Chicken and Dumplings

Being from Alabama, I grew up eating and loving Chicken and Dumplings especially my mom’s.  This dish brings me so much comfort and revives pleasant memories of home.  That being the case, why would I ever bother with another recipe other than the one I grew up with?  Because it sounded soooo good!  And it is!  This is a recipe I found and adapted from the Culinary Arts Institute Cookbook.  It is more complicated to make than traditional chicken and dumplings, but the flavor is more concentrated and complex. 

Ingredients (Serves 4)

¼ cup butter

2 large chicken breasts - bone in, cut in half

½ cup chopped onion

¼ cup celery

2 tbsp chopped celery leaves

1 clove garlic

¼ cup all purpose flour

4 cups chicken broth

2 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp dried basil

2 bay leaves

¼ chopped parsley

1 pkg frozen green peas

Basil Dumplings (You could probably half this recipe for 4, I had alot of leftovers)

2 cup self rising flour

¼ cup butter

¾ to 1 cup buttermilk or milk

1 tsp basil leaves

Heat butter in a large skillet.

Add chicken pieces and brown on all sides.

Remove chicken from skillet.

Add onion, celery, celery leaves, and garlic to fat in skillet.

Cook until vegetables are tender.

Sprinkle with flour and mix well.

Add chicken broth, salt, pepper, basil, bay leaves, and parsley;

Bring to boiling, stirring constantly.

Return chicken to skillet and spoon sauce over it; cover.

Cook in 350ºF oven 40 minutes.

Prepare Basil Dumplings

Cut butter into flour until it forms fine crumbs.

Add the buttermilk and basil, stir.

The dough should be thicker than pancake dough and moister than biscuit dough.

Remove skillet from oven and turn control to 425ºF.

Stir peas into skillet mixture and bring to boiling.

Drop dumpling dough onto stew.

Return to oven and cook, uncovered, 10 minutes; cover and cook 10 minutes, or until chicken is tender and dumplings are done.

Enjoy!