Farmer Style Chicken Stew and Biscuits from The Careless Cook

 

Farmer Style Chicken Stew and Biscuits from The Careless Cook

 

As I have told my three faithful readers many times, I don’t make any difficult dishes.  Let me add a couple of addendums:  I don’t use any ingredients you haven’t heard of, AND if I can make it, you can make it.

 

Which is not to say I don’t sometimes blend unusual combinations.  Take biscuits, for example.  Hey, if you cook with me, you have to expect some twists and turns and blind alleys. 

 

Take my good friend, Daphne, who sometimes asks questions designed to flummox The Careless Cook.  “Does Chinese food come from Japan?”  Oh, Daphne, where to begin?  This is what The Careless Cook calls a blind alley. 

 

“Why doesn’t everyone just speak English? The French sound so stupid!”  Daphne, dear, let’s keep it simple, although I don’t think you can keep it any other way.  Care for another bottle of wine and a straw, while I explain? 

 

Farmer Style Chicken Stew

 

Why do I call it ‘Farmer Style’?  Because, As you will see, I used every vegetable I had in my kitchen.  At this point, the inebriants, who haphazardly follow my instructions, skipping many of the letters, are no doubt blubbering, “Hey Buckaroo, where is the damn recipe???”

 

On their behalf, let’s slosh along.

 

Suggested Ingredients for farmer style stew

(Biscuit recipe to follow)

 

6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped

1 green bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped

1 sweet onion, peeled and roughly chopped

3 large stalks of celery, finely cut crossways

1 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped (I used those in oil – see photo)

1 large golden beet, peeled and cut in 1 in cubes (a substitute for potato.)

1 carton of chicken broth (32 oz) PLUS one cube of chicken broth (if you want a richer broth)

Olive Oil

Italian seasoning (see photo to see what I used)

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC) By the way, did you know that Fahrenheit and Centigrade are the same at -40 degrees?  I find that fascinating, although not as fascinating as …..sorry, I need to press on.

 

Coat the chicken thighs with olive oil and dust heavily with Italian seasoning.  Bake for about 20 minutes, but not long enough to dry them out.  Chop into bite sized pieces.

 

Slosh a little olive oil in a frying pan and toss in the chopped onions.   Cook on medium heat until they are translucent and slightly brown.

 

Pour the chicken broth into a large pot.   Add all the vegetables, plus the onions and chicken.  Cover and cook until the golden beets are cooked, but not falling apart.

 

Taste and add salt, pepper, and a cube of chicken broth. (I used one)  Also, add more Italian seasoning to taste)

Oat-milk Biscuits

 

Oven to 450ºF (230ºC)

 

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2-3 pinches black pepper

6 oz melted butter

1 cup oat milk (I like Oatly brand)

 

In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix well.  Pour in the melted butter (I used the bits of here and there butter I needed to finish with…half vegan butter and half regular butter).

 

Stir  in the oat milk and mix well.  I mixed first with a wooden spoon and after it came together, I used my hands.  To finish, dust a counter and knead the dough a bit.  Roll it out to about an inch thick and cut in rounds.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes.

 

Ok, Daphne, let me spare you some breath.  I used oat milk because I’d never tried it for biscuits.  Yes, it turned out deliciously.

 

Can you use other vegetables?  Yes, Daphne, use whatever the hell suits you.  What does chicken taste like?  It tastes like rattlesnake.

 

Now give me a chance to make a huge Manhattan before you ask again.

 

 

 

 

Chicken Stew from The Careless Cook

 

Chicken Stew from The Careless Cook

 

I thought of calling myself The Careless Chef, but that is a little too haughty and my significant other assures me I have no reason to be haughty…and besides, calling me a chef is akin to calling me an artist after I spilled catsup down the front of my white shirt.

 

And besides, I look at a chef as a general manager, while a cook works at the stove with burned fingers and a dirty apron.  The cook is the one you ought to thank, but the chef is the one writing cookbooks and passing out autographs. 

 

The careless part, however, is well placed.  I enjoy being in the kitchen, sloshing and sipping a generous pour as I ponder….I don’t know exactly what’s for supper.  Let’s see what we’ve got.

 

In the case of Chicken Stew, the chicken part first grabbed my attention last night, when it was still a whole, nicely baked bird.  Tonight, it is to be boned, skin removed, and the meat shredded. Once I got to that point, there were several ways to go, paths to take, taste buds to satisfy.

 

Memories of Robert Frost were there to guide me.  I pictured good ole Bobby, reaching for his pen and scratching out, the first line:  The Recipe Not Taken.  Well, that was certainly helpful.  Are you ready?  Here we go!

