Chicken and Drop Dumplings

Today's recipes are all about what ails you

We're cooking food that's going to make us sick? No. No! Food that's going to make us feel better

Comfort food. And you know chicken stock, they say, really does have medicinal value to it

So I'm going to make us some chicken and dumplings. Well, let's get started

I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say you'd like for me to chop this celery

Well, you know what? You'd be right on it. And here's the sad part. It's going to take you about two seconds because I want it in pretty big pieces

Okay. I can handle that. Okay. And while you're doing that, son, I'm going to take our chicken, and I'm just going to cut it into these scissors

What kind of bird is that? It's just a fryer, about a three-and-a-half-pound fryer

And when you're making chicken and dumplings, you want to use bone-in chicken, and you certainly want to use the skin

because that's where all your flavor is, yes. Did you know not to throw this stuff away on the celery

Oh, I never, never throw that away. That is what they call the nutrient superhighway

That's where all the goods for you are in the celery. And it's so beautiful. And it's pretty

I love the leaves in it, and it's got so much flavor

All right, now what we're going to do, son, is add about eight cups of water

Okay. All right, so, Bobby, we're going to add two heaping tablespoons of a granulated chicken bouillon

And a bay leaf. Yes, and a bay leaf. I'm going to add some salt and some pepper to this

So we're going to put this lid on here. We're going to bring our chicken to a bowl, and then we're going to turn it down

and we're going to simmer it for about 45 minutes to an hour

The chicken ready? Yes. Hey, y'all, I'm in here in the kitchen today with my youngest son, Bobby

and today is all about preparing foods that fixes what ails you It smells so good already Doesn it smell good And we all know that that wonderful rich chicken broth it tastes good and it good for you

So, Bobby, what we want to do, son, is just kind of disjoint this

Okay. So you can start to cool it off just a little bit. And while you're doing that, I'll make us some dumplings

Now, to richen up our broth, I'm going to bring this back to a bowl

Okay. And a wonderful little can of cream of condensed chicken soup will help just increase the flavor of our stock

I know what I would do with this chicken skin. What do you want me to do with it? Well, actually, I dispose of it

I can't believe it. Well, you've got to cook with it. Oh, you mean while you're cooking it, you want it there

Because you're going to get all the flavor out of it anyhow. But the only time that I ever eat chicken skin, y'all, is on my fried chicken

In fact, Bobby, when you were a little boy, we had a Winn-Dixie

I remember. Right around the corner from us. And in their delicatessen, they served up fried chicken skins

Wait, I don't remember that. You would go in and buy bags of fried chicken skin

I would? No. You would? You would feed it to me? Yes, I did

This was also when, let me tell you something else. I am guilty. My mama used to not like to go to the grocery store by herself

Here's how she would get me to go with her. She would say, son, if you'll go to the grocery store with me, I'll buy you a jar of olives

It would always be a big jar, and I still to this day love green olives. It's one of my favorite things

And olives were, they were not in our budget. No, they were expensive

We would ring up an empty jar at the end of the grocery trip because I would drink every bit of the juice

and eat every big green olive in that jar. And then I would wonder why I had a pounding headache when I got into the car

It was such a treat for you. It was a treat. It still is. Because I just..

But I don't drink the juice anymore, except in my martinis. A dirty martini

Love it. I just added a half a stick of butter to our broth Just a half stick Yes just a half a stick Are we going light today We lightening this up This is going to be so good Like you said this is a treat

Here's what I don't know how to do. I've never perfected the whole dumpling making thing

I don't know how to do that. Well, we're making easy dumplings today. This is sort of like a southern matzo ball

Yes! Exactly. Exactly. Alright, so now while that's boiling... Oh, that chicken's hot

I'm going to start with two cups of all-purpose flour. Now I'm going to add four teaspoons

Son of a gun. Of baking powder. Bobby, why don't we let our chicken cool down just a little bit more

And while that's cooling, if you would mince up these green onions right here

I love how my mom asked me to do things while she's in the act of doing it

This is how I spent my whole life. I'm not a good trainer. I'm going to add one teaspoon of salt

And you know why not. Let's do a little bit of pepper, too. All right

I'm going to add about a fourth of a teaspoon of nutmeg

Just the green? Down to about right here? No, honey. All of it. You want all of it? And that nutmeg will give it such a delicate little hint of flavor

Okay, we'll go to the next nut. And now I'm going to add just a little pinch of cayenne, Bobby

Oh, good. A little kick. I'm going to add three-fourths a cup of milk

My mama has always been a caretaker. Like, if you don't feel good, you get this

Or, like I said, you get oyster stew or you get potato soup

That's what I would get when I was a kid. In fact, I was sick. Just a squirt more milk

I was sick just a few weeks ago and my mama showed up at my house

to take care of me. Didn't you? When my children were little

I was at the doctor every time he opened his doors because I was so afraid

something was going to happen to y'all. Oh, were you really? Well let me tell you this We used to go to visit Dr Sweat So he would have the stethoscope on my chest while he was smoking Paul Malls I remember it I remember it I think both of y

might have been smoking. It was a different... I think maybe I was smoking. It was a different day and age, y'all

Ha, ha, ha. Alright, I'm dropping these beautiful drop dumplings down into that hot

broth. This chicken is cool enough for me to start tearing, so I'm tearing it. Okay

We'll add our chicken. Very last thing, Bobby. Okay. We're going to give them plenty of room to have that nice, yum, hot bass

Well, I feel better already. How long do they take? Oh, they'll take about 15 or 20 minutes

We'll put the lid on them. Y'all, you never want to stir your dumplings because it'll tear them up

You shake, shake, shake. If I stuck a big old spoon down there, I'd tear those beauties all up

and that's the last thing I want to do is tear my dumpling up

You know what else she used to do to me? I love eggs so much

I could eat them every day. When Jamie and I were little kids, Mama would hide things in our eggs

What would you hide in our eggs, Mama? Oh, you would have it. Scrambled eggs. We used to get scrambled eggs with, oh, I don't know

Brains and eggs. She thought it was going to make us smarter. Yeah

Pig brains. My kids are so stupid that if they eat pig brains, maybe they'll be smarter

I tried to feed them to your daddy on a regular basis. Did you slide them by

No, he didn't like them either. Oh, that looks so good. Look there

That looks perfect. Isn't that beautiful? And now I am going to just lay our chicken on top of those dumplings

I'm going to spread those around in there just like that, this beautiful tender chicken

They're good. Mm-hmm. Isn't that yummy, son? Now, I'm going to add a little bit more pepper

because I just love the way it looks in this dish. Oh

Let's dig in. Yes. Look at that, darling. That looks great