My recipe for the best Chicken n Dumplings

 Okay the worst part about "my version" of Chicken and Dumplings is that it is a two dinner process. I mean that is a bonus for me.... two dinners for the price of one! You need to buy a whole chicken to roast... and on that night you need to roast it. How do I roast mine? Well in a small bowl i mix about 2 tbsp of melted butter, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tbsp of salt, some pepper, 2 tsp of poultry seasoning, 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar or 1 tbsp of lemon juice and some fresh herbs  like thyme, rosemary, parsley, sage all chopped roughly and  thrown in. Mix it well and then rub it under the skin of the chicken and all over the skin outside.Add 1 1/2 cups of water to the bottom of the pan your cooking in ( i use a stone ware circle baker). Do not pour the water over the chicken! Wash your hands and cook the chicken for an hour breast side up at 375 degrees. Okay so serve what you want with this ( recommend something filling for sides so you have plenty of leftover chicken) and then after dinner pick all the chicken from the bones and discard the bones....now for the juices in the bottom of the pan....SAVE it ALL! once cool pour this through a sieve/strainer into a ziplock bag and you can freeze till ready to make the chicken and dumplings!

NOW FOR THE CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS! I make this to serve 4 people.

1 ziplock bag of of reserved chicken juices from roasted chicken

all the left over chicken you picked off the bones

2 cans of chicken broth

1 pack of mary b's frozen dumplins (super sav usually has them)
1cup of water

and a little fresh thyme and parsely

salt and pepper

Put everything but the dumplings in a very large soup pot...let it come to a boil and stir. add the dumplings one at a time and in an alternating criss-cross pattern so they don't stick together and reduce heat to a med-low. once they are all added you can stir gently and then cover and simmer on low for about 15-20 min. taste and see if you think it needs salt and pepper. I usually have to add just a little salt. ENJOY!