Chicken and Dumplings

Before I begin telling you about this delicious, easy, homey meal, I would like to announce the WINNER of our contest. Two Little Chefs reader M (very mysterious) is the lucky winner of a new, very sharp, kitchen knife. M, may all your chopping, cutting, and cooking improve drastically. And may you spread the joy of the delicious concoctions you will prepare whilst using this knife with many.

Thank you for all of you how entered our contest. And a BIG THANK YOU to those who continually comment on our posts. You are the ones that keep us motivated to keep cooking and sharing recipes with you. Please keep your comments coming and share our blog with anyone you know that needs a new recipe tonight!

Now, on to this Chicken and Dumpling goodness, and I do mean goodness. Last night as it was beginning to snow, I wanted some comfort food, but I didn't want to spend a lot of time making it, which I imagine is usually the case for most of our readers. So I decided to make one of the quintessential comfort foods, chicken and dumplings.



There is a bit of initial chopping required to cut all of our these nutritious winter vegetables down to size, but once that is done, you basically just dump it all in a pot and let the chicken broth do the work...well there is some stirring required. Then you just mix up the biscuit mix, plop some dollops on top, cover the whole baby, and let her steam. Take the lid off and voila, goodness in a bowl. Enjoy it tonight...you probably have all the ingredients at home right now, and if you don't improvise, it will still taste great!

Chicken and Dumplings

Recipe adapted from Rachel Ray

Pictures by Caroline

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders

1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 turn of the pan

2 tablespoons butter

2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced or thinly sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, diced

1 bay leaf, fresh or dried

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1/3 palm full*

2 tablespoons flour, a handful

1 quart chicken broth or stock, canned or paper container

1 small box biscuit mix or 1 ½ cup biscuit mix

1/2 cup warm water

Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 cup frozen green peas

*If you don't have poultry seasoning, I would suggest just adding some of the savory spices from you cabinet. Things like thyme, sage, or garlic salt.

Directions

1.       Dice tenders into bite size pieces and set aside. Wash hands.

2.      Place a large pot on stove over medium high heat. Add oil, butter, vegetables and bay leaf and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season mixture with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Add flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes. Stir broth or stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken to the broth and stir.

3.      Place biscuit mix in a bowl. Combine with 1/2 cup warm water and parsley. Drop tablespoonfuls of prepared mix into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly. Cover pot tightly and reduce heat to medium low. Steam dumplings 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cover and stir chicken and dumplings to thicken sauce a bit. Stir peas into the pan, remove chicken and dumplings from heat and serve in shallow bowls.