Chicken and Dumplings

Treebeard's has a great chicken and dumplings recipe that includes flavorful chicken, delicious buttermilk dumplings, a creamy sauce, and just enough vegetables to balance the indulgence.

The recipe takes a while to prepare, but it can be made in stages. The cookbook recommends making the broth and chicken the day before you plan to use it. I'm sure you could save some time by using canned stock and a store-bought rotisserie chicken, but this version is really good!

I made a few changes to the recipe by omitting out some shortening, butter, and sugar. Here is the version I made last night:

Stock Ingredients
2 quarts water
3 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 medium onion, quartered
1 1/2 carrots, chopped (I use a couple of hand-fulls of baby carrots and don't chop them.)
3 lb chicken, cut in half
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Place water, seasonings, and vegetables in a pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside to cool. Strain broth and discard vegetables. Set broth aside. Remove skin and debone chicken. Chop into 1" pieces.

Dumpling Ingredients
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 Tab butter
1/4 cup + 2 Tab buttermilk

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter. Add buttermilk and mix with a fork until all dry ingredients are moist. If mixture seems too dry, add another teaspoon buttermilk. Turn out onto floured surface and kneed 4 or 5 times. Roll out mixture and cut into 1/4" squares. (I use a pizza cutter.) Sprinkle with flour and set aside.

Chicken and Dumplings Ingredients
4 Tab butter
1/4 cup flour
Reserved broth
1 1/2 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 medium onion, diced
3 cups carrots, diced
Dumplings
Chicken
1 cup frozen peas

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk until mixture is gently bubbling and smooth, but not brown. Set aside.
Bring broth to a boil and add celery and onions. Cook for 5 minutes. Add carrots and cook until carrots are tender. Add dumplings and cook until dumplings float. Add roux slowly while stirring until mixture has the consistency of gravy. Add chicken and peas and heat through until peas are cooked and chicken is hot.