Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Stewlicious!

Image Credit: Life






So far this winter, I have planned twice to make chicken pot pie. The first time around, I had all the ingredients ready to go, but realized early in the process that my chicken had spoiled (my own fault for leaving it a day too long in the fridge!). I ended up with a vegetarian strudel using the puff pastry that I'd defrosted and vegetables I was already preparing for the pie.

Second time around, I never got around to buying frozen pastry or having the energy to make some from scratch, so my next failed attempt became chicken stew with dumplings. I thought I'd share the recipe here as it turned out pretty delicious.


Image Credit: Filia Artis

The recipe is an adaptation from Canadian Living and the main reason for the adaptations was that I didn't have the right ingredients in the right amounts, so I had to do some improvisation. An accidental addition of much more cream than was called for also occurred, but the stew came out so creamy and delicious, I decided to keep that error in my version.

Overall, I liked the results. I repeat one of my favorite mantras that the secret to being a home chef is to know how and when substitutions and alterations can be made. Dare to experiment and see what happens!

My time start to finish on this one was 1 hr 15 mins, so a bit longer than I like to spend on a weeknight dinner, but we got two nights out of it, so if you average it out, pretty quick and easy. The preparation mess factor was about medium with all the chopping and ingredient preparation, but it was still a one pot meal, which is my favorite kind!

I'm dying to hear from anyone who makes this recipe or has made anything that has previously appeared on The Do-tique! Please let me know how things went and feel free to document your experience with at least one photo and I'd be pleased to feature you as a guest blogger. Now THAT's an invitation that should be impossible to resist!!!


DIY Rating: 8 definitely doable and easier than pot pie!

If you're not a chef by nature, save this one for 
the weekend when you can take your time.

Overall, quite simple and extremely tasty, but though the prep was all 
straightforward, it did create a moderate amount of mess to clean up.


Ingredients

2.5 cups  chicken stock 
(I used a boullion cube to make stock and ended up adding additional 2 cups of stock at end)
4 (0.6 kg) skinned chicken thighs with bone in
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut in cubes
1 potato, peeled and cubed
1 head broccoli cut into florets
1-2 tbsp butter
2 chopped celery stalks
1 chopped onion
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup whipping cream
Dumplings
1 cup flour
1 tsp dried parsley / 1 tbsp fresh parsley if preferred
2 tsp  baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk, (approx)

Preparation:


In a large Dutch oven, bring chicken stock to boil. Add chicken; cover and simmer over medium-low heat until juices run clear when chicken is pierced, about 20-30 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer to plate; let cool. Remove meat from bones; cut into bite-size chunks.

Add carrots, broccoli and potatoes to stock; cover and cook for 10 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to plate. Pour stock into large measuring cup; if necessary, add more chicken stock to make 2.5 cups.

In same pan, melt butter over medium-high heat; cook celery, onion and mushrooms, stirring often, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add flour, thyme, salt and pepper; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in reserved stock; bring to boil, stirring. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat back of spoon. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pan. Add carrot mixture and cream, stirring to combine.

Dumplings: In bowl, whisk together flour, parsley, baking powder and salt. Using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until in coarse crumbs. Using fork, stir in enough milk to make sticky spoonable dough. Alternately, you can mix the butter and dried ingredients in a food processor and add the milk that way also. Leaving space around each, drop by tablespoonfuls onto simmering stew; cover and cook, without lifting lid, for 15 minutes or until dumplings are no longer doughy underneath.

Takes about 1 hr 15 min and makes 4 servings.

2 comments:

  1. Can one use whole wheat flour, or only white? I have half a roast chicken (already cooked) in the fridge and was wondering what to do with it...stew sounds yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Corn starch would work equally well as white flour. In terms of whole wheat flour, you might want to research whether it works as well as a binding agent - it's purpose here is to lend gluten to thicken the sauce. I haven't had experience trying it for that purpose.
    Let me know how this works out for you!

    ReplyDelete

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