The Roaster Chicken that Could - Day 2

One of my favorite Southern dinners is Chicken and Dumplings, so I'm using half of my chicken stock for that on Day 2 of Operation Roaster Chicken.

If you've never had it, think creamy chicken soup topped with moist, fluffy biscuits. It's like heaven in a pot! Every Southern cook has his or her own biscuit recipe, so use yours if you have one, but reduce the amount of liquid to make a dumpling. Here's what I do, but improvise to accommodate your pantry provisions.

Ingredients

Chicken and Sauce:
1 T. butter
1 T. oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
4 T. flour
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 T. heavy cream
1/3 of the shredded chicken from your roaster
Salt and Pepper to taste

Dumplings:
1 cup self-rising flour
2 T. shortening
1/3 cup buttermilk

Instructions

Heat butter and oil in a medium-sized stock pot over medium heat. Add onions, celery, carrot, garlic and bay leaf. Sauté  5 minutes or until tender. Add flour and stir well for 1 to 2 minutes to make a roux.

Add chicken stock, one cup at a time, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and add frozen pas. Let simmer for 15 minutes or until sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

While sauce thickens, prepare dumplings. Cut shortening into flour until thoroughly distributed. Stir in buttermilk gradually. Add enough buttermilk until the dough is just slightly sticky.

Turn dough out onto a clean, floured surface and lightly fold the dough until it picks up enough flour to not be sticky, but is still soft. Don't over handle or you'll make your dough tough. Press the dough into a 1/2-inch thick disc. Cut into strips about the size of your thumb and set aside.

Once sauce has thickened, add cream, then chicken and stir to combine. Remove bay leaf and salt and pepper the sauce to taste. Place dumplings on top of your chicken mixture, being careful not to overlap them. They should sit on top of, or just barely sink into, your sauce. Place a lid on the pot and poach the biscuits for 10 to 15 minutes.

What you end up with are light, moist biscuit dough on top of chicken-pot pie fillings. Scoop it out of the pot and savor!

Makes 4 servings, but it's hard to resist going back for seconds!

Day 3 - Chicken Soup