recipe: chicken & dumplings

I haven't posted a recipe in over a year.  It's not because I haven't made any food.  It's because I haven't made anything good.  Yes... all year.  This one deserves a post.  It's basically Rachel Ray's Chicken & Dumplings Recipe, with a few slight modifications (no celery, no peas, scratch dumplings). 

Acacia's just finished another fight with the stomach bug (those who know her remember that her little tummy is her weak point.  She's had numerous ER trips because she cannot stop vomiting once she starts.  It turns to thick black tar bile very quickly.)  She managed to fight this bug without an ER trip.  Makes her mama proud.  Chicken & Dumplings was her first full meal and she gobbled it up. 

Make it.  Seriously, you'll love it.  Both of my finicky eaters (yup, I never thought I'd say that) ate a bowlful.

Chicken & Dumplings
1.5 pounds chicken breast
1 T olive oil
2 T butter
1 potato, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp poultry seasoning (didn't have, used thyme)
2 T flour
1 qt. chicken broth

Dumplings:
2 cups fresh ground whole grain flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp garlic salt
dried italian seasoning ( about 1 tsp or so)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients.  Make a well.  Pour in oil and milk.  Mix together.

Dice breasts into bite sized pieces and set aside.


Place a large pot on stove over medium high heat. Add oil, butter, and vegetables 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 into the pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken to the broth and stir.


Reduce heat to medium/ medium low while mixing the biscuit ingredients.  Rachel says to use boxed Jiffy mix- add 1/c cup warm water and a handful of chopped parsley.  I use my ol' standard Bread Beckers Easy Drop Biscuit Recipe listed above.

Drop tablespoonfuls of biscuit mix into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly. Cover pot tightly and reduce heat to medium low. Steam dumplings 10 minutes. Remove cover and stir chicken and dumplings to thicken sauce a bit.

Note: After steaming the dumplings, I turned the stove off, kept the lid on, and took a 15-20 minute walk with the kids.  It was perfect and thick when we got back. 

2nd Note: The biscuits are awesome as a side, too.  I add some shredded cheese (about a cup) and bake for 10 minutes at 425.  Great with other soups or chili.  We have them when we have chicken arugula salad, too.