Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

• 3 lb bone-in chicken thighs
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven and soften the onion, carrots and celery, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute.
2. Add the chicken, stock, bay leaves and thyme and simmer gently until the chicken is tender and reaches 165°F, about 35 minutes.
3. Lift out the chicken, pull the meat into bite-size pieces and return it to the pot. Discard the skin, bones and bay leaves, and season the broth.
4. For the dumplings, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt, rub in the cold butter until it looks like coarse crumbs, then stir in the buttermilk and parsley to make a soft, sticky dough.
5. Drop tablespoons of dough onto the simmering stew, cover and cook without lifting the lid for 15 minutes, until the dumplings are puffed and cooked through.
6. Serve in warm bowls with plenty of broth.

Notes