The Ultimate Comfort Food: Chicken and Dumplings

Nothing says comfort food to me quite like Chicken and dumplings- just like mom used to make.  If you get cooking late afternoon, you can let the stew simmer on the stove for a while and make the whole house smell wonderful.  Your family will appreciate coming home to the smell of comfort!  

*I use a mix of thighs and breasts to allow for peoples preferences.  Keep in mind that the darker meat, containing more oils, will stay tender 

Chicken and Dumplings

1 1/2 pounds of chicken meat*

1/2 finely chopped onion

1/2 cup carrots

1/4 cup flour

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup frozen pearl onions

1/2 cup frozen peas

2-3 tablespoons cream

Biscuits of your choice  

Clean chicken pieces and dry thoroughly.  Salt and pepper them liberally.  Heat a large, deep skillet with a bit of olive oil and brown the chicken.  Don't worry about cooking it through, you are just looking for color.  Remove chicken, add 2 tablespoons more olive oil, add onions and saute until translucent.  Add carrots.  Sprinkle flour over the veggies and mix, cooking the flour until a light brown color- about 30 seconds.  Add 3 cups chicken stock.  Allow the mixture to come to a boil.  Add chicken back in, careful to submerge as much as possible.  Add onions.  allow the stew to simmer for 20 minutes.  In this time, the chicken should cook through.  Add the cream and peas at the end, mixing to incorporate evenly.  

Now, contemplate biscuits.  In a bind, I use a can of ready made biscuit dough, but you can use any recipe you have.  While homemade would be delicious, Bisquick is a fine choice.  Turn your oven to 375 and drop the biscuit rounds directly on top of the stew, I do at least 6, sometimes 8 biscuits.  Mix an egg together with 1 teaspoon of water and brush the egg wash on the dough.  This will help the dumplings to get golden brown and look delicious.  Top with salt and pepper- or even a little parmesan cheese.  Place the whole saucepan in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until biscuits are cooked through.  

Serve straight out of the oven.  This is a great one dish meal on a cold winter evening.  Be sure to include a fire!