Cozy Chicken And Dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil (For searing the chicken; can substitute with olive oil)
• 2 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast (Cubed into 1-inch pieces, approximately 900g)
• 1 cup Yellow Onion (Diced, about 1 medium onion)
• 1 cup Carrot (Sliced, about 2 medium carrots)
• 3 cloves Garlic (Minced)
• 1 teaspoon Salt (Or to taste)
• 6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
• 6 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
• 6 cups Chicken Broth
• 0.5 cup Heavy Cream
• 0.5 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• 2 Bay Leaves (Remove before serving)
• 1.5 cups Frozen Peas
• 4 tablespoons Fresh Parsley (Minced, for garnish)
• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour (For dumplings)
• 1 tablespoon Baking Powder (For dumplings)
• 0.5 teaspoon Salt (For dumplings)
• 0.5 teaspoon Black Pepper (For dumplings)
• 1 ⅓ cups Heavy Cream (For dumplings)

Instructions

1. Heat vegetable oil in a 6-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
2. Add chicken in a single layer and cook until browned on all sides. Remove from the pot and set aside.
3. Add diced onion and sliced carrots to the pot. Cook until tender, about 3 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.
4. Add the minced garlic and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.
5. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the butter to the pot. Once melted, add the flour, stirring constantly for 3 minutes to form a roux. This will thicken the soup; ensure it doesn't burn.
6. Add the chicken back to the pot and stir to coat in the roux.
7. Pour in the chicken broth, heavy cream, thyme, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer.
8. Once simmering, add frozen peas, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.
9. In a large bowl, combine the 2 cups of flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and 1 ⅓ cups heavy cream for the dumplings. Stir until just combined into a shaggy dough; do not overmix.
10. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, drop spoonfuls of the dumpling dough onto the simmering soup. Make sure they don’t touch, and reduce heat slightly if necessary.
11. Add the parsley, and adjust seasonings in the soup to taste. Cover the pot tightly.
12. Let the soup simmer for 15 minutes, or until the dumplings are cooked through and puffy.
13. Ladle into bowls, giving 1-2 dumplings per serving and enjoy.