Homemade Chicken & Dumplings

This dish can be done in the crock-pot, but because I like to control the temperature of the boil when I am adding the dumplings, i recommend doing this in a pot. If you prefer crock pot, i would suggest cooking the chicken down for several hours first ,then transferring into a pot before adding your homemade dumplings and bring it to a nice boil . This dish is rich and hearty so it requires the chicken broth to be flavorful, having a good broth is essential to chicken and dumplings- GOOD BROTH TAKES TIME! 😉

Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 5-6 hours | Total time : 5-6 hrs 15 mins

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole chicken ( or you can use 2 Cornish hens as i did) This will feed 5-6 people.
• 4 celery stalks chopped
• 1 whole white onion chopped
• 5 cups of chicken broth
• 4 cups of milk
• 2 cans of cream of celery
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

For the Dumplings:

• 1 cup of pancake flour (pancake flour makes the dumplings softer)
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon of oregano

DIRECTIONS:

Begin preparing the stock/chicken broth. Dice your celery and onion and set aside.

2. Season the chicken thoroughly (you can use any seasoning you prefer. I used garlic herb, salt, and crushed red pepper for spice. In a large pot, heat up olive oil and sear chicken breasts- breast-side down. Turn over after cooking for 2 minutes.

3. After you have turned your chicken over, add celery and onions to the pot and chicken broth. If you need to add more water, you can also use caldo de pollo and mix it with water. COOK DOWN COVERED, ON LOW FOR 4 HOURS. Make sure to check it periodically and add water if needed!

Once the chicken has cooked down, remove all bones from chicken ( unless you like your dumplings to be boney- i don’t recommend it!)  lol

DUMPLINGS:

1. In a bowl combine flour,baking powder, and salt

2. In a separate bowl combine milk, butter, thyme, oregano and unsalted butter.

3. Combine wet ingredients with dry and stir. Make sure not to over stir. Once your dough has formed, spoonful dough and form as best as possible into 1 1/2 inch balls ( they don’t have to be perfect, just make sure they aren’t falling apart)

4. At this point i would turn my pot on high and bring to boil before adding dumplings. Once the pot begins to boil, add dumplings and cover for 15 minutes.

5. After 15 minutes check and see if they are cooked through.

Next, its time you serve and ENJOY! Garnish with a little oregano if you like! 😉