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.

 

 

 

 

Coq au Vin Meatballs

 

Coq au Vin Meatballs

 

Quite a few recipes online for coq au vin meatballs.  And for those timid souls who treat recipes as scripture, I say, cast away your fear….best to sip some wine before you cast.   See, I view a recipe as merely a blank canvas, upon which the cook doth slap on the paint.

 

But, wait a sec.  Let’s chat briefly about the name coq au vin. The literal translation is rooster in wine.  Never heard of anyone using a rooster, but my knowledge of barnyards is sketchy at best.  Mostly, recipes call for chicken pieces, bone-in, root vegetables and wine. Traditional coq au vin uses a deep, rich Burgundy, but that varies depending on which French region you’re in.  In the Alsace, right across the Mosel River from Germany, Riesling is the wine of choice.  Mine, too, especially in the summer time.  Riesling has a brighter flavor and it’s that time a year to once again embrace the sunny days of summer.

 

The traditional recipe also calls for bacon (lardons) and garlic, neither of which I chose.  Why?  Because I didn’t have any bacon in my frig! But, I did have some patties of Jimmy Dean sausage.  And garlic?  On this fine, summer day, the flavor just didn’t appeal to me.  Then there’s the question of whole chicken pieces versus ground chicken that’s turned into meatballs.  And then when you add the extra ingredients to the ground chicken…. Ou la la, c’est magnifique!

 

I’m sure you’ll spot other twists and turns in my recipe that bypass the traditional, but as Rhett Butler famously said, “Frankly, my dear…..”

 

But, enough twaddle and prattle.  Let’s get straight to slapping the paint on the canvas.

 

Coq au Vin Meatballs

 

Les Ingrédients

 

1 lb ground chicken or turkey

1 egg

½ cup panko breadcrumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

4 patties of Jimmy Dean regular sausage (or any other brand you favor or happen to have in the refrig)

½ sweet onion (or yellow onion) chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 handfuls of fresh spinach (For timid souls, don’t worry about the size of your hands.)

2 handfuls (about two cups) of mushrooms, sliced and chopped

1 ½ cups chicken broth (I used one of those cubes that good for 2 cups, but I used 1 1/2 cups to make it richer.)

2 tablespoons tomato paste (I buy it by the tube since many recipes call for only a tablespoon or two.)

1 cup Riesling wine (or another dry white wine)

a pat of butter and heaping teaspoon of rice flour (or corn starch) mashed together as a thickening agent

½ cup chopped parsley for garnish

½ cup sliced green onions for garnish

sweet potatoes, sliced in half lengthwise and baked (to accompany)

 

Mettre Ensemble (Putting it together)

 

Make the meatballs and heat the oven to 400ºF

 

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs and parmesan.  Add a little salt and pepper. Roll into tablespoon sized meatballs (should yield 15-20) and place them on the baking sheet.  Bake them about 20 minutes, turning once.

Hint:  Saves time if you bake the sweet potatoes as you bake the meatballs.

 

Make the Sauce

Fry the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks.  Turn down the heat to medium. Add the onions and cook until translucent.  Add the rest of the vegetables, except for the spinach and the garnish.  Stir often.

 

Add the chicken broth and wine.  Cook until the vegetables are tender.

 

Add the baked meatballs and the spinach and cook until the spinach wilts.

Add the thickener if you wish.

 

Serve in a bowl beside the baked sweet potato. Add the garnish.

Voila!  Wasn’t that fun?  Wasn’t that easy? Don’t you want to celebrate by polishing off the rest of the Riesling? Yeah, me too!

 

 

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???