Mrs. Sayles Chicken & Dumplin’s
Ingredients
- Chicken- 1 (5-lb) chicken
- 4 celery leaves
- 2 onion slices
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1⁄2 tsp salt
- 7 C water
- Gravy
- 2 C milk
- 3 C reserved broth
- Butter
- 1⁄3 C flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1⁄4 tsp paprika
- Dumplings
- 2 C sifted flour
- 1⁄4 tsp celery salt
- 1⁄3 tsp salt
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1⁄4 tsp sugar
- 1⁄4 tsp paprika
- 3 T lard or butter
- 3⁄4 C milk
Directions
From The Courier-Journal’s Cissy Gregg
Cut the chicken into serving pieces. Combine seasonings and water and bring to a boil. Add chicken, lower heat, and simmer 1 hour. Remove chicken. Skim fat from broth and reserve both. Remove chicken from bone, discarding bones and skin.
For gravy, combine chicken fat with enough butter to make 1/3 cup. Add to pot on medium heat along with 1/3 cup flour, salt, and paprika. Stir until smooth. Stir in milk, and then 3 cups broth. Add chicken and bring to a boil, stirring often.
For dumplings, combine flour with seasonings and baking powder. Cut in the fat until it resembles cornmeal. Stir in milk to dampen flour—you may need a little more. Knead five times and then pat or roll about 1-inch thick. Cut into 2-inch squares and roll in your hand briefly. Drop dumpling into simmering gravy and repeat to use all the dough. Cover, reduce heat to simmer, and cook 20 minutes without raising the lid.
Serves 8.
