Chicken and Whole Wheat Dumplings

This picture sucks, I know.

Jesse was really sick this weekend and requested chicken and dumplings. I got the recipe from his mom (she's the queen of this dish) and made it with the things we had. (ex: whole wheat flour instead of enriched white)

I was actually nervous in my own kitchen making this! Normally I'm the confident boss over all things culinary in my home, but I was keeping my fingers crossed that my chicken and dumplings would pass the test. I'm not kidding, his mom's is awesome.

• 3 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts
• large onion, diced
• 2-3 ribs celery, diced
• Tony Chacheres seasoning
• Chicken stock (I had and used "Not-Chick'n" cubes because I swear, they taste better)
• 3 large carrots, diced
• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato
• Frozen peas
• can of corn
• handful of fresh green beans, about an inch long
• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour, double sifted
• 4-8 eggs
• Salt and pepper
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Bay leaves
• Sage
• Marjoram

Saute onion and celery in extra virgin olive oil and 1.5 tbsp butter until done. Add chicken and 1/2 stock and 1/2 water and boil. I added Tony Chacheres for flavor as well as salt and pepper.

When chicken is done, remove it and set aside. Add more broth if needed. Add the carrots, potatoes and cook until almost done. Add peas, corn and green beans. Add rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, sage and marjoram. I measured each with my palm, so season to your taste.

Dumplings: Add eggs one at a time to the flour and mix with a fork until a consistency you prefer. (I think I ended up using 6 eggs?) Drop the dumpling dough into the boiling soup with a tablespoon- I ended up with about 12-15 large dumplings. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Jesse's mother wrote: "your dumplings should look like heavenly clouds of goodness".

Add cut up chicken and cook for another 20 minutes or more for the soup to thicken.

I was impressed. It turned out great and I'll definitely be making it again.