Roasted Chicken & Dumplings

I took my mother's recipe and updated it a bit to make Roasted Chicken & Dumplings... the final product was amazing!

Ingredients:

Chicken:
3-4lbs Chicken Breasts (skin on, bone in)
1 Lemon (sliced)
Fresh thyme and rosemary, destemmed (about 1-2 T. each)
Olive Oil
3-4 cloves of Garlic sliced
Salt & Pepper

Dumplings:
2 c. Flour
1 t. Salt
4 t. Baking Powder
1 T. Thyme, chopped fine
1 T. Shortening (Crisco)
3/4 c. Milk

Stew:
3-4 cups of Chicken Stock (low-sodium)
1 1/2 c frozen chopped Mirapoix Vegetables (celery, carrot, onion), thawed
1 1/2 c frozen Peas, thawed
4 T. Butter
6 T. Flour
1/4 t. Paprika
1/2 c. Cream
Salt & Pepper


Method:

Chicken:
Preheat oven for 375 degrees.
Pat the chicken dry and place in a 9x13 Baking Dish that is coated with Olive Oil or Cooking Spray.
Salt & Pepper the Chicken liberally & Drizzle with Olive Oil, both over and under the skin. Rub the seasonings into the chicken.
Pull up the skin of the chicken and place thyme, rosemary, garlic slices and lemon slices underneath the skin of each chicken. Pull the skin back over the seasons.
Bake Chicken for 1 Hour or until juices run clean.
Set Chicken aside to cool. Once cool, chop the chicken into cubes or shred it.
RESERVE Pan Juices!! (once cooled, skim fat off the top; use store bought chicken stock to supplement to ensure that you hae 4 qts total of stock)

Dumplings:
Sift dry ingredients together. Blend in shortening with a fork until combined. Add milk & mix together.

Stew:
Melt Butter in Dutch Oven.
Saute the Mirapoix veggies in the butter until soft.
Add the Flour and Paprika and stir to create a roux. Cook for at least a minute.
Add reserved Pan Juices and chicken stock gradually to the pot and stir constantly for 2 minutes.
Add peas and reserved chicken to stew. Add Salt & Pepper to taste.
Add spoonfuls of Dumpling Dough and cover for 15 minutes WITHOUT LIFTING the lid.


And Voila!! Roasted Chicken & Dumplings!!