Chicken and Dumplings

The temperatures are falling and and the days are getting shorter. It's comfort food season and what is more cozy and comforting than chicken and dumplings?

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

For the soup:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• salt and pepper to season chicken thighs
• 1 large yellow onion, coarsely diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 4 ribs celery, trimmed and sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

For the dumplings (Note 1):

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cold
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup cold buttermilk

Instructions:

• Place oil in a heavy bottom soup pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper on both sides. 
• Brown the chicken in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside (Note 2). 
• Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and thyme to the pot. Stir and saute until the onions are cooked through and translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Return the chicken to the pot. Add the bay leaf and chicken stock.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered 30-40 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked. While soup is simmering, you can prepare the dumpling dough.
•  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, thyme, and pepper. Add the butter and use your fingers to break it down into the flour mixture creating small flecks of butter throughout the mixture. Add the beaten egg and buttermilk and stir until just combined. Try not to over-stir the dumpling dough.
• When the vegetables in the soup are cooked through. Remove the chicken and chop and shred it into bite size pieces. Return the chicken to the pan.
• Bring the soup to a light simmer, stir in the fresh parsley, and season to taste.
• Then, using a spoon to gently dollop about 2 tablespoons of dough into the soup.
• The dumplings may sink, but will rise to the surface as they cook. Add all of the dumplings.
• Cover the pot. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until dumplings are cooked through. 
• Remove from heat and serve warm!

Notes:

1. Or you can just cheat and use refrigerator or frozen biscuits. Cut 5 biscuits into quarters and drop into the hot soup as directed. 
2. Chicken won't be fully cooked through at this point, but it will cook through while simmering.