Spicy Chicken Stew with Peppered Dumplings Recipe

Unfortunately, our bowls are the same color of the stew!

Tonight Heather treated me to her personal variation on Chicken and Dumplings that I’ll call Spicy Chicken Stew with Peppered Dumplings. The stew she made up as she went along and the dumplings are simply a standard dumpling recipe with the addition of parsley and cracked black pepper. The stew is both creamy and chunky with just a touch of heat that is complemented by the peppered dumplings. While most dumpling recipes use shortening, this one calls for butter providing a richer tasting dumpling.

Spicy Chicken Stew with Peppered Dumplings

Peppered Dumplings Recipe
1-½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt
3 tbsp butter
¾ cup milk
2 tsp cracked black pepper
(or 10 grinds on peppermill)
Chopped fresh parsley

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in mixing bowl. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form. Stir in milk, parsley, and pepper until incorporated. Set aside and prepare stew.

2 large chicken breasts cut into 1” cubes
4+ cups water (approximate)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup organic creamy chicken soup
2 carrots sliced into rounds
1 small onion, chopped

2 tomatoes coarsely chopped
1 sweet potato peeled and cut into 1” cubes
¾ cup lima beans
1 banana pepper seeded and sliced into thin rounds
¼ cup half and half
1 tbsp corn starch

Place chicken in 4 quart pot. (You need a wide rather than deep pot) Pour water over chicken to cover by 1" above chicken. Poach chicken for 15 - 20 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients omitting corn starch and half and half. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 15 minutes. Stir halfway through cooking.

Hoorah for the new digital camera!

While cooking, form peppered dough into 8 equal dumplings. Mix corn starch with half and half. At the end of 15 minutes, stir in corn starch mixture to stew. Place dumplings on top of stew, cover, and cook for additional ten minutes or until dumplings appear done. (Slightly springy to touch) Ladle into bowls and top each bowl with 2 dumplings. Serves 4.