Chicken and Dumplings

Well here is my first post on this good old (well new) blog. Last night I made Rachel Ray's Recipe for Chicken and Dumplings (with a few slight modifications). I persevered through Dave's attempts to convince me to switch up the weekly menu and make a different item that was listed. I was really in the mood for this comfort food classic so I made the authoritative decision that we were sticking with the original plan! I mean who doesn't like Chicken and Dumplings anyway!!!??

When I read the recipe I was unsure as to whether or not you were supposed to cook the diced chicken first or add it raw. I decided to be risky and just go ahead and add it raw since the mixture I was pouring it into was boiling. I diced the chicken first before chopping any vegetables. I cut it up into very small pieces so they would could quickly. I then put all of the pieces in a bowl and sprinkled the raw meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder mixing it all together with a spoon to disperse over the meat. Another modification was that I used the Bisquick biscuit mix (adding in dried parsley and garlic powder) rather than the Jiffy box mix. They were just as tasty! Lastly I poured in about half a cup of half and half at the very very end...because you know, why not! :) It was super yummy and will be added to my file of super yummy recipes (as opposed to my other files which contain "not so yummy" and "kinda yummy" recipes...although I'm not even sure why I'm keeping a "not so yummy" file...hmm I may need to eliminate that one!) Here is a picture (I didn't take any last night!) I took with my iphone of the leftovers I ate for lunch today -- They reheated VERY nicely...even if the picture isn't quite so nice:)

So without further ado...the recipe (with my modifications)

Chicken and Dumplings

• 1 and 1/2 pounds chicken breasts (you could get away with just 1 pound, there was A LOT of chicken)--sprinkled with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablesppons butter
• 1 russet potato, peeled and diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 rib celery, diced
• 1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2 tablesppons flour
• 1 quart chicken broth or stock (I used Kitchen Basics and it was good)
• Bisquick mix (follow directions on box and add some dried or fresh parsley flakes and garlic powder
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup half and half

Directions

• Dice chicken into very small bite size pieces, sprinkle with seasonings and set aside. Wash hands
• Place a large pot on stove over medium high heat. Add oil, butter, vegetables and bay leaf and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently
• Season mixture with salt, pepper and poutry seasoning. Add flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes. Stir broth or stock into the pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken to the broth and stir
• Place biscuit mix in bowl and complete as directed on box (add in parsley and garlic powder too). Drop tablespponfuls (or smaller-I like my dumplings more bite sized) of prepared mix into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly. Cover pot tightly and reduce heat to medium low. Steam dumplings 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cover and stir chicken and dumplings to think sauce a bit. Stir peas into the pan and then add the half and half. Remove from heat and serve in shallow bowls