Cracker Barrel Chicken Noodle Food

BETTER THAN CRACKER BARREL® CHICKEN 'N DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Place chicken and 1 pinch salt in a large pot; cover with water. Bring to a boil, skimming any scum off the surface with a slotted spoon. Add lemon, celery, onion, and carrots. Simmer broth over medium heat until chicken starts to fall off the bone, about 1 hour.
• Discard lemon. Remove chicken from the pot; let cool.
• Place flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Ladle in 2 to 3 scoops of hot broth. Mix in flour with a spoon until dough comes together into a ball.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead carefully until smooth. Roll out into a large rectangle; cut into small rectangular dumplings.
• Drop dumplings one at a time into the simmering broth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 30 minutes.
• Bone chicken and chop into pieces. Add to the pot; cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.

CRACKER CRUMB TOPPED CHICKEN AND NOODLE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
• While the crakers are still enclosed in the plastic sleeve, pound them with a rolling pin to crush them into crumbs. Pour in bowl and mix in melted butter. Set aside.
• Mix chicken, soups, water, mayonnaise, lemon juice, onion, noodles and sour cream in a bowl.
• Spoon half of the crumb mixture on the bottom of baking dish and spread evenly. Top with all of the chicken mixture. Spread the rest of the crumbs over the top of the casserole.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until bubbling.

CRACKER BARREL CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Boil 3 quarts water in a large pot.
• Add chicken, 1 t salt, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf and parsley and simmer for 2 hours.
• The liquid will reduce by 1/3.
• When chicken is cooked, remove it and set aside.
• Strain stock and throw away everything but the stock.
• Put 6 cups of the stock back into the pot. (Leftover stock can be frozen.)
• Add the pepper, 1/2 t salt and lemon juice and reheat while you mix dumplings.
• For dumplings, mix flour, baking powder, 1-1/4 t salt and milk in a medium bowl.
• Stir until smooth, then let dough rest for 5-10 minutes.
• Roll dough onto a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thickness. (Handle the dough as little as possible for good dumplings).
• Cut the dough into 1/2 inch squares (I use a pizza cutter) and drop each square into the simmering stock.
• Use all of the dough.
• The dumplings will first swell and then slowly shrink as they partially dissolve to thicken the stock into a white gravy.
• Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until thick.
• Stir often.
• While the stock is thickening, the chicken will have cooled.
• Tear all the meat from the bones and remove the skin.
• Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and drop them into the pot.
• Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, but stir carefully so you don't break the chicken up.
• When the gravy has reached the desired consistency, ladle four portions onto plates and serve hot.
• (Very good over mashed potatoes.).