 

Chicken Stew

 

Ingredients

 

Half a baked chicken, deboned, skin off, shredded, or the raw equivalent

(If using raw chicken, chop and sauté it in a little bit of olive oil or butter)

4 stalks of celery, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 ½   cups sliced mushrooms

1 baking potato, peeled and chunked

1 handful of spinach

1/2 onion (I used a sweet onion), peeled and diced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and diced

tarragon to taste (I used 3 large sprigs of fresh tarragon)

4 pats of butter

1 32 oz box chicken broth

2-3 tablespoons of flour for thickening

 

For those careful cooks, as well as the nervous stutters attached to painting by the numbers and staying within the lines, I will answer a few questions.

 

How much is a pat of butter?  It’s right between a love tap and a slap in the face.

 

What size eggs?  I think mine were large, but then every man thinks his are large.

 

How big were the celery sticks and carrots?  Not too large, but then again they may have been large.

 

What if I don’t like garlic?  Substitute vanilla wafers.

 

What brand of chicken stock did you use?  The one that clearly states, chickens were at first astonished and then alarmed when making this broth.

 

How much spinach is a handful?  Depends on what else you’ve holding in your hand.  I usually put down my wine glass, but only for a moment.

 

When you say to chunk the potatoes, how big is a chunk?  A chunk is small enough to fit in your mouth without making your eyes pop, as you gasp for breath.

 

Now, let’s get started!

 

Puttin’ It All together

In a large pan, over medium heat, toss in onions, garlic, carrots, mushrooms and celery.  Pour in just enough chicken stock to cover. 

When the celery and onion are translucent, add the butter and chicken.  Dust the chicken with 1 heaping tablespoon of flour and stir well.

 

Add the rest of the chicken stock and the tarragon.  Taste and add more tarragon if it suits you.  

 

Cook until the stock is slightly reduced.  Add the potatoes and cover.  Cook until the potatoes are lightly softened, then stir. 

Add the spinach.

 

Uncover and allow the broth to reduce a little more.  Still too juicy and want a thicker sauce?  Dust with a second heaping tablespoon of flour and stir well.  Repeat if you want it thicker, BUT, the sauce will naturally thicken as it cools.

 

Too thick?  Add more chicken stock.  You may have to play with it to get it to the exact thickness you want.

 

I served mine in bowls with a side of basmati rice.  I also sprinkled the stew with finely chopped basil.

 

Wine:  A soft, dry Alsatian Pinot Gris, or another light white wine.

 

This was so delicious, this cook was kissed several times….but thinking back, it was not until after I’d opened the second bottle….

After this photo, I added more chicken stock.

 

 

Simple Chicken Stew

Simple Chicken Stew

This is another recipe in my continuing effort to get you off pizza and burgers, and turn you into a skillful chef, with simple and delicious fixin’s that don’t require much prep or thought or special kitchen skills.  As a matter of fact, all you need to do is to hustle to the kitchen, pop a cork of your favorite vintage, sip to make sure it didn’t go bad, and tell yourself, if Stroud can do it, anyone can. No need to whimper in the darkness and dream of days gone by, when glorious meals were only a credit card away.

Just trying to help, folks.  This lip smacker is titled:  Simple Chicken Stew

Isn’t that easier to say than Chicken Stew That Carries the Delight of A Parisian Bistro And Brings Romance Back Into Your Pitiful Life?

Take another sip.  This is going to be so easy.

4 Chicken thighs, bone in (If it has skin, peel it off and toss it)

Olive Oil

Roughly chop, a handful of baby carrots, two stalks of celery, an onion, four green onions, three medium potatoes (peeled)

4 Cups of chicken Broth + 2 condensed cubes of Chicken broth

2 Tablespoons Herbes de Provence

Salt and Pepper.

Getting’ to it!

Slosh a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large pot with a lid, or Dutch oven.  Heat the oil, dust the chicken with salt and pepper and sear in the pan until the chicken is cooked through.  Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.

Toss the roughly chopped vegetables in the same pot.  Add a bit more oil if necessary.  Cook on medium heat and stir now and then, until the vegetables are soft.

Add the chicken broth, mix, then add the two cubes of condensed chicken broth.  Stir well.

Debone the chicken, shred or chop the meat and toss it into the pot, along with the thighbones.  Note:  the bones intensify the flavor and the little bits you didn’t get off the bones will flake off while cooking. The bones are easily removed before serving.

Add the Herbes de Provence and more salt and pepper if needed.

Put the top on the pot and set the heat for a low simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Just beginning to simmer

Even more delicious served over rice. Wine? I served a Pinot Gris from Alsace.

Cooked to perfection

See, that was so quick you barely had time to finish that second bottle of wine!  Cheers!  Bravo!  À votre santé!  Who said you couldn’t cook???