Chicken and Dumplings

I used to beg my mom to take me to Cracker Barrel so that I could eat their chicken and dumplings and this is so much god damn better than that. LOL.

It's actually so easy to make dumplings, I was shocked when I started googling to find out how. I used dark meat because I think there's way more flavor and it's way juicer. #teamdarkmeat

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 4 chicken thighs
• 1/2 white onion
• 3 minced garlic cloves
• 3 big carrots
• 3 celery stalks 
• 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 8-10 rough chopped sage leaves
• Salt and pepper as needed for serving

WHAT TO DO:

1. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and sear each side in a soup pot with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Dice up the onion, carrots and celery and add it into the pot.
3. Place the thyme and garlic into the pot as well and pour in all of the chicken broth. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Mix the flour, buttermilk, baking soda and chopped sage leaves in a medium mixing bowl until you have a sticky dough texture.
5. Remove the chicken from the soup after it's done cooking and shred it up. Set aside for now.
6. Drop a full tablespoon of dough into the bubbling soup one at a time. They get bigger as they cook so save room and do a couple batches of 4 dumplings at a time. (I put the finished ones into the bowl where I keep the chicken during this step.)
7. Once the dumplings are done, add the chicken back into the soup and serve hot.