Stew: Chicken & Smoked Pepper Dumplings
Eat Your Bourbon Cookbook
Hearty stew, great flavor and perfect in Fall or Winter
Ingredients
Stew
- 1 Tbls. olive oil
- 4 carrots, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 t. dried thyme leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2-1/2 lbs. chicken, cut into parts
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tbls. smoked salt
- 2 t. smoked pepper
- 1/4 c. to 1/3 c. unbleached all-purpose white flour
- 1 c. frozen peas
Dumplings
- 2 c. unbleached all-purpose white flour
- 1 Tbls. baking powder
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1 t. smoked salt
- 1/2 t. smoked pepper
- 6 Tbls. butter, melted
- 3/4 c. low-fat buttermilk
- 2 Tbls. fresh parsley chopped (or 2 t. dry), plus extra for garnish
Instructions
Heat oil in a 5 to 6-quart Dutch oven or large pot on med-high heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, thyme, garlic and stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
Add chicken, along with the bay leaves, smoked salt, smoked pepper and 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour. Discard bay leaves and transfer chicken to a plate to cool. Pull meat off the bones, shred chicken and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour and 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Slowly pour this mixture into the pot, whisking continuously, until fully incorporated.
Return chicken back into pot. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Taste soup and adjust seasoning as needed.
DUMPLINGS: While soup is simmering, make the dumplings. In a medium bowl, whisk flour baking powder, baking soda, smoked salt and smoked pepper. Add melted butter, buttermilk and parsley. Stir with a large spoon to form dough.
With the broth at a slow simmer, drop a scant tablespoon of dough at a time into the soup. Once all the dough is in the soup, cover and simmer gently until dumplings are firm, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Add peas for the last 2 minutes of cooking.
Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.