Recipe Fridays: Chicken Stew

What do you do when you’re snowed in?  Personally, I dig through my fridge and cook up my own storm.  I found this giant carrot sitting in the bottom of my vegetable drawer, so I diced him up.  (Psst.  Snowmageddon 2010, not the storm this week.  That was weak.) 

Took some cheese and grated it, and broke in my SilPat.  Heart shaped frico or cheese crisp! 

Which I promptly placed upon the first bowl of chicken stew I made.  Yum. 

I made a huge pot, so the next bowl received a baked-without-rolling crescent roll.  A faked-pot-pie of sorts. 

And the next one bit was put in puff pastry cups I bought.  Frozen puff pastry that was already made into little cups, ready for baking then filling with fruit, whipped cream, or chicken stew, or salad, or whatever… I concocted in my head an entire 3 course meal (there’s 6 in a box) that could be served in the little cups, until I saw how small they were, haha.  For a main course, on the small side. 

But still very good – crisp, buttery, airy.  Very good…

Chicken Stew (or pot pie innards)

4 tblspns of unsalted butter
3 minced cloves of garlic
1 extra large carrot (or three medium sized), diced
3 ribs of celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
4 tblspns of all purpose flour
2 quarts of stock
whole milk or heavy cream
4-5 boneless/skinless chicken thighs, chopped, roasted simply (see note below)

Melt butter in the bottom of a heavy bottomed pot (I used my Staub and made a TON of stew).  Add garlic and carrots, stirring a bit.  I like my carrots a little more cooked, so I let this happen for at least 5 minutes or until they started to soften.  Add celery and onion, letting those cook for a few minutes, the onions should be just starting to turn translucent. 

Sprinkle flour over the vegetables, stirring to coat all vegetables with a bit of flour, just till the flour starting to cook (brown a little bit).  Add the stock, a little bit at a time, stirring vigorously.  Bring to a simmer, then add milk/heavy cream- I eyeball this amount till it’s the right color I want.  Bring to a small bubble, then add chicken, stirring again.  Once chicken is warmed through, you’re ready to eat!!! 

***Chicken note: You can use any kind of chicken you want – if you want to shred the breast of a roasted chicken, or leftover chicken just chopped up.  I actually used boneless/skinless chicken thighs I roasted on the side with some salt/pepper, that’s it, because I wanted the chicken texture a specific way, but you could definitely also add raw chicken (chopped/seasoned) at the beginning, after adding the vegetables, and proceed with the recipe as normal (though white meat might wind up overcooking that way). 

Serving suggestions: since there are no starchy carbs in the stew itself, you can serve with bread, a baked potato, crescent rolls, a salad, any sort of side that will help fill you up.  I admit I ate a lot of it just as big bowls of deliciousness… and they were perfect during the winter storm! 

Happy eating!  What do you like to eat when you’re snowed in?