The other day I thawed out some chicken thighs for a meal the next day. But with my new job responsibilities I didn’t have time to cook the chicken the next day. I didn’t want to put them back into the freezer so I needed to figure out some way to make them keep another day or so.

I had just made some corn bread pancakes with some buttermilk so I put the chicken in a bowl and covered them with the buttermilk I had left over and added about a 1/4 cup of Louisiana hot sauce.

So the next day I get home from work and the wife had already ordered pizza but I was craving something home cooked so I decided to throw this quick meal together. I pulled the chicken out of the buttermilk marinade, shook off the extra liquid and placed it in a baking dish with some sliced sweet onions.

I put that into a 400° oven along with another baking dish that had some Brussels sprouts, olive oil and garlic. I cooked both of those for about an hour, maybe a little less. I also boiled up some corn really quick.

This turned out to be a really delicious dish that required almost no work. The chicken was super moist and tender with a great flavor.

The pizza went pretty much untouched that night.

Michael Butler makes Chicken n Dumplings
Recipe after the break:

Ingredients
Chicken:

* 1 (2 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
* 3 ribs celery, chopped
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 2 bay leaves
* 2 chicken bouillon cubes
* 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of celery or cream of chicken soup

Dumplings:

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* Ice water

Directions

To start the chicken: Place the chicken, celery, onion, bay leaves, bouillon, and House Seasoning in a large pot. Add 4 quarts of water and in water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer the chicken until it is tender and the thigh juices run clear, about 40 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and, when it is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and separate the meat from the bones. Return the chicken meat to the pot. Keep warm over low heat.

To prepare the dumplings: Mix the flour with the salt and mound together in a mixing bowl. Beginning at the center of the mound, drizzle a small amount of ice water over the flour. Using your fingers, and moving from the center to the sides of the bowl, gradually incorporate about 3/4 cup of ice water. Knead the dough and form it into ball.

Dust a good amount of flour onto a clean work surface. Roll out the dough (it will be firm), working from center to 1/8-inch thick. Let the dough relax for several minutes.

Add the cream of celery soup to the pot with the chicken and simmer gently over medium-low heat.

Cut the dough into 1-inch pieces. Pull a piece in half and drop the halves into the simmering soup. Repeat. Do not stir the chicken once the dumplings have been added. Gently move the pot in a circular motion so the dumplings become submerged and cook evenly. Cook until the dumplings float and are no longer doughy, 3 to 4 minutes.

To serve, ladle chicken, gravy, and dumplings into warm bowls.

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