First, there’s the intoxicating smell of onions browning with carrots and chicken. Then there are the soft-as-pillow dumplings that puff up in the stew. They’re tender and light and perfect for soaking up just a little of that rich broth upon which they float. Cook, relax and enjoy!

What you’ll need:

3 carrots
1 onion
2 celery stalks
2 cloves garlic
12 oz boneless, skinless chicken thighs
fresh thyme sprigs
8 oz chicken broth
1½ tsp baking powder
6.75 oz milk
1 cup frozen peas
freshly ground black pepper
coarse salt
olive oil
all-purpose flour

Equipment:

pot

Recipe steps:

1. Prep ingredients

   Peel and chop carrot and onion. Cut ends off celery and chop. Peel and finely chop garlic. Cut any fat off the chicken then cut into 1 inch pieces.

2. Brown chicken

   Season chicken pieces with pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pot over medium high. Add chicken in a single layer and cook until well browned without stirring, about 3 minutes. Stir chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from pot.

3. Cook vegetables

   Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and half the thyme sprigs to pot and season with pepper and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.

4. Simmer

   Return chicken to pot and add chicken broth and ½ cup water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer partially covered for 20 minutes.

5. Make dumplings

   Meanwhile, remove leaves from remaining thyme sprigs and chop. Whisk together ½ cup flour, baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt. Slowly whisk in ½ cup milk to make a soft batter. It should be slightly thicker than pancake batter. Add more milk if necessary.

6. Add dumplings

   Stir peas into pot then drop dumpling batter by the spoonful on top. Sprinkle dumplings with thyme and few grinds of black pepper. Cover and simmer until dumplings are firm, about 10 minutes. Enjoy!