Old Fashioned Chicken And Dumplings - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 chicken, cut into pieces (during the holidays you can get a fresh hen)
2 quarts cold water (always put your raw chicken in cold water &ndash, you&rsquo,ll get a much richer broth)
1 tablespoon salt
1 white onion
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup butter
12 ounces evaporated milk
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
5 -7 tablespoons cold water

Preparation

Add the chicken to the stew pot.
Add salt, onion, carrot, celery, and black pepper.
Cover with cold water and bring to a low boil.
Foam will form on the water as it begins to boil.
Skim the foam from the water.
Stew chicken until tender with the salt, onion, carrot and celery ribs, about 40 - 60 minutes after liquid gets to a low boil. Cooking time depends on the size of your chicken or hen.
Remove the chicken from the broth and discard the vegetables.
While the chicken cools, make the dumplings. Mix 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour.
1 teaspoon salt.
1/3 cup shortening.
5-7 tablespoons cold water.
Work the dough and roll out on a floured surface.
Roll out the dough very thin about 1/8\".
Cut into 1\" wide strips and let dry for about 30 minutes.
remove chicken from the bones.
Cut or pull the chicken into desired-size pieces.
Add pepper and butter to broth and heat to simmering. Broth should look peppery and taste great.
Add 1 can evaporated milk to broth.
Before adding your dumplings to the milk broth, add a touch of grated nutmeg to the broth.
Add the chicken pieces and heat. (Broth needs to be several inches above the chicken for the dumplings to have enough room to cook.).
Add the dumplings to the low boiling broth a few at a time to keep the broth at a boil.
Cook 10 minutes in the low boiling broth. (If you boil your broth too high, your dumplings will disappear or clump together.).
Remove from heat and let rest 10 minutes and serve.