Chicken and dumplings (biscuity, Southern-style)

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**RECIPE, SERVES 4-6**

1.5 lb (700g) boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 bottle (750mL) white wine (could replace with water or stock
1 carton (32 oz, 946mL) chicken stock
8 oz (227g) white mushrooms
2 bunches green onions
1 lb (454g) carrots
3-4 garlic cloves
12 oz (340g) green beans
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup (177mL) cream
1 lemon
flour
oil
salt
pepper
dry herbs

For the dumplings

2 cups (230g) cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons melted butter
milk or water
fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley or any combination thereof

Cut each thigh into 4-6 pieces. Season heavily with salt, pepper and dry herbs, then toss the pieces with enough flour to coat. Cut the mushrooms in half or quarters (remember they'll shrink in half when cooking), thin-slice the onions and reserve the green slices for garnish at the end, peel and thick-slice the carrots, smash and peel the garlic cloves.

Heat a film of oil in a large pot, then lay in the chicken piece by piece to keep them from sticking to each other. Keep your heat high enough to brown the chicken but don't let anything burn — low and slow is fine. When the bottoms of the pieces are brown, you should be able to scrape them off the pan with a wooden spoon and flip them.

When the chicken pieces are brown on all sides, push the chicken over to one side and drop in the mushrooms. Stir the mushrooms around and let them brown a moment. Stir in the sliced onion whites and let them cook for a moment. Deglaze with the entire bottle of wine. Stir in the carton of stock, garlic, carrots and a pinch or two of salt. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes until the carrots are almost soft.

While you're waiting, slice the green beans into small piece. Separate out the egg yolks (eat the whites for breakfast tomorrow) and beat them smooth with the cream.

When the carrots feel almost done, stir in the green beans — they'll need about 30 minutes total.

Now is when you want to mix up the dumpling batter. Finely chop a big pile of fresh herbs and zest the lemon. Throw all that in with the cake flour, baking powder, salt and garlic powder. Stir in the melted butter until it seems to disappear. Stir in just enough milk or water (no more than a cup, 237mL) to get you a shaggy, sloppy dough — if you over-mix, the dumplings will be tough. Form the dough into rough, small balls.

When the green beans are 15 minutes away, drop the dumplings in the soup, make sure the heat is high enough that the broth is bubbling, cover and let the dumplings steam at least 10 minutes before you check on them. When they double in size and look cooked, they're cooked — don't overcook them or they'll get dense.

Kill the heat and wait for bubbling to stop, then stir in the liaison (yolk and cream mixture). Turn the heat back on to a bare simmer and cook for a couple minutes until you see the yolks cook and slightly thicken the broth — be careful not to overcook or the eggs will go gritty. Taste the soup for seasoning and add any needed salt, a little lemon juice to taste, and the reserved onion greens.