Dumplings may be any of a wide variety of dishes, both sweet and savoury, in several different cuisines. They are either made from balls of dough or are small parcels of food encased in pastry, dough, batter, or leaves. After being encased in pastry, dough or leaves, they usually undergo a further treatment by steaming them or submerging them in boiling oil.

This chicken and dumplings recipe is true comfort food.

The other day I was watching Americas Test Kitchen which happens to be one of my favorite cooking show. This time they made chicken dumpling soup and it looked wonderful. The dumplings where large and airy and doubled in size as they cooked. The whole meal looked quite nice and warming. So I had an urge to try this recipe out, or at least I had an

AOL's food blogger shares a goofy, warm story of marrying into a Southern family in order to get a hold of their legendary Chicken & Dumplings recipe.

Season Chicken with garlic, salt and pepper. Cook whole chicken to a simmer for approximately 2 hours.. or until you see the chicken is falling off the bones.