Chicken and Dumplings

This is the meal I want to have on a Minnesota Snow Day.  I believe this recipe originated from the magazine Everyday Food.  Mom made this recipe for a family gathering recently.  She has made chicken and dumplings in the past for us, but this recipe had a couple of great qualities to it that surpassed the previous recipe.  For one, the dumplings have a soft texture and are less like a biscuit.  The second is the thickened broth, which carries all of the gelatin and flavors of the chicken broth but will leave you knowing you ate something of substance that will keep you sated until tomorrow's breakfast.

Serves: 6-8 (depending on the size of your ladle.)

Ingredients:

• Broth
• 2 lbs Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (4 to 5)
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 4 cups water
• Roux
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 yellow onion-diced
• 3 carrots-diced
• 1 celery stalk-diced
• 8 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes-peeled and cut into ½-inch dice.
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp flat-leaf parsley-chopped
• salt and fresh ground pepper (to taste)
• Dumplings
• 1⅔ cups flour
• 1½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 Tbsp chopped parsley
• 4 Tbsp cold butter
• ¾ cup whole milk
• Garnish
• Parsley
• Lemon Wedges

Directions: 

Make the broth: Within a medium saucepan combine 

• 2 lbs chicken thighs
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 4 cups water
  
• Bring to a boil, then 
• Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered until the chicken is cooked-about 20 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a plate, let cool 10 minutes
• Strain Broth-there should be 4 cups.  If not, add more water.
• Discard skin and bones.
• Shred meat into bite-sized pieces, (there should be about 3 cups).

The Roux

• Melt 4 Tbsp butter in a large pot over medium-high heat.
• Add diced onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, thyme.
• Cook stirring, until the onion is translucent, (3 to 4 minutes). 
• Sprinkle with ¼ cup flour.
• Cook 30 seconds.
• Gradually stir in broth.
• Bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to medium and simmer two minutes.
• Stir in chicken and 3 Tbsp chopped parsley.
• Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

The Dumplings

• Whisk together:
• 1⅔ cup flour, 
• 1½ teaspoon salt, 
• ¾ tsp ground pepper, 
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 Tbsp chopped parsley
• Cut in 4 Tbsp cold butter.
• Stir in ¾ cup milk until dough holds together.
• Drop 8 heaping spoonfuls of dough on top of chicken mixture.
• Cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 12 minutes.

Serve with more parsley and a lemon wedge.