Chicken Dumplings

For broth: Bring water to a boil on medium-high heat in a large stockpot. Salt liberally. Set aside half of the celery and carrots for later. Cut remaining celery and carrots into halves and place in boiling water. Trim and quarter your whole chicken and place in stockpot with vegetables. Add onion, bayleaves and thyme (whole) and allow to boil until chicken is fully cooked. Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove chicken from water and set aside on cooking rack. Strain broth through mesh strainer into large bowl to remove vegetables and herbs. Shred, bone, and de-fat chicken, and set shredded meat aside. Slice remaining carrots and celery and add to broth. Pour broth back into stockpot and continue to simmer on low heat while making dumplings.

For dumplings: On medium heat, into a large nonstick skillet, add 1 cup of the simmering chicken broth. Add butter and allow to melt. Whisk in flour and lightly brown the mixture (3-4 min). Remove from heat. Allow to cool, then stir in eggs one at a time. Once combined, bring broth to a rolling boil. Gently drop in small spoonfuls of dumpling mixture, one at a time. Cover and boil 3-4 minutes, then remove from heat.

To serve: Place desired amount of shredded chicken into soup bowl, then ladle desired amount of broth and dumplings onto meat.