KenK wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> I found a product I like - Swanson Chicken & Dumplings, in a 10 oz
> can. A very few pieces of white meat, mostly dumplings, and a creamy
> thick mild white sauce.
>
> I plan to try to make a homemade version. Perhaps canned or left-over
> cut- up chicken, a can of creamed chicken soup, and homemade
> dumplings. Maybe add chicken bullion cube or two for some salt and
> additional chicken flavor. Maybe a bit of water if it's too thick.
> Mix and heat on stove or in MW.
>
> Am I missing anything obvious? I'm not into highly seasoned fancy
> food, as you can see.
>
> Suggestions?
>
> TIA

Hi KenK, You are missing only *minor* bits here really and it partly
may be in definition of 'dumplings'.

I think I will outrage everyone and tell you that canned chicken will
replicate this better than fresh. In fact, if you can find 'Sue Bee'
canned whole chicken, it's actually optimal for use and price to make
something really close to what you have with the Swanson chicken and
dumplings. Sometimes, the simply homey stuff works BETTER. You are
looking at a very old depression recipe for city dwellers.

Decant the chicken from the can and remove all meat. The liquid and
bones/skin/joints are landfill (no real use that I have ever seen).
You should have about 3 cups of meat for about 2$ (based on local
prices). Freeze 1/2 the meat for a later pot of the same.

Now 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, or one of cream of Mushroom and
one of cream of chicken. Add 1/2 the chicken meat.

In this style, the 'dumpings' are often wide egg noodles (can use
Lasagna noodles) cooked separate then added in *or* cooked in the soup
but you may lose the thickness you desire due to longer cooking. If
so, you can adjust best with cornstarch starting in 1 TB amount. This
will cause the soup to become a bit glossy and it will lose it's
thickening on cooling (but you can reheat with more cornstarch to
re-thicken).

The other type of dumplings which are generally flour paste dropped in
boiling water can also be used and will not affect the thickness of the
regular cans of soup you mention unless, as always the problem, they
are overcooked or cooled then reheated. Cornstarch is my normal go-to
for that.

You can easily 1/2 the recipe with 1/2 the meat and 1 can soup.

If i were to spice this, it would be with a little black or white
pepper but I would keep it to simple amounts. A bullion cube might
work nicely as well to balance a can of water.

If using lasagna noodle, consider a bullion cube in the boiling water
then let it rest and soak a bit of that in.

I am sure folks will crawl out of the woodwork on this but it was a
very reasonable basic recipe adaption that will provide (I estimate) 4
servings for the same price?
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