One of these things is…well, pretty much like the others (Chicken Stew)
06
Tom and I are going out of town this weekend, which makes it a good time to clean out the fridge/cupboards. The only meat we had in the freezer all week was chicken breast, so that obviously needed to be the protein in tonight’s dinner. Then, I had a random leftover carrot, a couple ribs of celery, a few mushrooms and a few baby redskin potatoes. I contemplated a veggie/chicken couscous but ultimately landed on a stew…because apparently that’s all I make these days 🙂
I debated whether or not to actually post this dinner because as I was eating, I realized it’s pretty much the same thing as my lamb barley stew, with a few changes. In the end, I decided to post it because to me, this pretty much exemplifies the options and range you can get from having one meal in your repertoire. If you don’t consider yourself a cook, I guarantee that once you have a few staple dinners into your rotation and have your methods down, you can make so many more meals just by swapping out an ingredient here or there. You get to learn which flavors taste well together, how much (approximately) you need of herbs/spices, etc.
This came together really quickly (for being a stew and all) and while I would prefer dark meat bone-in chicken for stewing purposes, this was very tasty and comforting, and an easy weeknight meal…not to mention very healthy.
Chicken Stew
Serves 2
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 pound chicken breast, cut into 1″ pieces
1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
4 oz. white or crimini mushrooms
1/2 lb. baby redskin potatoes, halved (skin-on)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
corn starch slurry (optional)
In a smallish stockpot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil (an aside: I use our 3 qt All Clad casserole SO often. It is perfect for the two of us). Add the chicken pieces, just to brown, and then remove them. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in the carrots, celery and garlic until the garlic is just fragrant, about a minute.
Pour the wine into the pot to deglaze, being sure to get the browned chicken bits off the bottom of the pot. Reduce the wine slightly over medium high heat.
Add the chicken broth, bay leaf, thyme, potatoes, chicken, mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Simmer until potatoes are fork tender and chicken is cooked through.
If you want, add a corn starch slurry at this point and boil about a minute uncovered.
Stir in the peas and serve.
Nutritional Info Per Serving: Calories: 288 / Fat: 8.5g / Saturated Fat: 1.3g / Carbs: 21.7g / Dietary Fiber: 3.1g / Protein: 29.1g
how long did this take to cook/simmer?? an hour? less?more?
thanks
Definitely a little less. Just as long as it takes the potatoes to get tender, so it kind of depends how big they are, but I would say about 20m?
Do you think I could put this in the crockpot with frozen chicken on low for 10ish hours? I can throw the peas in at the end…?
Do you think I could cook this in a crockpot with frozen chicken breasts on low for about 10 hours & add the peas right at the end? Thanks!
Hi Lauren, I think that would be fine. I’ve never made this in a crockpot but I’ve made other stews so I assume it’s similar. You may want to use some dark meat chicken because it holds up to long periods of cooking a little better. The recipe makes a very small amount so unless you have a small crockpot, I’d probably increase the recipe so it doesn’t dry out.