Chicken (and Leek) and Dumplings

I love chicken and dumplings. Whenever I've made them though, they have turned out sort of ... meh. Nothing exceptional. Which would be ok, except whenever I've made them, I have spent way too much time in the kitchen for the lackluster result. 


Fast forward (do people still say that?) to tonight. I stumbled upon an easy, quick, and healthy approach to chicken and dumplings, based upon some of the randoms floating around in my fridge. The dumplings are half of a Mark Bittman recipe (again from the iPad app). My mom was over and said she really liked it (don't tell her there were leeks in there, she says she's not a fan). 

Chicken (and Leek) and Dumplings

Ingredients:

1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T. butter
2-3 medium carrots, diced
1 leek, dark green removed and sliced thin
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1 qt chicken stock
4 allspice berries
1 bay leaf
1 t. dried thyme

1 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 T. cold butter, chopped into little chunks
1/2 c. plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)

In a large dutch oven or pot, melt 2 T. butter. Add the carrots, leek, onion, and garlic, and saute over medium-low until veggies are soft. Deglaze with a bit of the stock, then stir in the rest of the stock, spices (with salt and pepper to taste). Bring to a boil and add the chicken. Reduce to a simmer and cover, cook 15 minutes. Remove chicken from pot, chop or shred, and return to pot.

When chicken is cooking, mix the flour, salt, baking powder and soda in a food processor until combined. Pulse in the butter until well combined. Add the yogurt and process just until the mixture balls up.

After re-adding the chicken to the pot, drop the biscuit dough into the pot. Try not to have the dough touch. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, and no peeking! The steam is what cooks the dumplings.