Country Style Chicken & Dumplings

Country Style Chicken & Dumplings

5-6 chicken breasts, bone-in & skin-on

3 cups all-purpose baking mix (like Pioneer or Bisquick)

1 stick butter, plus 2 tbls melted

1/4 cup flour

8 oz heavy whipping cream

5 carrots, peeled & cut chunky

4-5 golden potatoes, peeled & cut chunky

1 16 oz frozen peas

1 onion, quartered

3 garlic cloves, peeled

2 bay leaves

2 tsp dill, divided

1 tsp poultry seasoning (or 1/2 tsp rosemary & 1/2 tsp sage)

1 tsp Cavender's Greek Seasoning (optional)

S & P

I was always amazed as a kid at how you could drop dumplings on top of boiling soup & they would turn into something like a biscuit!  Well, this version is quite similar, except it all bakes in the oven & there is no worry about the bottom scorching. It's sure to fill up a large crowd & simply has down home written all over it!

First, we're going to boil our own chicken to make stock.  You need the bone-in & skin-on to really make good broth.  (Now, you can opt out at this point and simply buy boneless skinless breasts & 2 boxes of all-ready made stock... but I promise it's easy! If so, just skip the next paragraph. You can also click on CHICKEN BROTH 101 for more details)

Add your rinsed chicken to a large stock pot & fill with water until covered at least 2 inches.  Place pot on oven & place on high heat.  Add onion, garlic, 1 tsp of dill, poultry seasoning, bay leaves, Cavender's (optional), salt & pepper.  Bring to a boil & then reduce to a simmer for 40 min or until no longer pink & the juices run clear. Remove chicken, set aside.  Strain all broth into a bowl & discards remains, then return clear broth to stock pot.

Bring broth back to a boil.  Add carrots & boil 5 minutes, then add potatoes & boil 8 more minutes or until fork tender.  Meanwhile, cube chicken.  Once veggies are done, remove from heat & ladle off nearly all broth into a separate bowl or small pitcher... you can just eye-ball this one... it doesn't have to be perfect.

We are now going to thicken up the mixture. In small sauce pan, melt butter on medium-high heat.  Then, sprinkle in flour & stir constantly for 1 minute.  Add in heavy whipping cream & continue to stir or whisk. Now, take reserve broth & gradually add to pan until it's the constancy similar to condensed soup. (This will make the final product nice & thick).  

Before adding the sauce to the stock pot, using a potato masher, coarsely mash 1/2 to 1/3 of the potatoes & carrots (simply do this while all the veggies are in the pot).  This will further thicken our dish.  Now add in the thickened sauce, chicken & frozen peas.  Gently stir & give it a taste!  We all like it different at this point, but adjust all seasoning to your liking.  I usually like adding even more dill!  Finally, pour into 9X13 greased baking dish:)

Now for the fun part! It's dumpling time!!!  Simply follow the directions on the back of your prepared package to make 2-3 cups of dumpling mix.  I add in the 1 tsp of dill &  also pepper to taste.  Using 2 spoons,  gently drop dough on top of chicken mixture & brush tops with melted butter. Place into a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until tops are golden brown!

There you have it!  When this one comes to the table, you feel like even your grandma would be proud!