Cooking... by the seat of my Pants!

Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• 4-6 cups water (will vary depending on pot used)
• 5-7 potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces. (I used a variety of potatoes, just for textural differences.)
• 1 14 oz. can chicken stock or chicken broth
• 1 14 oz. can vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp dried rosemary
• 1 tbs dried thyme
• 1 tbsp crushed red chili flakes
• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat a large dutch oven or stock pot and olive oil over medium heat. Season chicken pieces liberally on all sides with salt and pepper. Place in pot skin side down and sauté for 8 minutes. Turn chicken when fluids puddle generously on meat side and skin no longer sticks to bottom of pot. Sauté an additional 8-10 minutes and remove chicken to a plate or large bowl to cool.

Add onion, 1/2 of the celery and 1/2 of the carrot to pot with a pinch of salt, stirring often, until onions are translucent and vegetables have softened. Add chicken stock, vegetable stock and vinegar, scraping bottom of pan well to release all “sticky bits”. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until 3/4 of mixture has evaporated. (Reduce by 2/3).

While stock is reducing, pull meat from chicken, discarding skin and bones. (Or you can eat the skin… I usually eat half and feed the other half to the dog…) Place chicken meat back in bowl or on plate with whatever juices collected.

Add chicken meat and juices to pot with reduced stock. Add enough water to cover by 1 inch and return to a simmer. Add rosemary, thyme, chili flakes, remaining celery and remaining carrots. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Add potatoes and enough water to cover if necessary. Cover and simmer an additional 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Mix cornstarch and Worcestershire sauce together in a separate bowl. The consistency should be just pourable, if not add more sauce until it is. Add mixture to soup pot and increase temperature to high and boil, uncovered for 1-2 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and test for seasoning, re-season if necessary, allowing 1-2 minutes between tastings. Serve hot.

Plating:

I prefer to plate this type of stew as shown in the photo, with just a sprig of celery leaves as garnish. (It’s always better to garnish a dish with something that you’ve used in it.) the celery leaves also give off a wonderfully fresh celery aroma, which brightens up the smell of the stew.

Serve with a nice crusty bread, biscuits or crackers.