Chicken and Dumplings

1 large fryer, cut up
1 can cream of chicken
1 can chicken broth
3 T. butter
salt to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 box Betty Crocker pie crust mix
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk

Place chicken in large boiler and cover with large amount of water. Cook slowly til chicken is tender. Remove chicken from broth and debone. Add to water: soup, broth, butter, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to simmer (slow boil) while preparing the dumplings. Add chicken back to the broth.

Blend pie crust mix and flour in mixing bowl with enough ice water to form dough. Roll out as pie crust. Cut into 1 to 2 inch squares. Bring broth back to a fast boil and drop in squares of dough. Boil for 5 minutes then add milk and cook for 3 minutes.

***This is my mom's recipe. A few "recipe secrets" to making great chicken and dumplings....she says that using chicken with a bone helps add flavor. (I sometimes just use chicken breasts but have used chicken legs and thighs since I don't know how to cut up a whole chicken). She also adds about 1 tsp of Spice Island Chicken Stock Base. This is a rather expensive ingredient found with the spices. I can only find it at Kroger.

Oh...if you aren't used to making chicken and dumplings or trying to attempt it for the 1st time...don't get discouraged. It most likely will not turn out exactly how you pictured. I've been told and I have experienced that the Southern art of cooking "real" chicken and dumplings comes with practice and many attempts that have sometimes failed. The first time I cooked Chicken and Dumplings...it seemed that my dumplings just disappeared not to be found anywhere in the broth. I called my mom with panic and she responded, "They haven't dissappeared...they've got be in there somewhere." I spooned a ladleful into a bowl for one of my sons, to which he responded, "Mamma, where are the dumplings?" My mom still on the other end of the phone just laughed. "See, I told you they dissappeared, Mamma." To this day, I don't know what happened to them. There were a few but not as many squares I thought I had put in there. So, keep trying because once you've mastered this...your family will consider an expert cook just because you can make good ol' southern chicken and dumplings. You might not can cook any other meal, but here in the South, if you can cook chicken and dumplings...that's all that matters.

Chicken and Dumplings is an all time Southern favorite and the ultimate comfort food that is enjoyed year round but especially during the cold, wet winter months or when suffering with the Southern "crud".