5-6poundsof chicken. I used one full chicken, 4 pounds plus about a pound of chicken thighs.
Stock:
2Carrots
3celery stalks
1onion, quartered
15-20peppercorns
1garlic bulb, horizontally sliced
2bay leaves
Carcass from full chicken
6-7Cupswater, until it covers everything
Gravy for final dish:
6Tablespoonsbutter, or fat reserved from chicken stock
6Tablespoonsflour
6Cupsstock
Dumplings:
2Cupscake flour
2Teaspoonsbaking powder
1TeaspoonKosher salt
2Tablespoonsbutter, melted
¾Cupmilk
Finishing Veggies:
1bag frozen peas
1Cupcarrots, chopped
1leek, cleaned and chopped
¼Cupparsley
Instructions
Cut apart a whole chicken.
Throw all the carcass/bone pieces along with the wings in a large pot with a few tablespoons of oil. Let these brown really well for a few minutes over the highest heat. Then add the veggies and peppercorns and bay leaves for the stock. Let this all brown up for probably 5 minutes.
Add water. Scrap up all the brown bits on the pan and the water should change color really quickly to a nice brown/tan color.
Bring to a boil and add all of the chicken pieces (take the skin off or else the final stock will have too much fat). Just kind of tuck them in there. Add a bit more water if necessary to cover everything.
Cover this and let it simmer on medium-low for about 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes take the chicken pieces out and strain the stock. You should end up with 5 or 6 cups of pretty dark stock.
Let the chicken cool for 15-20 minutes and then pull it all apart into chunks. Feel free to move on with the recipe while you’re waiting for it to cool.
Chop the finishing veggies. Mix dry dumpling ingredients together, then add milk, and then stir in melted butter. Stir that all together.
Using the same pot that you used to make the stock (no need to wash it!), and melt the butter. Then stir in flour a few tablespoons at a time and took that over medium heat. Let this simmer for a few minutes to cook out the flour flavor.
Slowly add the stock that you made earlier. Add it slowly and whisk the entire time.
Add leeks and carrots to the gravy mixture and stir that together well for a minute or two.
Add dumplings using a tablespoon. Just toss them into the mix!
Cover this let it steam and cook for 15 minutes. Check the dumplings with a toothpick after that and if the toothpick doesn’t come out clean, cook them for another 5 minutes.
Stir the pulled chicken back into the dish and add the peas! Stir everything together and let it simmer for just a few more minutes. Serve it up like a stew.