Chicken and Dumplings

I'm a sucker for dumplings. I guess it's just part of my ongoing twisted, yet delicious, love affair with carbs. And I like that this recipe can be made with large pieces of chicken, covered in a thick sauce or as a soup with small chunks of chicken that will fit on your spoon. Either way, you're sure to feel comforted and very satisfied. I wouldn't mind having a cold so much if someone would cook me up a hot bowl of this. You know what they say: feed a cold, feed a fever.

CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

1 large broiler-fryer chicken, cut up

2 celery ribs, sliced

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 medium onion, diced

14 to 16 oz. chicken broth or stock

2 tablespoons dried parsley

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon (I like organic Better Than Bouillon brand)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2-1 teaspoon black pepper

water

dumplings:

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

4 tablespoons canola oil

1.      Soup: Combine chicken, celery, carrots, onion, chicken broth, parsley, bouillon, salt and pepper in a large, wide pan or dutch oven; add enough water to cover chicken. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked.

2.      Remove chicken and let stand until cool enough to handle. Remove skin from chicken and tear meat away from bones. Return meat to soup; discard skin and bones.

3.      Taste soup and add more salt and pepper, if desired. Return soup to a simmer.

4.      Dumplings: In a mixing bowl, combine dumpling ingredients and mix well to form a stiff dough. Drop by tablespoonfuls into simmering soup. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

FOR SOUTHERN STYLE DUMPLINGS (heavier and chewier): 2 cups flour, 1 cup chicken broth, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 beaten eggs. Follow step 4 above.

barely adapted from food.com (submitted by Dawn Vezina)

everything but the chicken and water

chicken added

I used just over 3 lb. of chicken
thighs, instead of a whole chicken.

water added

If you like your chicken and dumplings with more
of a sauce than a soup, just add less water (making
sure to just barely cover the chicken). Mine was sort
of in between - a thick soup or maybe a stew.

1 hour later

cooked chicken cooling off

chicken

It's up to you how large or small
you want your chicken pieces.

stirring in the chicken

mixing the dumpling dough

I followed the recipe for the original dumplings
(not the Southern style on the bottom of the recipe).

dumpling dough

dropping in dumpling dough

dumplings puffing up and cooking

chicken and dumplings

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