Chicken & Dumplings - The Perfect Comfort Food

Chicken and dumplings has always been one of my favorite meals.  As much as I love it though, I'm not very good at recipes that require the use of a rolling pin.  I've made a couple of modifications to this recipe to accommodate my rolling pin insecurities and it's still delicious!

Broth

1 whole chicken (thawed)

Olive oil
2 Bay leaves

1 Onion

12 cups of water

Poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot over medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot.  Add your chicken and sear it for three minutes on each side.  Cover with water and add the bay leaves, onion, and seasonings.  Bring to a boil and let it boil slowly for an hour.  

While your chicken cooks, peel and slice 3 large carrots into 1/2" slices.  Slice 3 stalks of celery into 1/2" slices.  Set them aside.  Depending on what veggies I have available, I may add fresh green beans or fresh peas.  It's good with or without the extras.  

Remove your chicken from the stock pot and set it on a cutting board and allow it to cool.  

Taste your stock and add more seasoning to suit your taste.  Add your carrots, celery, and extra veggies, if desired.  Allow these to simmer while you make the dumplings and the chicken cools.  

Dumplings

1 3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup Crisco shortening

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and shortening in a medium bowl.  Use a fork to mix until the shortening in completely mixed in.  Add milk a little at a time until you get a soft, but not sticky dough.  Here's where we go rogue . . . I don't roll out the dough, I pinch off bite sized pieces of the dough and flatten with my fingers and drop the dumplings into the boiling broth.  The dumplings need to boil for about 20 minutes.  

As the dumplings cook, remove the skin from the chicken and pull the meat from the bones in bite-sized pieces and add it back to the broth with the veggies and dumplings.  

If you want to thicken your broth, combine 4 Tbsp of cornstarch with 4 Tbsp of water in a small bowl.  Add this, a little bit at a time, to the boiling broth, stirring until you reach the desired thickness. 

This is one of my go to recipes when it's cold and dreary outside.  It's just so satisfying.