Gluten Free Home-Style Chicken and Dumplings

To make dumplings, mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly and butter pieces are no bigger than grains of rice. Or use food processor to pulse butter into dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly.

Gradually add milk one tablespoon at a time, stirring mixture with fork to form moist crumbly mixture that holds together when pinched. Or, if using food processor, add milk one tablespoon at a time through feeder tube while running machine.

Press dumpling mixture (it will not roll) into 16 walnut-size balls. Set aside while making stew.

To make stew, heat vegetable oil on medium-high in large (4 qt. or 4 L) lidded oven-proof pot. Brown chicken pieces and transfer to large bowl.

Reserve 1/2 cup cold chicken stock. Gradually stir remaining stock into pot (reduce heat to medium), scraping browned flavourful bits from bottom of pot to blend into stock. Stir potato starch into reserved cold stock until smooth. Stir into pot. Drop bay leaf into pot.

Add vegetables, parsley, salt and pepper to pot. Reduce heat to medium-low.

Return chicken pieces (and juices) to pot. Place dumplings into pot. For fluffier dumplings, sit them on top of chicken and vegetables so dumplings are only partly submerged in liquid. Cover loosely, gently simmer 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 F (200 C).

After pot has simmered 10 minutes, remove lid and place in oven 15 minutes or until stew is bubbly. Remove from oven. Ladle chicken and dumplings into shallow bowls. Serve hot. Makes 4 dinner servings Gluten-Free Home-Style Chicken and Dumplings.