Semi-homemade Chicken and Dumplings

This round I opted for a true re-creation--since that IS the name of the website--and picked Sandra Lee's chicken and dumplings as my target.  Chicken and dumplings have piqued my interest only in the last couple years.  I never cared for them as a child--and I'm just BARELY out of my childhood :)  (Pass the Botox, please.) It's just recently gotten very cold outside, and when it's cold, comfort foods call my name--even ones I've never been fond of apparently! 

I saw this Semi-homemade recipe on the FoodNetwork for chicken and dumplings and thought I'd give it a whirl!  The thing I love about Semi-homemade meals is that it fits my lifestyle very well :)  By the time I get off work and run by the grocery store (because I rarely ever plan ahead) I often don't have a lot of time to prepare dinner before my husband and/or I are heading off to our next obligation. 

Let me just say...being refined in the art of procrastination as I am, I had set up the time for the Everyday Girls to meet a couple or three days before I was actually cooking, and STILL waited until I got off work on the day of to hit the grocery store.  I guess I'll never learn...On the positive side, it makes every visit to the store like an episode of Supermarket Sweep--dashing up and down aisles like a mad woman on a mission--which can be quite fun unless the Kroger security man shakes his finger at you in the self-checkout lane! Whoops!

Anyway, I printed off the list of ingredients and grabbed as quickly as I could--in and out of the store in about 7 minutes.  It would've been less time, but  A). I couldn't find chicken gravy, B). the rotisserie chicken wasn't in the deli section (It was in what the deli lady affectionately referred to as the "Hen House" close to the check-out.), and C). an eccentric family member grabbed my buggy while I had my back turned and hid it from me for a hot minute as a joke.  I admit I laughed.  Gotta love family.  On my way home, I called on my sous chefs (Anna and Kirby) for the evening to help get dinner on the table more quickly.  It really didn't take that long at all.  I got home around 5:45PM and we were eating by 6:30.  Not bad!

As my oil was heating in the pot, Kirby and I chopped carrots and celery.  We decided we didn't want to put the full 14 ounces of both vegetables in our pot, so we didn't.  That's the beauty of cooking your own meals.  If you don't want as much of an ingredient as a recipe calls for, change it or even omit it if you want!  Once chopped, we threw the carrots, celery, and pre-chopped frozen onions in the pot to sweat.  I also added a couple tablespoons flour at this point, because several reviews mentioned the broth being quite soupy.

While the veggies were softening, Kirby and I shredded the chicken and Anna pulled the biscuit dough into about 7 or 8 pieces each.  We decided to make smaller dumplings after reading some of the recipe reviews and seeing that several people commented on how big the dumplings were when cut into quarters.

About halfway thru shredding chicken and tearing dumplings, the veggies were good to go so I went ahead and added the broth (I only used 4 cans instead of 6), poultry seasoning, and s&p. I also added a can of cream of chicken soup instead of chicken gravy (only because I couldn't find it!) at this point.  This simmered for 4-5 minutes. 

Once we finished shredding the chicken, we threw it in the pot and placed the biscuit dough on top.  They started puffing up immediately and looked so cute like little pillows of fluffiness floating on top.  Awww...I popped a lid on top and let it simmer for about 10 minutes until the dumplings were done.

The chicken's taking a dip!

Fluffy dumplings = pillows of goodness

The biscuit dough thickened the broth a bit, but it was still soupier than any chicken and dumplings I've ever had.  And come to think of it, I've never had chicken and dumplings with carrots and celery in it either.  In my opinion, it was more like chicken soup with dumplings.  The taste was good--I would definitely make it again.  However, I was slightly disappointed at how liquid the broth remained (even after I added flour and used less liquid than the recipe called for).  I do have to say that the dumplings were very good this way and saved a lot of trouble. I do love a canned biscuit ♥♥  In conclusion, though I was not 100% satisfied with the soupiness, the pot was empty when we finished eating so it must not have been too bad J.  Try it.  Easy and good on a cold winter’s day! 


The final product

  Here's the link again for the recipe and reviews of this recipe. Happy New Year!!!