Chicken And Dumplings The Way God Intended!

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4-1 cup buttermilk (or milk thickened with a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 cup carrot, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup flour, plus
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup half-and-half or 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 -4 lbs chicken, cooked and shredded (i make my own stock for this recipe and just use the chicken from that, but you can use any cooked a)
• black pepper, to taste
• chopped parsley (optional)

Recipe

• 1 sift dry dumplings ingredients together in a large bowl.
• 2 in a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and milk together.
• 3 pour the liquid in the dry ingredients and gently fold. mix just until the dough comes together, the batter should be thick and cake-like. set aside.
• 4 in a dutch oven, melt butter and heat oil over medium heat. add carrot, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
• 5 stir in the flour to make a roux. continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes to coat the flour and remove the starchy taste.
• 6 slowly pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
• 7 let sauce simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. stir in heavy cream.
• 8 fold the shredded chicken into the sauce and bring up to a simmer.
• 9 using 2 spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the hot mixture. the dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be touching or crowded.
• 10 let the dumplings poach for 10 to 15 minutes until they are firm and puffy.
• 11 season with freshly cracked black pepper and garnish with chopped parsley if desired before serving.