Chicken and Dumplings - the easy way

When I was growing up, one of my favorite meals my Mom made was Chicken, biscuits and gravy. Kind of like chicken and dumplings, but she made biscuits instead of dumplings and after they baked she broke some up and tossed them into the chicken and gravy. The ones that didn't go into the dish she served warm with butter and sugar. It took a large part of the afternoon for her to put that meal together. Boil the chicken and then peel it off the bones. Cut up veggies to put in the chicken stock. Make homemade biscuits. (I remember "helping" her once by patting down all the biscuits after she had cut them and placed them on a baking sheet...none of them rose and she couldn't figure out why she had "hockey pucks" instead of biscuits!) I make her version of that dish from time to time, but tonight I wanted the dish without all the work.

I used a recipe from Southern Living magazine for Easy Chicken and Dumpling and made some changes to it to make it my own. The end results were delicious. My hubby all but licked the bowl clean. It smelled delicious cooking on the stove and was easy as can be to put together.

 Easy Chicken and Dumplings

1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices  
1 yellow onion, diced
4 celery ribs, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
2 cloves of garlic, minced                                    
1 (32 ounce) container of chicken stock
The meat from 1 whole rotisserie chicken,  picked from the bones and broken into bite-sized pieces
1 (10 3/4  ounce) can of reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
3/4 teaspoon Bouquet Garni (a blend of savory, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, dill weed, marjoram, sage and tarragon)
1 (10.2 ounce) can of refrigerated jumbo buttermilk biscuits (I used whole wheat biscuits)

In a hot dutch oven, over medium heat, saute onion, garlic, carrots and celery in a little bit of olive oil, until onions are soft and translucent.
Add chicken stock, soup, chicken and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Let simmer for 20 minutes. (I left this on the stove for almost an hour to be sure carrots and celery were soft and tender)
Before adding biscuits, bring mixture to a low boil over a medium-high heat.
Roll the biscuits out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 of an inch thickness.(I only used 4 of the 8 biscuits, baking the other 4 to serve on the side) Cut each biscuit into strips about 1/2 inch wide. (I cut the strips into pieces about 1 inch wide by 1/2 inch wide.)
Drop the cut up biscuits into the boiling mixture, one at a time. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer another 15 or 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent dumplings from sticking. I served it in bowls with baked biscuits on the side. Delicious!