Chicken of Dumplings

By: Angela Gillaspie Copyright © February 2007

Until recently, I've spent my life being chicken of dumplings. Of course I was unaware of my poultry prejudice until I received the following email from one of my readers -

"Do you have a recipe for chicken and dumplins - Southern Style? Not the Northern kind. I live in Minnesota and here no one has a clue what old timey Southern Food is. The food is very bland here. Thank you, P.A."

Mrs. P.A. a) liked chicken and dumplings, b) knew the difference between Northern and Southern chicken and dumplings, and c) wanted the recipe for true Southern chicken and dumplings. My hubby is a devoted chicken and dumpling disciple so I asked for his thoughts. He replied, "Um, they're just squashy wads of dough cooked in chicken soup."

Squashy wads - that wasn't much to start with, but it did spark a memory. One evening, way back around the time God made dirt and I was old enough to use it for mud pies, my daddy ladled some chicken and dumplings onto my supper plate. He said, "Mmm mmm! You are gonna love this, Angel!"

Unfortunately, I was an extremely stubborn child and tried my durned-est to be as difficult as possible. So it's pretty obvious that not only would I dislike chicken and dumplings, I wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole. Momma used to tell me that I could make a preacher cuss.

Despite my dark dumpling past, I wanted to respond to Mrs. P.A.'s email with honesty, knowledge, and wit, and with any luck, answer her question. I needed to put my dumpling discrimination aside so that I could offer unbiased advice. Learning more about dumplings - chicken or otherwise - might change me from being chicken of dumplings to being a dumpling-friendly Angel.

After an hour or two with my cookbooks and computer, I learned that dumplings were simply smallish chunks of boiled, steamed, or fried dough served both savory (with meat and vegetables) and sweet (with fruits). No one can lay claim to the original recipe of chicken and dumplings, but if you ask me, I bet an exhausted mom came up with it.

Imagine with me ... a frazzled mom of five stands in front of her cook stove watching a thin chicken soup simmer. She might've seen her bread rising and wondered what would happen to her soup if she dumped in pieces of dough. She could've made dumplings by pinching off wads of dough from her rising bread or maybe she mixed up flour, fat, and liquid, rolled it out thin, cut it into strips and then dropped the dumplings into her soup.

It wasn't long until her thin soup transformed into a thick delicious stew that was just the thing to feed the family. Afterward, she probably shared the recipe with her friends, they shared it their friends, and then on it went.

Dumplings go way back in time and are known to many cultures. The ingredients (grain, meat, vegetable, fruit), the way dumplings are cooked (steamed, fried, boiled), and the ways the dumplings are served (with gravy, in soup, as dessert) vary. Every culture has its own dumpling specialty.

Here in America, we normally don't stuff our dumplings. One of the South's favorite dumplings is the humble hushpuppy. This strictly Southern recipe is rumored to have received its name from the cook - probably another frazzled mom - trying to keep the huntin' dogs quiet while she cooked supper. She threw a fried piece of cornbread at the whining dogs and hollered, "Hush puppy!" And the name just stuck. I'm surprised that hushpuppies weren't named "hushhubbies" or even "hushkids."

In addition to hushpuppies, other popular dumplings found around here include apple dumplings, chicken liver dumplings, ham dumplings, butterbean dumplings, and yes, the famous chicken and dumplings - both Northern and Southern versions.

There's a disagreement among Southern folks whether or not Southern (or Northern for that matter) dumplings are rolled (or dropped). Rolled dumplings are made by kneading dough, rolling it out thin, cutting it into squares, and then cooking the dumplings in chicken soup. Drop dumplings are similar except that right after the dough is made, it isn't rolled, but dropped by spoonfuls into boiling chicken soup.

Some sources refer to Southern dumplings as being drop dumplings and Northern dumplings being rolled, and of course other sources cite the opposite. I had to find an answer, so I did what I always do - I called home. Momma was on the kitchen phone and Daddy was on the parlor phone and they offered me all kinds of dumpling data. Momma had a bunch of dumpling recipes and recalled the dumplings of her youth. Daddy jumped in every now and then adding his two cents worth (he really loves chicken and dumplings, so it was more like a buck 97 worth of dumpling devotions). After a little family gossip, we exchanged I-love-yous and hung up.

Weighing the information, I decided that whatever type of dumplings Granny Polly and Grandma Whaley made would be Southern chicken and dumplings. And if there's any doubt about my Southern-ness - both Momma's and Daddy's families are from the hills and hollers of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, so that makes us about as country as cornflakes.

Daddy's ma, Grandma Whaley, made thin rolled dumplings, and Momma's mom, Granny Polly, made thick rolled dumplings, so Southern chicken and dumplings, in my opinion is: rolled dumplings.

With the war between the dumplings decided, I put together bits and pieces of other recipes to form my own recipe and started cooking. Everything went according to plan until it was time to roll out the dumplings. Smelling my golden chicken concoction simmering on the stove, my four younguns - freshly home from various sports practices - were hungry and hollering. And wouldn't you know it? I was fresh out of "hushkids."

Fearing a culinary coup d'état, I decided to make the quickest recipe: a combination of both Northern and Southern dumplings. I mixed together some biscuit mix and milk, rolled a spoonful of dough between my palms and then dropped it in the soup. It's much faster to drop wads of dough instead of kneading, rolling, cutting, patting, and then dropping.

Supper was finally ready and as I ladled the chicken and dumplings, I realized that I'd come full circle. My kids, 5, 10, 13, and 15 were suspicious of this new meal item and I held my tongue to keep from saying, "Y'all are gonna LOVE this!" All four of 'em are stubborn as a mule and they too could make a preacher cuss.

The chicken was succulent and tender and the dumplings were fluffy and light. My hubby was smitten and halfway through supper, he knelt by my chair and professed his undying love (for chicken and dumplings). My kids were amazed and actually asked for seconds. I too was shocked by the comforting 'homey' flavors and textures of this satisfying comfort food.

Hungry for dumplings? In the mood for deep dumplin' thoughts?