A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater: March’s Chicken Stew and Mash
17This will likely be my last post for a while. Tom and I have just bought a fabulous new condo in the city, and will be moving on Friday. Between all the packing and the lack of food currently in our apartment, the blog has been (and will continue) suffering for a while. I’m embarrassed to even tell you what we ate for dinner tonight, but let’s just say it came from a box…
Consequently, you’ll have to excuse this picture. For one thing, it’s a stew – it’s supposed to look rustic and not picture-perfect, right? For another, I don’t really have adequate surface area at this point to be taking any sort of pictures without tripping over a box or stepping on some bubblewrap and scaring the bejesus out of myself.
Anyway, here is yet another Sunday chicken for you. I flagged this recipe in The Kitchen Diaries
I did make a few changes to the recipe. I used canned beans instead of dried to make things easier on myself, so I in turn reduced the amount of liquid in the recipe (the original calls for 1/2 cup dried beans and 5 cups of water). Because I don’t see the point of a skin-on chicken unless that skin is nice and crispy, I decided to remove the chicken from the final product and re-crisp the skin in the broiler for a few minutes. As I was doing this, I pulled the bay and peel and skimmed the fat from the top of the stewing juices. Even though I drained some of the fat after pan-frying the chicken, a decent amount will still come about from the skin.
Chicken Stew and Mash
1 (3-4 lb.) chicken, cut into 8-10 pieces
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, divided
1/4 cup olive oil plus a little extra for pan-frying
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp. herbes de Provence
Pared peel of one orange
3-4 bay leaves
3 medium or 1 giant leek, sliced (and cleaned very well!)
3 cups water
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Mashed potatoes for serving (I used redskins, left the skin on)
Place chicken in a non-reactive dish or bowl. Whisk together 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, herbes de Provence, and salt and pepper. Pour the marinade over the chicken and rub into the pieces. Tuck the bay leaves and the orange peel in between pieces. Cover and refrigerate for 4-5 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400. Heat a large skillet over medium or medium-high heat and add just enough oil to coat the pan (you won’t need a lot, as the skin will provide additional fat). Shake the chicken to get rid of any excess marinade, and then add to the pan (in batches, if necessary) and brown on both sides. Remove to a dutch oven or large baking dish with a lid. Reserve the leftover marinade.
Pour out a little bit of the chicken fat if a lot has accumulated, and turn the heat to low. Add the leeks and soften (you don’t want to brown them, as they can become bitter). Then add the garlic from the marinade and stir a few times. Pour in the reserved marinade, the remaining 2 Tbsp. of balsamic vineger, and about 3 cups of water (Nigel warns against using stock for fear of it being too rich, but I had about 1/2 cup leftover stock I wanted to get rid of so I that and 2.5 cups of water). Season with ample salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Pour the liquid over the casserole with the chicken in it. Cover and cook for 2 hours. When there are about 45 minutes left, add the beans and taste the liquid to make sure you don’t need more seasoning or balsamic syrup (and also make sure there is enough liquid). Serve over mashed potatoes. [If desired, recrisp the chicken in the broiler (see my note above) and skim fat prior to serving.]
Adapted from Nigel Slater
Good luck with the move Elly! And don’t be embarrased about eating out of a box…I’m sure we’ve all been there at one point! Love the stew…so comforting!
Congrats on your new condo!
This really does look like a simple fuss-free hearty Sunday night meal! It looks very flavorful!
Gook luck with the move!!!! At least you have an excuse for a bad photo, I am having bad hairdays with mine……
Congratulations on the new condo! That sounds awesome. I can totally relate to the decline of eating quality prior to moving. Our last few days before coming to Thailand were pretty lame on the kitchen front!
Congratulations on the new condo! That sounds awesome. I can totally relate to the decline of eating quality prior to moving. Our last few days before coming to Thailand were pretty lame on the kitchen front!
Good luck in your new home. We’ll miss you till your back at the keyboard again.
Congratulations for the new condo! I bet you guys are super excited about it. We’ll be here waiting patiently so don’t worry about the blog. We understand (trust me) what moving to a new house means 🙂
My goodness, that look mighty delicious. Very mouth watering recipe indeed.
Cheers,
elra
My goodness, that look mighty delicious. Very mouth watering recipe indeed.
Cheers,
elra
Congratulations on the new digs Elly. You’ll have to break in the new condo with a feast fir for royalty:D
Chronia polla and Congratulations Elly for the new condo. I can imagine what you are going through but it’s always so exciting moving to a new place. My house is also a total mess as we are having it painted and can hardly move around.
Chronia polla and Congratulations Elly for the new condo. I can imagine what you are going through but it’s always so exciting moving to a new place. My house is also a total mess as we are having it painted and can hardly move around.
I think your picture looks great!
Congratulations on your new home and good luck with the move!
Good luck with moving.
Good luck with moving.
Best of luck with the move!
my first time on your site and loved the recipe.