Chicken and Dumplings

Before making chicken and dumplings today, I can only having the dish one other time.  I was at one of my friends houses last winter break and our families kitchen was being remodeled at the time so a nice home cooked meal was very welcome.  I fell in love with the dish right then and there.  I have always been partial to chicken soup but the thicker broth and the fluffy dumplings of this dish just make it so much richer.  I had leftover chicken and homemade stock from the chicken that I cooked earlier in the week and thus decided to try my hand at chicken and dumplings.  I was shocked how easy it was and how well it turned out.  Definitely a dish I will be making again.

Chicken and Dumplings

• 2 - 3 cups of cooked chicken meat cut into bite size pieces
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 2 cups of chopped carrots
• 1 1/2 cups of chopped celery
• 1 large onion, chopped
• About 6 cups of chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 2 plus 1/4 cups of flour
• 2 1/2 tsps. baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• salt
• pepper
• about 1 tbsp. mixed herbs (I used a combination of thyme, parsley, and dill)

Directions:

Melt butter into soup pot or dutch oven.  Add carrots, celery, and onion, and cook until onion is translucent.  Stir 1/4 cup of flour into vegetable mixture and cook for about 1 minute.  Add chicken, salt, pepper, and half of the herb mixture.  Pour in chicken stock until it just covers the ingredients.  Bring to a simmer and cook covered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, make the dumplings.  Mix together remaining 2 cups of flour, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and remaining herb mixture.  Add in milk and oil and stir into a stiff batter.

After your soup has cooked for about 15 minutes, drop in dumpling batter, 1 - 2 tablespoons at a time, leaving room between each dumpling so that they can expand.  Cover the pot and cook for another 20 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through.

- Sophie