Chicken Stew with Dumplings

I grew up having my Mom's Chicken & Dumplings, traditionally made with chicken, celery & onions in a thick creamy broth over delicate fluffy dumplings cooked in the soup. I'll admit as a little kid I demanded to have my chicken without the gravy and would only eat the inside of the dumplings because I didn't like the parts that touched the soup! Weird I know, luckily I grew out of that! A few years ago I started adding carrots to my moms recipe and then it occurred to me this time...Hey Jill...Why don't you use Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup as the base and modify it...more veggies, more color, more YUM. I was right. I love when that happens! This does take a good 2-3 hours so make sure to not try this when you are pressed for time.



Chicken Stew with Dumplings: Serves 8-12

5 Chicken Thighs or 2 Large Chicken Breasts (skin removed, bone it)
1 Large Onion – Chopped
3-4 Celery Stalks – Chopped
3-4 Large Carrots – Thickly Sliced
11oz Can Del Monte Summer Crisp Corn
1C Frozen Peas
Salt & Pepper
Chicken Bouillon
Water
1-1/2C Milk (Split 1C & 1/2C)
3C Bisquick
1/4C Corn Starch

Pull the skin off of the chicken and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and place in a large soup pot. Pour in water to 3-4″ above the chicken. Add the celery and onion to the pot and bring to a boil. Boil gently for 45-60 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Reduce the heat to a simmer and remove the chicken from the soup. Take the chicken off of the bone and cut into small bite size pieces and return to the pot with the carrots and summer crisp corn. Add chicken bouillon 1 heaping tsp at a time until the broth has reached your desired level of chicken broth flavor. Bring back to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.

While the soup is coming back to a boil mix 1C of milk with the Bisquick then grab a spoon, dip it into the soup then cut into the dough to grab a spoonful, and drop it into the soup (reduce heat so the soup is just simmering but not a raging boil), repeat this process until the dumplings are all in the pot (note if you are not using a wide soup pot you may need to do this in 2 stages...the dumplings need room to grow). Once all dumplings are in the pot let it cook uncovered for 10 minutes, then covered for 10 minutes (DO NOT PEEK AT THEM!). Once the time is up the dumplings should be nice and cooked through. With a slotted spoon carefully remove to a large bowl.

Almost done I promise. Bring the soup back to a boil. Mix the remaining 1/2C milk with the corn starch and pour into the soup with the peas. Keep stirring while it boils and thickens. I let mine get to a stew consistency - thicker than soup, but thinner than gravy. Remove from the heat, let it cool for a few minutes then serve up with your dumplings!

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WW: ~8 Points Plus / serving @ 8 servings, and ~7 Points Plus / serving @ 10 servings, ~6 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings (will change with the size and type of your chicken, I weighed mine – chicken thighs – after cooking and removing from the bone)