Chicken Soup:
4 TBLS of butter
1 yellow onion, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 stalks of celery, sliced
1/4 cup of leafy celery tops if available, chopped
1 TBLS crushed garlic
6 cups chicken stock
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup sherry wine (if you don't want to use this add in a 1/2 c broth)
1/2 TBLS each of seasoned salt, poultry seasoning (salt free), black pepper, rubbed sage
1 tsp each of dried thyme and parsley
3-4 lbs whole chicken cut up, bones and skin on (I had my butcher cut it up)
3 TBLS corn starch plus 3 TBls water
1/2 cup of heavy cream
Dumplings:
1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp of salt
2 TBLS butter
1/2 cup whole milk
Hit the Sauté button on the Instant Pot.
Add in the butter and once melted, add in the onion, carrots and celery and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute longer.
Then pour in the broth and stir well.
Add the chicken and make sure all is covered by the broth. Toss in the bay leaves and secure the lid.
Hit the cancel button and then hit pressure button. Pressure for 10 minutes.
When the chicken is done cooking, perform a quick release. Discard the bay leaves and remove the chicken from pot with tongs. Set chicken aside in a bowl to cool.
Add the sherry, seasoned salt, poultry seasoning, pepper, rubbed sage, thyme parsley, leafy tops from celery to the pot and stir well. Let the pot rest for the time being.
While the chicken is cooling down, make the dumplings by mixing together all the dumpling ingredients.
Begin by placing the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together. Then, place the butter and milk in a pyrex and microwave for 40 seconds. Pour the milk/butter mixture into the flour and lightly mix with a fork until totally blended so a warm dough forms. (NOTE: Don’t overdo the mixing as it can make for a tough dumpling).
From there, lightly knead the dough. Then, on a clean surface covered with flour, take a flour-coated rolling pin and roll the dough to be 1/8 inch thick max (it is very important that it is no thicker than 1/8 inch so it cooks properly).
Then, using a pizza cutter or knife, slice the into the dough vertically into strips about 1 inch wide and then slice horizontally about 2inch wide, forming little rectangular strips.
Dust with additional flour so they don’t stick to each other.
Now give the pot some heat again by hitting the sauté button.
Once it bubbles, stir in the cornstarch slurry, stirring as you add it.
Then add in the dumpling strips one-by-one and then give them a good stir making sure none are sticking to each other.
Then, allow them to simmer for 10 minutes WITH THE LID ON THE POT (NOTE: Make sure the lid is not sealed but rather resting slightly off-kilter on the pot This way, steam will escape on the sides. You may also use a glass lid to fit the 6qt or 8qt).
After 10 minutes of the dumplings boiling in the pot, hit the cancel button so the bubbles die down.
The chicken should now be relatively cool enough to handle. Pick the bones clean of all the meat, discarding the bones, skin, and cartilage.
Rip the chicken by hand into robust pieces and add to the pot. Add in the heavy cream and give everything a final stir until well combined