GF Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:

2 organic chicken breasts, w/skin & bones or 1 organic whole chicken
4 ribs celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 bay leaves
4 cups organic chicken broth
2 t house seasoning 
(House Seasoning = 1 cup salt, 1/4 c black pepper, 1/4 c garlic powder mixed together)

1 cup grated  or chopped carrots
1 cup frozen peas


2/3 cup brown or white rice flour or millet flour
2/3 cup sorghum flour
2/3 cup tapioca flour
1 T gluten-free baking powder
1 t salt
1 T ghee
1/2 - 1 almond milk or your choice of dairy free milk

Directions:

Place the chicken, celery, onion, bay leaves, chicken broth and house seasoning in a Dutch Oven or large pot. Add 4 quarts of water or enough to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and let cool. Then remove skin and bones from chicken and discard. If you want to use a slotted spoon and remove any large chunks of celery or onion and the bay leaves, now is the time to do it. Cut up chicken into small pieces and place back in the pot of broth. 

Add peas and carrots and bring soup to a boil.

Meanwhile to make dumplings, combine flours, bp and salt in a bowl. Cut in margarine with a pastry cutter or crumble the mixture with your fingers. Add 1/2 c milk and stir. Slowly add more milk until dough forms a ball. Be sure not to overwork the dough, mixing it just until it comes together but isn't too wet. 

Using a tablespoon, dip the spoon into the soup, then dip the spoon into the dumpling batter to fill the spoon. Drop it into the slow simmering liquid. Repeat the process until you've used all of the batter to make 12 dumplings. (Cook dumplings in two batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding the pot.) 

Once the dumplings are in the simmering liquid, cover the pot immediately and simmer for 10 minutes, resisting the urge to look inside the pot. Ladle chicken and dumplings into bowls and serve hot.