This week brought me back to a frigid Tennessee after having spent weeks in sunny and warm Florida. All I can think of is hot soup! So I thought I’d change things up a bit and share one of the Gall family favorite’s: my chicken and dumplings. I am knows as Gigi by our granddaughters, so I called it Gigi’s Chicken and Dumplings. It is a broth based version (thus a little healthier) than the traditional southern version. I promise to take a picture next time I make it!
Serve up a bowl of comfort with…
Gigi’s Chicken and Dumplings
CHICKEN SOUP
Avocado oil
2-3 chicken breasts cut into large bite size pieces
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
2 medium carrots sliced
2 stalks celery sliced
1/2 red pepper chopped
8-10 mushrooms sliced
Thyme and parsley to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
6-8 cups chicken stock
Brown chicken in avocado oil. Add vegetables, seasonings and stock. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer until chicken and vegetables are tender.
DUMPLINGS
*I have doubled my normal recipe for dumplings because we never have enough for leftovers. The key is to have plenty of broth to boil around the dumplings.
3 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons shortening
1 &1/3 cup milk
Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; mix well. With pastry blender or fork, cut in shortening until well mixed. Add milk; stir until mixture leaves sides of bowl and soft dough forms.
Turn dough out onto well-floured surface; gently knead dough 2 to 3 minutes, kneading in only enough flour until no longer sticky. Roll out to 1/4 thickness; cut into 3×1 inch strips.
Bring the soup to a boil. Add dumplings. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until dumplings are tender and throughly cooked. Make sure the broth continues to simmer/boil around the dumplings the whole time.
I made this in the Instapot. Pressure cook the soup for 18 minutes. Then use the sauté function to boil the broth and cook the dumplings.