Chicken & Noodle Dumplings

10-12 cups water

1 whole chicken, cut up with bones

1 ½ tsp. salt

2 bay leaves

1 small onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

6 parsley leaves, chopped

1 T. lemon juice

Dumplings

2 ½ cups flour                     1 ¼ tsp. salt

1 T. baking powder             1 cup + 2T. milk                        

Directions:  Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.  Add the chicken, ensuring that the chicken is fully covered.  Add salt, onion, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, and parsley to the pot.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook the chicken, uncovered, for 2 hours.  The liquid will reduce by one-third.

When the chicken has cooked, remove from stock.  Debone.  Try to keep chicken in larger pieces and return to stock.  Add lemon juice.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Begin dumplings.  Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and milk in a medium bowl.  Stir well until smooth.  Sometimes needs more flour.  Let the dough rest 10 minutes.  Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to about ½” thickness.

Cut the dough into small squares (use pizza cutter) or use a biscuit cookie cutter for small round dumplings.  Drop the dough into the simmer stock.  Use all of the dough.  Dumplings will first swell and then slowly shrink as they partially dissolve to thicken the stock.  Simmer for 30 minutes until thick. Stir often.  Remove bay leaves.  Serve.

Comment:  From Cracker Barrel.  If you want thicker stock, add milk/flour combination to the broth ..