Chicken and dumplins’

Serves 4-6 

Ingredients:

1.5kg whole chicken
40g butter
1 large brown onion, peeled and diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced chunky
2 celery stalks, diced chunky
1 large leek, washed, halved and chopped chunky
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 heaped tbsp plain flour
1.5L chicken stock, preferably home-made (or just use water)
2/3 cup cream
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Dumplings:
250g plain flour
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp white sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
50g creme fraiche or sour cream
80g melted butter
1/2 cup milk

To serve:
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Season your chicken with salt all over and set aside.

Heat a large Dutch oven pot on the stove over medium-high heat and add the butter. 

Brown the chicken as best you can on all sides, then remove the bird from the pot and set aside. 

Add the onion, carrot, celery, leek and thyme to the pot with a good pinch of salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Lower the heat if the vegetables are starting to brown before they soften.

Add in the flour and stir it around and cook it out for about a minute.  After a minute slowly whisk in the stock until it is all mixed in. Turn up the heat to high and bring it to a simmer. Once simmering, turn the heat back down to medium and add the whole chicken. Season the broth well with salt, place the lid on, and allow everything to simmer together until the chicken is cooked through, about 40-50 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and set it aside.

Stir through the cream, Worcestershire sauce and then taste for seasoning, adjusting with salt as needed.

To make the dumplings, mix the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl and then add in the crème fraiche or sour cream, melted butter and milk and stir with a spoon or spatula JUST until it comes together, it will still look a little rough and shaggy. Bring the broth back to a low gentle simmer and drop heaped tablespoon-fuls of the batter into the simmering stock. They will first sink to the bottom and then float to the top. Once they have floated, cook them for a further 2-3 minutes.

Shred the chicken, discarding the skin and bones, and return all the meat to the pot. Bring the whole thing to a low simmer and serve. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and lots of freshly cracked black pepper.