Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken:

• 6 cups filling
• One 3 to 4 pound whole chicken, cut into 10 pieces
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 large celery stalks, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream

Dumplings:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 stick cold butter
• 1 cup cold buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper to taste. Place the flour in a shallow dish or pie plate. Working in batches, lightly coat the chicken in flour, shaking off any excess.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the butter. Once the butter has melted and is hot, add the coated chicken pieces, one by one, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook the chicken until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until light golden brown, another 2 minutes. Work in batches if your pan is not large enough to fit all at once.

Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and lower the heat to medium. Sauté the celery and onions until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the thyme, bay leaves, and nutmeg and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and bring up to a simmer. Add the chicken pieces back in and cook until the chicken is done and the sauce has thickened, about 40 minutes. Remove the chicken pieces, stir in the heavy cream and remove the pot from the heat.

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the chicken meat from the bones, discarding bones and skin. Add the meat back to the pot and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Distribute the chicken and broth evenly to eight 8-ounce oven-safe ramekins.

Make the dumplings: add all the dry ingredients to a food processor and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Add the buttermilk and pulse until the mixture just comes together, about 1minute.

Empty the dough onto a piece of parchment paper and top with another piece of parchment. Roll out the dough until it’s 1/2-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator until firm, about 15  minutes. Using a 3-inch ring cutter (it should be slightly smaller than the mouth of the serving dish), cut out 8 pieces of dough. Place the dumpling dough on top of each ramekin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the sauce below is bubbling.

(Alternatively, if serving family-style, just scoop the dough out of the food processor with a wet spoon into the simmering chicken and broth and cover until the dumplings are fully cooked, about 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken and dumplings to a large casserole or serving pan.)