Brown up chicken: Sprinkle each piece of chicken with a little salt on both sides. Then heat 1 tablespoon of either oil or butter in a large heavy bottom pot on medium-high heat. Add the pieces of chicken skin side down and let them cook undisturbed for 5 minutes to render out the fat from the skins. After 5 minutes flip each piece of chicken over and let them cook on the other side for another 5 minutes. Then remove the chicken from the pot and set them aside on a plate. Once cool remove the chicken skins and discard them.

Sautee the vegetables and herbs: Add the onion, carrot, and celery to the same pot. Saute these three ingredients for roughly 5 minutes or until the onion starts to become translucent. Then add the thyme, parsley, and sage and continue to saute everything for another minute or two.

Make a roux: Add the ⅓ cup of flour to the pot and stir everything together. The flour should bind with the oil/butter & chicken fat in the pot to form a paste (called a roux) that coats all the pieces of vegetables. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue to stir everything for a couple of minutes or until the roux becomes tan in color.

Add the stock: Pour ¼ of the stock into the pot. Stir everything so that the roux melts into the stock and forms a thick sauce. Make sure to stir well at this point as you don’t want any lumps of roux! Then pour the remaining stock and stir so that it forms a creamy broth.

Finish cooking the chicken: Add each piece of chicken back to your pot. Increase the heat to let the liquid in the pot come to a boil. Then reduce the heat so that the liquid is at a constant simmer. Cover the pot and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until each piece of chicken is fully cooked. Then take the cooked chicken out of the pot and onto a cutting board. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and cut it into large bite-sized chunks. And return the chicken meat back to the pot and cover it with a lid.

Make dumpling batter: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and chives together in a mixing bowl. Then add the melted butter and milk. Gently mix everything with a wooden spoon until it just comes together. Make sure that you don’t over-mix the batter or else the dumplings will be dense and tough.

Cook dumplings: Make sure that the pot is still at a low simmer. Then scoop out portions of the dumpling batter (roughly 1 tablespoon in size) and dump them over the simmering stew. Once all of the dumpling batter is added cover the pot and let them cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes take the lid off and check to see if the dumplings are fully cooked by using the toothpick test. If the toothpick comes out clean then move on to the next step. If not then put the lid back on and let the dumplings continue to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Finish the dish: Add the defrosted peas to the pot and gently stir them into the rest of the dish. Then taste some of the broth and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Ladle the chicken & dumplings into individual bowls and enjoy!