Chicken and Pepper Dumplings

Who doesn't love chicken and dumplings? It's so good and as the weather gets colder it seems to warm you to your very soul. When I make this it's an ordeal because I make the stock and dumplings from scratch. You obviously don't have to do these steps but it would be in your benefit to. You get a richer and more flavorful and overall, more satisfying soup. I hope you like it and if you have any questions please let me know.

Ingredient
- 2 cups flour plus more for dusting
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons pepper, divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 5 stalks celery, diced
- 6 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 12 cups good chicken stock found here or store bought equivalent
- 1 whole chicken, de-boned and meat shredded
- 2 tablespoons chicken base
- 2 - 3 teaspoons salt

The Process
1. To make dumplings combine the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and garlic powder in a bowl and mix well. Then in a separate bowl combine the milk and butter and place in microwave and heat until the butter melts. Make sure to keep an eye on this because you don't want this to mixture to cook, just heat up a little and melt. Add the wet into the dry and mix well with a spoon. Then dust your counter with flour and plop the batter on top of it. Kneed a couple of times making sure there's plenty of flour on the outside to prevent sticking. Then using a rolling pin roll it out flat until the whole ball is about 1/8 of an inch thick. Then cut into diamonds using a pizza cutter. Place on plate in fridge until ready to use.
2. In a large stock pot add the olive oil over medium heat then add the onions, celery and carrots and cook for about 8 minutes stirring occasionally. Then add the thyme and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, chicken meat, chicken base, salt and remaining 1 teaspoon pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil then reduce to low and simmer for 30 minutes or until carrots are soft.
3. Add the dumplings and cook until they start to sink about 10 minutes stirring frequently. To plate put scoops of soup into bowls then season with some fresh ground black pepper and a little bit of Tabasco sauce.
4. Enjoy!