
I always quadruple this recipe. Yep, you read that right ... I increase by four times. We have several friends who love chicken & dumplin's so when I make them, I always call and have people stop by to pick up a "to go" order. Steve is one of those friends ... he's been known to eat a big pan of dumplin's with the serving spoon. Crazy man!
We serve with hot cornbread ... not sweet cornbread, mind you. The really dry cornbread that soaks up all that extra broth and makes the whole thing even better.
Enjoy!!
Sounds good. I may have to try that at some point... I am just not good at planning ahead (i.e. starting dinner before 4pm).
Posted by: AJU5's Mom | March 22, 2010 at 12:34 PM