Chicken and Vegetable Stew

My husband and the kids went Halloweening this afternoon in the nasty, cold, blustery, rainy weather that is almost always the case in late October in our neck of the woods.  I stayed behind to make a nice, rich, comforting chicken stew with dumplings to welcome and warm them when they returned, chilled to the bone and loaded down with candy.  It was also a good bribery attempt to gain some of the loot.

A potential problem occurred when my youngest dog, Huck, ate half of the chicken as I had my back turned to scrub the carrots.  Apparently the chicken is tasty even raw.  Thankfully, I was also making stock, so I had some extra chicken to add to the dish (see the stringy bits?).  It's a good thing I love him so much, considering this is not his first offense (and the second just this week).

Today was stock making day, and my vegetable broth was done way before my chicken broth was finished, so I used vegetable broth in this stew.  The results were highly acceptable, so I'm going to suggest it as a less expensive alternative if you haven't any chicken stock on hand.  Usually I would use whole chicken pieces and spend the time actually stewing them and deboning them, but I didn't have any (time or chicken pieces).  I did, however, have organic boneless chicken breasts on hand, and that worked out very nicely to shave a good  hour or so off the traditional stewing time for this dish.

Chicken and Vegetable Stew
serves 6

• 1 Tbs olive oil or butter
• 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large carrots, scrubbed and chopped into 1" chunks
• 2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into 1" chunks
• 1 large stalk of celery, chopped into 1" chunks
• 1 medium turnip, peeled and chopped into 1" chunks
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup frozen peas,  thawed
• 3 cups broth (either vegetable or chicken)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 Tbs water
• 2 Tbs flour

For the dumplings:

• 3 Tbs butter, chopped into smallish pieces
• 1 1/2 c flour (unbleached white, or a combination of white and whole wheat)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 c milk
• 1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat.

Chop the chicken breasts into 1 inch chunks.  Season with thyme, marjoram, tarragon, salt and pepper.

Cook chicken in oil for about 5 minutes, or until nicely golden.

Add carrots, potatoes, celery, turnips, and onions.  Cook for about two minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add broth and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

Stir in peas.  Bring back to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer another 5-10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, mix together the dumpling ingredients: combine flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.  Cut in the butter pieces with a fork (or even your fingertips, which is my preferred method).

Pour milk over all and mix just until combined.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the water and flour.

Pour the flour and water mixture into the chicken and vegetables and mix well.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for one minute.

Drop the dumpling mixture by 10-12 spoonfuls over the top of the stew.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Cook uncovered for 10 minutes.  Cover and cook for 10 more minutes, or until dumplings are cooked and tender.

Serve warm.