Especially good ol' comfort food on a rainy day.
Chicken & Dumplings
Chicken Stock
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup of chopped leeks
Center of celery bunch with the leaves, chopped
1 tbs. peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 tbs. kosher salt
Sprig each of thyme, rosemary and oregano
6 cups of water
Cream of Celery
3 stalks celery, minced
4 tbs. butter
3 tbs. flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Dumplings
2 cups self rising flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
A few ladles of chicken stock
First, chop up one leek and place in a large bowl and fill with water. Swish the leeks around a little to get some of the dirt off of them. Let them soak for a few and then drain them for a while.
For the stock: In a large stock pot, place chicken, carrot, leeks, celery, peppercorns, bay leaf, salt, pepper, sprigs, and water. Turn heat to medium and let simmer for a few hours. Once all those flavors have come together and the chicken is cooked through, strain the liquid from the solids into a large bowl and place back into the pot.
For the cream of celery: In a skillet, add a little butter and the minced celery. Sauté for 10 minutes over a low/medium heat until the celery loses most of its crunch. Take off heat and set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt butter, add cook celery and then add the flour. Whisk around to let the flour cook. Slowly start adding the milk to saucepan while whisking. If too thick, add a little water to thin out. Stir in salt, pepper and onion powder.
For the dumplings: In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and pepper together. Add a ladle of stock at a time, until the batter starts to resemble a thick pancake batter.
Shred the chicken breasts and put in stock. Add cream of celery to pot, and bring to a simmer. Take spoonfuls of the dumpling batter and drop them into the hot stock. The dumplings will create a layer of batter on top of the soup, don't worry, once they cook through they will become dumplings. After about 20 minutes, take a spoon and break up the dumplings to the size toy want. Taste and adjust to your liking.
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