Chicken and Dumplings

I've made this dish a few times now using a couple of different recipes.  This one is a definite fall/winter go-to.

I like chicken thighs more than breasts because they have more flavor. We start with the skin-on bone-in but we'll shred it later. We also have a pound of chicken wings in the background; they release their collagen to make a nice thick stew.

Ingredients lined up for the pot.

 The chicken thighs get fried 7 minutes per side.

Fry the chicken

Believe it or not, I drained the fat from ol' blue leaving only 1 Tablespoon before cooking the mirepoix

Chicken's done; the mirepoix goes in the pot for about 7 more minutes

Add the chicken broth, thyme, chicken wings and thighs back in for a 55 minute simmer.

The stew on a simmer

After about an hour of simmering, the chicken goes on the cutting board to cool for shredding. We also skim some more fat from the top of the pot.

Shredded chicken

Meanwhile I combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, melted butter and buttermilk for the dumplings. 

The dumplings

It amazes me the transformation this dish makes in the last 15 minutes while the dumplings simmer on top of the stew. I wrap a clean dish towel around the lid and cover for a 15 minute simmer. The dish towel keeps the condensation from the lid dropping back down on the dumplings. 

Just after adding the parsley and dumplings

15 minutes later it looks so rich and creamy. You can see the dish towel covered lid on the right side. If you make this yourself make sure the sides of the dish towel are on top of the lid and not drooping into the flame; that would not make for a good dinner. 

After 15 minutes of simmering

I would have had a beer or glass of wine with dinner but I had a church meeting later in the evening. 

Dinner is served

When storing the leftovers, we separate the dumplings from the stew; otherwise, the dumplings soak up all the liquid and you end up with paste.