Chicken and Dumplings

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A great hardy family meal I have always loved is chicken and dumplings. It is like a creamy chicken noodle soup but with fluffy dumplings instead of noodles. Packed full of vegetables and a perfect one pot meal. Chicken and dumplings is savory, creamy, and delicious.

I grill or bake chicken breast for meals throughout the week but always seem to have leftovers. This chicken and dumpling recipe is quick and easy, perfect for using up vegetables and cooked chicken. I add carrots, celery and onions but peas, green beans, or corn can be substituted.

I also use freshly milled soft white wheat flour in this recipe but unbleached flour does work.

I have been milling my own wheat for awhile now. When I found out about the chemicals and toxins in the store bought flour, I knew I had to make a big change. Thankfully the processes of milling flour is easy. Only one more step was added to my baking steps. Freshly milled flour has more nutrients and minerals than the flour from the store. This is because, when milling flour, the flour looses its nutrients from oxidization. Oxidization is a normal process food goes through. Think about a banana turning brown or an apple turning brown after being cut, the same thing happens for grain when being cut or milled. After about 3 days the flour has lost nearly all of its nutrients and can even become rancid.

A long time ago, people wanted to make flour available to everyone easily at a store. These people knew the flour would spoil after three days. So they invented a steal rolling mill to separate out the bran and germ, which contains natural oil that spoils the flour, from the endosperm. This was a miracle at the time as the flour was now able to store for a long time. Many years go by and we now know that the endosperm contains mostly starch and lacks almost all of nutrients wheat was to contain. By digesting the store flour, people now have gluten intolerance, cancers and diseases that were never around 130 years ago. Thankfully when you freshly mill flour and bake it, most nutrients will stay intact.

For more information, go to the deception of flour page.

First cut up 4 medium carrots, 3 celery stalks, and 1/2 of an onion into small pieces. Place in bowl and set aside. Mince garlic and add to the vegetable bowl.

Place stock pot on medium heat with either 2 tablespoons of oil or butter. Add in vegetables and sauté until onions are translucent or vegetables have a slight browning. At this point, my house smells so delicious.

Sprinkle on 1/4 cup of freshly milled flour over vegetables and stir around for about one minute to cook off the flour. Adding flour will thicken broth and add another level of flavor creating a roux.

Slowly add 4 cups of chicken stock to the roux and stir around to prevent clumping. Bring to boil.

While stock is coming up to a boil, start mixing ingredients together for the dumplings.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of freshly milled flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of thyme.

To see what grain mill I use and how to mill wheat berries, visit Milling Wheat Berries.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and set aside. Measure out 1/2 cup of milk. Set aside.

Chop up cooked chicken breasts and add to the pot. Add 1/2 cup of milk to the pot, stir and let simmer.

Add milk and melted butter to dumpling flour mixture. Stir until combined. Be careful not to over mix.

Scoop dumpling mixture into tablespoon size pieces on top of soup in the pot.

Cover with lid and let simmer for 15 minutes. No peaking.

Chicken and dumplings are done and ready to eat.

Store cooked chicken and dumplings in an air tight container in the fridge for up to one week. This recipe can be made ahead of time and frozen without the dumplings. Simply reheat the creamy chicken and vegetables in a pot, then make the dumpling dough fresh, add them to the pot and cook. Freezing the dumplings can turn them chewy and defrost mushy.

Chicken and Dumplings

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Easy one pot family meal full of vegetables. Creamy, savory and delicious dinner that doesn't take all day to make.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 medium carrots
• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2 onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 T butter
• 1/4 C freshly milled flour
• 4 C chicken broth
• 1-2 C chicken breasts pre-cooked
• 1/2 C milk
• Dumplings
• 1 C freshly milled flour
• 2 T melted butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 C milk

Instructions

1. Cut up 4 medium carrots, 3 celery stalks, and 1/2 of onion into small pieces. Place in bowl and set aside. Mince 4 cloves of garlic and add to the vegetable bowl.

2. Place stock pot on medium heat with either 2 tablespoons of oil or butter. Add in vegetables and sauté until onions are translucent or vegetables have a slight browning.

3. Sprinkle on 1/4 cup of freshly milled flour over vegetables and stir around for about one minute to cook off the flour.

4. Slowly add 4 cups of chicken stock to the roux and stir around to prevent clumping. Bring to boil.

While stock is coming up to a boil, start mixing ingredients together for dumplings.

5. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of freshly milled flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of thyme.

6. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and set aside. Measure out 1/2 cup of milk. Set aside.

7. Chop up cooked chicken breasts and add to the pot. Add 1/2 cup of milk to the pot, stir and let simmer.

8. Add milk and melted butter to dumpling flour mixture. Stir until combined. Be careful not to over mix.

9. Scoop dumpling mixture into tablespoon size pieces on top of soup in the pot. Cover with lid and let simmer for 15 minutes. No peaking.

10. Chicken and dumplings are ready to serve.

11. Store in an airtight container for up to one week in the fridge.