Which Came First, The Chicken or The Dumplings (GLUTEN FREE RECIPE)

I didn’t expect to need this, I was just making soup because it sounded delicious.  Maybe this was a prophetic pot of Chicken and Dumplings.  Was it “If you build it the headache will come?” Or could it be more along the lines of the old “Which came first, the soup or the sickness?”  Chicken or the egg… whatever.
Oh, I’m sorry. I’m not making any sense, am I?  That may be because I just spent the last 3-4 days caught in the snare of a migraine, maybe fibro flareup, felt like the flu, wanted to bang-my-head-on-concrete-to-make-it-explode-and-relieve-the-pressure kinda alternate universe.  The migraine started on Saturday, with all the talk of crazy cold temperatures on the way for Atlanta.  Somehow, I was inspired to immediately start a pot of warm, wholesome Chicken and Dumplings.  The timing coincided a bit.  I’ll never know which came first. The truth is, if I had not had this marvelous, nourishing pot of Chicken and Dumplings to cautiously savor in rare moments that I was able to manage a bite or two, I may not have survived the last few days. Honest, I was that miserable.
Wait! The timing of it all, going into  a few days of miserable ick,  may be a deterrent to you trying this recipe. Don’t let it stop you!   I suppose this is not the way to make it sound good, I suppose.  As if it brought it all on.  Let me try again…

Growing up my mother made was homemade chicken and noodle soup.  Lots of mothers made it, and maybe it was not all that unique. To me there was absolute magic in those homemade noodles. There was nothing on earth that tasted better in winter, warmed your insides and helped clear anything that was holding a body down… nothing compared to a steaming bowl of those homemade hand-cut noodles that my mother could whip out in copious amounts for a family of 12, in record time.
As a young girl I learned to make homemade egg noodles easily and did so many times as a teenager.  I was thrilled as a young wife and mother to prepare them for my family, looking forward to many years of warm bowls to share on cold winter days.  Then 9 years ago our journey into the world of gluten-free living began and somehow the idea of noodles and dumplings was far from my mind.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started making it again.  I had to work out the gluten-free aspect which wasn’t that hard, but I decided that mom’s chicken and noodles needed another twist.
You see,  I am just too lazy to cut noodles.  Hand cutting noodles was messy, flour all over the counter,  taking up tons of space. Heck I don’t even remember the last time counter had enough  space clean  off and roll them on. Also, I’m always in a hurry. For me to be able to make this, I’ve gotta get it done quickly.  Cutting the noodles by hand always frustrated me, as much as I adored the finished product.
Well, now I get the finished product with a much simpler process. I make them as DUMPLINGS!  just dropped into the bubbling goodness of a pot of prepared broth. They melt in your mouth and warm you through to the bones.  It tastes like home.
Ok, enough of the nostalgia.  Let’s just get to the recipe, shall we?
As always, I highly recommend you use organic ingredients for this, as much as you are able.

Chicken and Dumplings- Gluten-free
3 tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion, diced
3 stalks celery, chopped
2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2-3 c. cooked chicken (chopped or shredded)
6-8 c. chicken stock
1 t. parsley
1 tsp. sea salt (omit if your stock is already salty)
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 t. turmeric
In the bottom of a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in butter for a few minutes until clear.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
While the pot is on, DON’T WATCH IT! Haven’t you heard that a watched pot never boils? Yeah, well, it actually will but you can make better use of that time by throwing your dumpling dough together.
In a medium bowl, combine:
2 c. of gluten-free flour (I use a mix of brown rice, millet, amaranth and quinoa)
3/4 c. tapioca flour (corn or potato flour can be substituted)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 tsp. sea salt
Make a well in the middle of the dry in the middle of the dry ingredients and add in:
3 eggs
1 tbsp. olive oil
Combine into a nice messy dough. Make sure that it’s well mixed.  Now, guess what!! I bet your pot is boiling or close to it. Aren’t you glad you didn’t watch? Once it is rolling well,  take your dough and drop it by spoonfuls right into the boiling goodness.  I prefer to drop smaller spoonfuls, knowing they will expand.  I LOVE the outside of each dumpling bite the best so the smaller they are the yummier to me.   Just keep dropping them in there one at a time until all your dough is gone. If it looks like it is getting too full you can stir a few times and you’ll find there is plenty of room because they are all crowding the top. If there actually isn’t much room, just add more chicken stock.
Once all of your dumplings are, well, dumped… give it a good stir and put the lid on it. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
You now have a huge pot of delicious goodness like this, without sticky hands, a messy counter top and flour floating in the air of the four nearest rooms.

And, one more photo of a delicious bowl.  Mmmmmm.  Maybe I should go make some more.