● Boil dethawed chicken breasts and both boxes of chicken broth for 25 minutes uncovered. Once fully cooked - remove and cool slightly. ● Drain your broth through a strainer over another pot. Pour strained, cleaned broth back into pot. Place bay leaves back in broth. Whisk all cans of soup into broth. Shred chicken and place back into broth. ● You can also purchase 2 pounds of precooked, pre-shreadded chicken from your local deli.
● Add one drained can of carrots, onions and celery and add any additional ingredients you desire to your pot. Be careful in adding any additional salt if you're using broth with sodium. ● Know that you can add fresh carrots, celery and onions. Just make certain they are all small chopped. You'll have to increase boil time as well until softened.
● Simmer on high for 10 minutes or, 15 to 20 minutes if using fresh vegetables. Stir occasionally. Otherwise, you'll develop a sturdy skin on the top of your soup. ● Remove bay leaves at this point if opting to employ them.
● Fifteen minutes prior to serving - turn up soup to a heavy boil. ● Tear raw biscuits into 4's or even smaller, if you'd like. ● One by one - leaving space between each dumpling or they'll sick together - add dumplings to your boiling pot and boil for about 8 to 10 minutes. ● With a spoon, stir from the bottom/base [not the top] of the pot as to not break up your dumplings. Stir regularly as the chicken WILL stick and burn at the base of your pot at such a high boil. ● Test one dumpling at 8 minutes to check for raw dough in the center. It'll look darker than the outside if still raw. If so, b
● If serving in bread bowls, gently hollow out the insides - leaving a sturdy outer shell. Ladle soup into the bread cavern you've created. Garnish bread rim with fresh parsley and serve immediately. ● Or, just serve in a traditional soup bowl. Enjoy!
● Authors Notes: If serving in bread bowls you'll want your soup to be a bit thicker as to not seep out of the bowls. ● To thicken your soup, you can mix 2 tablespoons Corn Starch and one tablespoon water. Mix well and slowly add to your hard simmering soup. Mix well in soup. It'll thicken up as it simmers so add starch slowly. ● But don't thicken with corn starch until you see how much your soup tightens up with the addition of your dumplings. They will firm your soup up quite a bit. ● Conversely, if you find your Chicken & Dumplings are too thick for your liking - jus
