Chicken & Dumplings

I've been meaning to make something like this for a long time, and then I was looking through How Sweet It Is and saw this and added it to my list for the week. Tonight I actually make two recipes from that blog - the "Creamy Chicken & Dumpling" and the very very pretty "Winter Chopped Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato and Blood Orange Vinaigrette". They both really hit the spot - it was a very nice winter dinner that didn't take very long to put together.

The moral of the story is that every time I look at How Sweet It Is I want to make EVERYTHING - way more than any other blog. And she's from Pittsburgh, so I think she should be our spirit animal. From now on our blog can just rehash her recipes with a 6 month lag, where we re-make her recipes and post them with way worse pictures. Plus dogs.

CREAMY CHICKEN & BISCUITS

Slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is

1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 5 medium thighs)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1 sweet onion, diced
1/2 cup sliced or diced carrots
1/3 cup sliced or diced celery
(for the three above ingredients, you could get a pre-diced mirepoix) 
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried thyme
1/4 cup flour
5 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup heavy cream

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk


Sprinkle the salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken thighs. Put the butter and oil in a large pot and heat over med-hi until sizzling. Add the chicken and cook until both sides are browned the and chicken is cooked though, about 6 minutes per side. Shred once the chicken is cool

Turn down the heat to medium and add the other 2 tbsp of butter along with the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme along with a little more salt and pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine with a spoon until barely mixed.

Stir 1/4 cup flour in with the vegetables in the pot and stir gently for about 5 minutes. Then gradually add the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring to keep the broth from thinning too much. Add the chicken back into the pot and increase the heat. Let simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken back up. Add the heavy cream and stir. Drop large spoonfuls of dough onto the broth, scattered around. Let it simmer for 10 to 15 more minutes until the dumplings are cooked. Midway through, you can flip the dumplings.

Top with chopped parsley and serve hot. It can be reheated with a little stock or cream.