1tablespoonmelted shorteningcan use butter flavored Cadia coconut oil
Instructions
For the stewed chicken
You will need one big stew pot with a lid (plus a circular rack for bottom - optional).
Let whole chicken sit in pot with warm water poured on top to come to room temperature. Boil water to cover a 2-3 lb. chicken in a stew pot. (4 cups of water equal a quart. Took 4 ½ qts. for my 3.37 lb. chicken.) I added a rack in the pot bottom that came with my pressure cooker so chicken wasn’t touching direct heat from burner.
Add bouillon paste to 1 cup of boiling water and let it dissolve before adding to the stew pot. (Took 6 T. for my chicken.)
Add seasonings desired - 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. lemon-pepper, 1 tsp. poultry seasoning (optional). Stew for 45 minutes to an hour. In last 15 minutes add the vegetables - carrots, onion, celery. As the chicken cooks start making the dumplings.
Take the chicken out of the broth to cool on a platter for 15 minutes or longer until cool enough to handle. Can remove vegetables if you like as well. Remove bones, skin, and pull chicken apart into pieces. Drop the dumplings into lightly boiling broth. I timed the dumplings for 15 minutes of cooking time and tasted to check to see if done.
Add chicken pieces and vegetables back into the pot of chicken broth. Serve while hot. Serves six or more.
For the dumplings
Measure out gluten free flour plus add leavenings and salt, sifting into mixing bowl. Mix as for biscuits. Add milk/egg mixture first; mix well with a spoon; add melted shortening and mix
Knead on floured surface for 5 minutes. Roll into a ball and let sit before rolling out. I refrigerated mine for thirty minutes while separating chicken from the bone. This is an important step to let dough sit for 30 minutes
Use additional flour as needed on pastry mat (Williams Sonoma). I used an extra ¼ cup gluten free flour for this. Roll out to ¼ inch or thicker on a floured surface and cut into strips about 1” x 2” long.
Drop into lightly boiling stew broth. I took out the chicken and vegetables from my stew broth before adding the dumplings. Some recipes say not to stir but to shake pot as the dumplings will break up if stirred. These dumplings held together well. Many recipes for dumplings have them as drop dumplings but Mama Blanche rolled her’s out which is the way I made them as well.