There are two basic schools of Chicken and Dumplings: Those where the dumpling dough is rolled out and cut into strips, and those where the dough is softer and dropped into the stew in blobs. The first type is what you would find at Cracker Barrel: Bits of chicken in a bland gravy with broad, slippery noodle-things. I find this type of Chicken and Dumplings to be edible, but unappetizing. By contrast, the recipe below is a slightly creamy chicken stew, rich with vegetables and herbs and topped with fluffy clouds of steamed dough. This is the definition of comfort food. This is Chicken and Dumplings as it should be.
