slow cooker chicken and dumplings

Ingredients:

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
Salt and pepper
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, minced
2 celery ribs, sliced 1/4 inch thick
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp minced fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup dry sherry
4 1/2 cups chicken broth, plus extra as needed
4 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 bay leaves
1 cup frozen peas
3 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

Dumplings: 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 Tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup milk, 3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Dry the chicken with papper towels and season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in 12 inch skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Brown half of chicken lightly on both sides, 5-8 minutes, transfer to bowl. Repeat with 1 Tbsp more oil and remaining chicken and transfer to a bowl.

Heat remaining Tbsp of oil over medium high heat until shimmering. Add onions, celery, garlic, tomato paste, and thyme, and cook until vegetables are softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Slowly whisk in sherry, scraping up any browned bits. Whisk in 1 cup broth, smoothing out any lumps and transfer to slow cooker.

Stir remaining 3.5 cups broth, carrots, and bay leaves into slow cooker. Nestle browned chicken with any accumulated juice into slow cooker. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, 4-6 hours on low.

Transfer chicken to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite size pieces. Let stew settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface. Discard bay leaves. Stir shredded chicken, peas, parsley into stew and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on high until simmering or transfer stew to Dutch oven and bring to simmer over medium heat.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Microwave milk and butter together until warm, about 1 minute, then whisk to melt the butter. Stir into the flour mixture until just incorporated and smooth. Drop golf ball size dumplings on top of simmering stew. Cover and cook until dumplings have doubled in size, 25-35 minutes. Serve.