Chicken 'n Dumplin's

This is one of our favorite meals at our house & even our pickiest eater loves this! It's easy to make, delicious to eat, and perfect for cold winter days!  This is a very versatile recipe, which is another reason I like it. Substitute nearly any veggies or don't use any at all and let your own palate guide your seasoning selection. And of course there are half a dozen shortcuts you could use from pre-cooked chicken, canned broth, and canned-refrigerated biscuits, but why? This is worth the effort! YUM!

Serves 8-10 * 45 minutes prep time * 4 1/2 hours cooking time

Ingredients

• 3-4 lbs chicken thighs (boneless works best!)
• water, to cover
• black pepper, to taste
• kosher salt, to taste
• Herbs: Dried basil and fresh lemon thyme, parley, oregano, thyme, & rosemary, to taste
• 1-2 potato, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, chopped
• 1/4 cup flour
• 20-40 oz water (or combination of water, broth, wine, beer, etc.)
• 9-12 oz. peas (fresh is best, frozen better, canned will work)
• Baking Mix: 
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 4.5 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp. butter or oil

Directions

1. Put chicken thighs in large stockpot, add water to cover, season with salt, pepper, and fresh/dry herbs.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, reduce heat, cover, simmer for several hours until skin falls off and meat falls off the bone.
3. Remove chicken, set aside to add to soup later. Discard bones, skin, etc. (or use to make bone broth). Strain broth into jars for use in this meal and later. (Use broth within about 10 days or freeze for up to 6 months.)
4. Add about 20-30 oz. of your chicken broth to stock pot and heat over low, stirring constantly.
5. Add 1/4 cup flour to broth to create quick roux base for soup. Add 16 oz. water.
6. Add potatoes and carrots to broth flour mixture and season with additional salt, pepper, and herbs to taste. 
7. Add chicken. Add water to cover soup. Bring to boil, reduce to low, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
8. Mix baking mix ingredients into separate bowl until mixed and doughy.
9. Add more water to fill stockpot about 3/4 full. Return to boil. Add peas.
10. Return to full boil. Drop spoonfuls of dough into boiling soup. I use varying size scoops so there is a good mix of small, medium, and large dumplings. (We like our dumplings around here!)
11. Reduce heat as needed to avoid over-boiling. Cook on high partially covered for 20-25 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through, are fluffy, and a toothpick inserted in center of large dumpling comes out clean.