Grannie's Chicken and Dumplings

(Shared recipe submitted by Guy Stalnaker.)

Guy writes: "Mrs. Bernie Jackson, my Grannie, sadly deceased at age 97, was famous for this dish at church dinners on the grounds. Imagine all our surprise when some years ago she revealed the secret to the dumplings; canned biscuits. She always made me a pot when I drove south to visit family. I miss her."

Ingredients

• 1 medium or large whole chicken, giblets removed, thoroughly washed (and never frozen)
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 can butter-flavored biscuits, more if desired
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken and onion in a 5-quart pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through. (If desired, you can add carrots and celery when cooking the chicken for additional flavor.) Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Strain broth. Return broth to pot. When chicken is cool, debone and set aside.

Flour work surface. Open canned biscuits and, one by one, use rolling pin to roll out biscuit until 1/8-inch thick. Use paring knife to cut rolled biscuit into strips approximately 3 to 4 inches long. Set aside and continue until all biscuits are used.

Bring stock to a boil (this is a must). Drop biscuit strips into stock. They will almost immediately rise to the surface all puffed up. Continue adding until all are in the stock. Reduce heat to medium. (If left on high, the rolling of the stock may break the dumplings apart.). Simmer on medium until dumplings lose their puffiness; you will see it happening. As you simmer, the stock should begin to thicken due to the flour used to roll out the biscuits. Add the chicken and simmer until chicken is heated and stock is thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Disclaimer: This recipe was submitted by a contributor and has not been tested by TerisKitchen.com.