EZ Chicken and Dumplin's

With fall around the corner it's time to pull out the big soup pot and get ready for some great soups and stews. I got an early start this year because my wife got sick and couldn't eat anything heavy. So, she's been basically on a soup diet. Then, thinking about it, I thought it would be a great time to spend putting up some soup and stew recipes.

A pre-cooked rotisserie chicken cuts cooking time tremendously.

There's nothing better, or more homier meal than soups or stews. Especially during the cold months. And, best of all, soups and stews don't have to be time consuming, difficult, or homemade. I needed to make a quick meal for my wife and didn't have the time to put together a full blown homemade chicken and dumplings. And, that is what she wanted. So, after thinking a bit I came up with the following idea.

Thanks to the pre-cooked rotisserie chicken this recipe only takes about an hour. At the end you will have a great, homemade tasting chicken and dumplings. It is a great time saver, especially on a busy, cold, weeknight after work.

Ingredients:
1 -rotisserie chicken already cooked at your local store.
1- pkg frozen dumplings (the pkg I got was 12 ounces.)
2- 32 oz boxes of chicken broth
1 cup water
1 -celery stalk cut into thirds
1- carrot cut into thirds
2- bay leaves
corn starch

Directions:
To begin you want to take all off the meat off of the chicken. Remove all bones and skin. Cut the meat into bite size chunks. You don't have to be precise. Add the broth, water, celery, bay leaves, carrot and chicken to the pot. Bring ingredients to a boil then turn down to a simmer for 30 minutes. This will jazz up the broth a bit to make it a little more like homemade.

After  30 minutes remove the bay leaves, carrot and celery.Bring to a boil once again, adding the frozen dumplings, one at a time so that they don't stick. Reduce heat to a simmer once again and cook according to package directions on the dumplings. Usually around 30 minutes or so.

At the end of the 30 minutes you will need to thicken your stock. To do this take a half cup of warm water, add 3 tablespoons of flour and mix together. Return broth to a rapid boil, pour in the flour/ water mix.  Wish or stir constantly until smooth. Reduce heat and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Notes: 
The thickening of the flower and water is always a tricky thing. You must get it boiling before pouring the mixture into the broth. You may want to pour a little at a time to see how it will thicken. It if needs more just continue adding. If you add to much and it becomes too thick, just add more broth or water.