Chicken and dumplings

4 chicken leg/thighs
2-3 carrots, sliced into rounds
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Dumplings

1 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Place the chicken in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boill. Add onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, and parsley to the pot. Reduce the heat to low boil and cook the chicken, uncovered, for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken from the pot and set it aside. Bring the broth to a boil and skim off any foam. If you want to remove all the vegetables, you can - I don't.

You want to use about 4-5 cups of broth. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice, and keep over medium heat while preparing the dumplings.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and milk in a bowl. Stir well to muix. Spoon out dumplings and drop into simmering broth. I use a tablespoon apiled high. The dumplings will swell and then slowly shrink as they dissolve and thicken the gravy. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring often.

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove skin. Peel chicken from bones and cut into bite-sized pieces. Drop them into gravy and dumplings. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes, then serve with more pepper on top.