Chicken & Dumplins

For the stew:
3 lb. chicken
2-4 t. vegetable oil
1/2 stick butter
2-4 carrots, sliced 1/4 in. thick
2 ribs celery, large chunks
1 large onion, minced
6 T. flour
1/4 c. coke or white wine
4 1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. milk
2 t. thyme, minced
2 bay leaves

For the dumplins:
2 cups flour
1 T. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. milk
3 T. butter

For the stew:
Heat 2 T. oil in a large dutch oven over medium/high heat until very hot but not smoking. Salt and pepper chicken and place in hot oil. Cook until golden on both sides, about 10 minutes. Take out chicken and remove browned skin. If you can't fit all the chicken in at once, then repeat these steps with the remaining chicken. Pour off oil from pan and then put in 1/2 stick of butter. When melted add the carrots, celery, onion and 1/4 t. salt and cook until soft, about 7 minutes. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the coke/wine, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the broth, milk, thyme and bay leaves. Nestle the chicken into the pot. Cover and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and tender, about 1 hour.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and allow to cool. Remove bay leaves and celery pieces from the broth and then let it set a while to allow the oil and fat to settle on top. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and shred. Skim off the fat from the broth with a spoon. Add chicken meat back into the broth. Return to a simmer. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
For the dumplins:
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Melt 3 T. butter and mix with 1 c. milk. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until incorporated.
Drop golf ball sized dumplins over the top of the stew, about 1/4 in. apart. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the dumplins have doubled in size and are no longer doughy, 15-18 minutes (you may wish to turn the dumplins about half way through cooking time.
This makes about 6 generous servings.