Chicken and Dumplings

Is there anything better on an incredibly cold, snow-covered day than comfort food?  There's just something about a meal that has taken time to be prepared, filling the whole house with it's aroma, to make us feel loved and important.  So, I whipped up a BIG pot of chicken and dumplings to help me counter the winter-weather blues.

Here's what you'll need:
4 chicken breasts, bone-in, skin on
olive oil
salt and pepper
dumplings:
2 c flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c buttermilk
sauce:
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 c flour
6 c chicken stock
1/4 c half-n-half
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375.
Place chicken, skin side up, on a sheet tray.  Drizzle with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, until the juices run clear.

Cool slightly.  Remove meat from the bones; tear into large pieces.  Set aside.

Next, melt the butter with the oil in a large pot.

Add the carrot, garlic and onion.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of flour.  Stir well, to coat all the vegetables.

Cook 2 minutes, until thick.

Add chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Keep cooking, over medium heat, until sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 15 minutes.  While this is cooking, make the dumplings.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Whisk together.  Make a hole in the center.

Pour the eggs and buttermilk into the hole in the flour mixture.  Stir with a spoon until it looks like thick cake batter.

When the sauce has thickened enough, add the half-n-half.  Return to a simmer.
Drop the dumplings onto the surface of the sauce.  Do not crowd them!

Cover; cook 10 minutes.  Uncover and cook 10 minutes more, until dumplings are fluffy and firm.

Season with salt and pepper before serving.  Serves 6-8.

Enjoy!