Southern chicken and dumplings

Step 1: Put the 3 ½ lb whole chicken, 10 ½ cups water, 1 onion, 2 celery sticks, 2 carrots, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp black peppercorns and 2 tsp salt in a large pot. Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer gently for 1 hour, until the leg moves loosely and the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F.

Step 2: Lift out the chicken to cool. Strain the broth, discard the vegetables and return 2 litres of broth to the pot; chill 150 ml for the dumplings.

Step 3: Pull the meat from the bones in bite-sized shreds, discarding skin and bones.

Step 4: Rub the 1 ¾ oz vegetable shortening or cold butter into the 9 oz plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder and ½ tsp salt, then stir in the ¾ cup cold chicken broth (from the pot) to a stiff dough. Roll on a floured worktop to 3 mm and cut into 2 × 5 cm strips.

Step 5: Bring the broth to a steady simmer and drop in the strips one by one, stirring gently so they don't stick together. Simmer for 15 minutes; the extra flour thickens the broth. A common mistake is a hard boil, which breaks the dumplings up.

Step 6: Return the chicken to the pot with the ½ tsp black pepper and heat through for 5 minutes until piping hot. Scatter with 2 tbsp fresh parsley.