KELLEY SAYS: I can picture clearly in my mind standing in my grandmother's kitchen watching Nanny, as we called her, working the flour, lard, salt and baking powder together in bowl to make dumplings for her chicken 'n' dumplings. She was a tiny woman with tiny hands, but she would work that dough into a ball, then roll it out so thin you could see through it.
BARRY SAYS: This meal was fun to watch being made because Kelley used not only Nanny's recipe but some of Nanny's tools like the flour sifter, knife and rolling pin. Her great-grandfather, PawPaw, actually made the pin decades ago, turning it himself on a lathe.
KELLEY: Nanny would make her chicken and dumplings about twice a month. I haven't made it in years and had almost forgotten how good it is. I cheated a bit this time and used a rotisserie bird from one of the local grocery stores and made the stock the day before. I like the flavor and it made things a little quicker and easier.
I pulled the chicken off the bones, then I made the stock by putting the full bird - meat, bones and all - in a stock pot and adding some garlic, onion, celery and pepper. I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for about an hour. Once the broth cooled, I removed the chicken and the other ingredients and let the broth sit overnight in the fridge to separate the fat, which I removed the next day.
It's important to make sure your broth is seasoned properly before adding the dumplings. I cheated a bit here as well, using a half a packet of Knorr-Swiss instead of salt.
The key to the dish, of course, are the dumplings, which I rolled thin and cut into one-inch-wide strips and let them cook in the broth for about 15 to 20 minutes. I added some of the chicken meat into the mix with about five minutes of cooking left.
BARRY: On the list of comfort foods, this one has to be near the top. Homemade chicken 'n' dumplings are so much better than the canned version. The broth is rich and creamy and packed with flavor and the dumplings, which soak up the broth, are thick and doughy and delicious.
KELLEY: When rolling out the dough, you want to shake off the excess flour before dropping it into the pot. The flour that's left will help thicken the broth. In the eight-quart stock pot I used, the broth filled it about three-quarters full. This made enough to cook the dumplings and have extra juice. I like extra fresh pepper on mine.
All in all, this was delicious. It's also gone. We shared some with a neighbor and finished the rest before dark.
Chicken Stock Broth
1 rotisserie chicken
1 onion, halved
1 stalk celery
5 large gloves garlic
6 whole black peppercorns
Enough water to cover the bird
Pull meat off the chicken, then add everything to stock pot - meat, bones and all. Bring water to a boil and taste often to make sure it is to your liking. Once it's done and the broth cools, remove the chicken and the other ingredients and let the broth sit overnight in the fridge to separate the fat, then remove the fat when ready to cook the dumplings.
The Dumplings
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup lard
1/2 butter milk
1 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, mix everything together and work into a ball with your hands. Flour the work surface and split the ball into halves. Roll each as thin as you can get it. Cut into one-by-four-inch pieces and drop them into boiling Chicken Stock Broth. You can add chicken meat at this point, if you like. Stir regularly. Once everything is in the pot, turn the heat to low, put a lid on it and let simmer, stirring frequently.