Favorite Recipe: Chicken & Dumplings

Well, in honor of Sunday, I thought I’d share an amazing recipe of my Mom’s — it’s very Sunday Dinnerlike. It’s also cheap to make, and so flippin’ good.

Ingredients:

- 12 Chicken thighs (or, 6 breasts and 6 thighs)*

- 4 celery stalks, cut into 1″ pieces

- 2-4 carrots, also cut into 1″ pieces

- 1 large onion, cut into about 1″ dice

- 2 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp pepper

- 3 tsp Herbes de Provence**

- 1 tsp Spike**

- Mixture of chicken broth and water (see below)

- 1 tsp chicken boullion (or one cube, if you use the dry stuff)

A Couple Ingredient Notes:

* Some people like to stew their chicken pieces with the skin removed. I prefer to leave the skins on, as they impart a lot of flavor. I do like to remove the skin before serving, though, as it’s not so appetizing stewed.

**These are the two key ingredients: Herbes de Provence and Spike. If you don’t have them on hand, you can also use dried thyme and rosemary, and any salt-free seasoning blend you have on hand. The result will be good, but perhaps not achingly good.

How to Make It:

1. Put all of the above into a great big pot. Cover the ingredients with water and broth — there’s no precise measurement here; just dump in a can or two (or a quart box) of broth, and then top the pot off with water.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then turn the heat way down to a simmer. Simmer 1 1/2 – 2 hours. If you like your chicken brothy, keep the pot covered while simmering. If you like it thicker and more gravylike, simmer with the pot uncovered.

3. Make some dumplings from the recipe below. Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto the top of the chicken and veggies in the pot. Then cover the pot and continue simmering, 12-15 minutes. Don’t peek at your dumplings while they’re steaming!

4. Remove the dumplings and chicken from the pot, and set them aside for a moment. Now, you can thicken your gravy with a little flour or cornstarch, if you prefer. This is also a nice time to remove the chicken skins.

5. Place a piece of chicken and a couple dumplings in a bowl, and ladle over some gravy and veggies.

Dumpling Recipe:

- 1 cup flour

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup milk (soy works fine, by the way)

- 2 Tbsp salad oil

- 3/4 tsp dill (or really, any dried herbs you like)

1. Mix the dry ingredients together.

2. Dump in the wet ingredients, and stir with a fork until just combined.

This stuff freezes well, so you can eat it for weeks. it’s pure comfort food, my friends. Enjoy!