Chicken with Chive Dumplings

From last night into this morning we went from incredibly beautiful weather to "Oh, Baby, it's cold outside!"  That makes it time for comfort food again, and this recipe certainly falls into that category.

2 whole chickens cut into 8 pieces - remove skin
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 large stalks celery (cut into 1/4" slices)
1 lb carrots (cut into 1" pieces)
2 3/4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives plus additional for sprinkling
3 cups milk
2 large eggs
32 oz chicken broth
4 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 (10 oz) package frozen cut green beans

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a large bowl, toss chicken pieces with 2 Tbsp oil, 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper.  Arrange chicken on jelly-roll pan.  Bake 30 - 35 minutes or until juices run clear when thickest part of chicken is pierced with knife.

In a 6 quart or larger Soup pot, heat remaining 1 Tbsp oil on medium until hot.  Add celery, onion, and carrots, and cook about 18 minutes or until all vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, stirring occasionally.

While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the dumplings:  In a medium bowl, with fork, mix 2 1/2 cups of flour with baking powder, 1/4 cup chives, and 3/4 tsp salt.  In small bowl, mix 1 cup mil and eggs.  Stir milk mixture into flour mixture just until blended.

Add broth, water, bay leaf and 1/2 tsp salt to the vegetables.  Heat to boiling on high.  Drop dumpling mixture by rounded Tablespoons into broth to make about 20 dumplings.  Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through.  Remove the dumplings from the broth and set aside.

Debone the chicken once it has cooled.  Add it to the broth and vegetables.

In a medium bowl, whisk 1/4 cup flour with 2 cups of milk until blended.  Stir into broth mixture.  Heat to boiling on high; boil 1 minute to thicken slightly - stir constantly.  Stir in the frozen green beans and heat through (about 5 minutes).

Remove the bay leaf.  Add the dumplings back into the broth and sprinkle with fresh chives.