Chicken stew

Kurumba

I was wondering does anyone have a tried and tested simple enough recipe for a chicken stew?
I have done a search but can't see anything specific to a chicken stew.

Do you use chicken thighs or can you use any part of the chicken?
Cheers!

olaola

I'd probably use thighs myself.

This looks like a nice recipe:

http://www.greatfood.ie/item_display.asp?cde=2&id=870

The Hill Billy

I generally use a whole chicken, carrots, onions, celery, stock (maybe a glass of white wine too), bay leaves, thyme & black peppercorns. I'd lay the spuds on the top for the last hour or so so they absorb the flavours while they cook.

Kurumba

Thanks for that link, looks nice. I might scale it down as its only for 2 of us so 6-8 thighs might be a bit much. Same with a full chicken.
I don't think i've eaten chicken stew before but don't eat beef so kind of like the idea of it.

BaZmO*

I normally use lamb in mine.

tSubh Dearg

What about Coq au Vin?

I've made it for 2 of us but got 2 days out of it. Absolutely delicious, though I would add button mushrooms to that recipe there. It's also essential that you use Burgundy (like Pinot Noir) as other wine just doesn't taste right.

noby

BaZmO* wrote: »

I normally use lamb in mine.

Heh.

The Hill Billy

jessie1 wrote: »

Thanks for that link, looks nice. I might scale it down as its only for 2 of us so 6-8 thighs might be a bit much. Same with a full chicken.
I don't think i've eaten chicken stew before but don't eat beef so kind of like the idea of it.

Like tSubh says - make it big enough so that you have enough for two dinners. If you don't want it two days in a row - just freeze it.

Kurumba

olaola wrote: »

I'd probably use thighs myself.

This looks like a nice recipe:

http://www.greatfood.ie/item_display.asp?cde=2&id=870

What's the difference between thighs and the legs(besides the obvious!) , is the meat different/ better on the thighs?

Beerlao

jessie1 wrote: »

What's the difference between thighs and the legs(besides the obvious!) , is the meat different/ better on the thighs?

there's more meat on them... a bit like your own. although unlike chicken, my thighs are bigger than my breasts (a good thing)

The Sweeper

I make mine, as Hill Billy says, with a whole chicken.

Simplest way: place a whole chicken in a 4-5 litre saucepan and add enough cold water to almost cover it. Throw in a bay leaf, 10 whole peppercorns, an onion and a carrot. Bring to the boil and then simmer for around an hour.

Remove chicken, seasonings and vegetables from the stock. The stock now makes the base of your soup. Put the chicken in a high-sided dish, because it will continue to drain, and let it cool. Discard the used vegetables - you've had the goodness out of them. Strain the stock into a large bowl.

While the chicken cools, slice an onion, some carrots and a couple of sticks of celery. I like to then put these in the same 4-5 litre saucepan, and add a ladle of chicken stock, then allow them to sweat and soften over a medium heat. Season with salt and pepper, and add whatever herbs you like - I like some finely chopped parsley and some sage. Gradually ladel more stock onto the vegetables until you have a simmering soup, with around the amount of liquid you want in your stew. The leftover stock is perfect for other recipes.

Peel some floury potatoes and chop them into even sizes. Add them to your simmering soup and let them cook. This will take around 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes - test them by poking with a knife or skewer, you don't want them to overcook and fall apart.

While the potatoes are cooking, the chicken should have cooled enough to handle - pour any drained stock out of the dish back into your stew. Take the skin off the chicken and strip the meat from the bones. When the potatoes are done, add as much meat as you want to use to your stew and allow it to heat through (it should take about two minutes if the stew is still hot and the chicken is still warm).

I use a small-ish chicken, and there are only two of us, and we have enough stew for dinner and lunch the next day, and then I put the skin and bones back into the leftover stock, top up with cold water, re-simmer to make more stock and use that for any number of things with the leftover chicken meat - risotto, paella, generic chicken and rice dishes, chicken with pasta and a cream sauce using some stock, so on, so forth...

Beerlao

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

I make mine, as Hill Billy says, with a whole chicken.

Simplest way: place a whole chicken in a 4-5 litre saucepan and add enough cold water to almost cover it. Throw in a bay leaf, 10 whole peppercorns, an onion and a carrot. Bring to the boil and then simmer for around an hour.

Remove chicken, seasonings and vegetables from the stock. The stock now makes the base of your soup. Put the chicken in a high-sided dish, because it will continue to drain, and let it cool. Discard the used vegetables - you've had the goodness out of them. Strain the stock into a large bowl.

While the chicken cools, slice an onion, some carrots and a couple of sticks of celery. I like to then put these in the same 4-5 litre saucepan, and add a ladle of chicken stock, then allow them to sweat and soften over a medium heat. Season with salt and pepper, and add whatever herbs you like - I like some finely chopped parsley and some sage. Gradually ladel more stock onto the vegetables until you have a simmering soup, with around the amount of liquid you want in your stew. The leftover stock is perfect for other recipes.

Peel some floury potatoes and chop them into even sizes. Add them to your simmering soup and let them cook. This will take around 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes - test them by poking with a knife or skewer, you don't want them to overcook and fall apart.

While the potatoes are cooking, the chicken should have cooled enough to handle - pour any drained stock out of the dish back into your stew. Take the skin off the chicken and strip the meat from the bones. When the potatoes are done, add as much meat as you want to use to your stew and allow it to heat through (it should take about two minutes if the stew is still hot and the chicken is still warm).

I use a small-ish chicken, and there are only two of us, and we have enough stew for dinner and lunch the next day, and then I put the skin and bones back into the leftover stock, top up with cold water, re-simmer to make more stock and use that for any number of things with the leftover chicken meat - risotto, paella, generic chicken and rice dishes, chicken with pasta and a cream sauce using some stock, so on, so forth...

awwwwwwwwwwwww you've got me wiping my chin reading that

The Hill Billy

Wow MAJD! - Love the method. Way more classy than my 'chuck-the-lot-in-a-pot' brand of cookery. Nice one.

noby

Excellent stuff, MAJD.

rubadub

Full large chickens are very economical. I have cut the breasts off giant chickens and they were around 350g each, so 700g of breast meat. To buy that much breast meat can cost more than the chicken did!

Stripping a chicken completely can be time consuming, so a good method would be to cut the breasts off and save them for stir frys or whatever, and then stew the rest.

Minder

Try using Guinea Fowl - the flavour is very intense chicken (old fashioned chicken flavour, I read on another thread). It is extremely good if following MAJDs method. The meat is a little darker on the legs & thighs.

Shelli2

Sorry for resurecting a very old thread, but a searched for a chicken stew and this popped up.

I have a very stupid question....I'm totally new to cooking.

If using MAJD's method do you cook the chicken first? Like a roast chicken?

BaZmO*

Ahhh, MAJD is called The Sweeper now....

Shelli2 wrote: »

If using MAJD's method do you cook the chicken first? Like a roast chicken?

The boiling and simmering for an hour cooks it.

Shelli2

Ah ok thanks.

Would anyone have a method for making soup/stew from leftover roast chicken?

BaZmO*

Shelli2 wrote: »

Would anyone have a method for making soup/stew from leftover roast chicken?

Just do a basic soup, chopped onion, carrots & celery sweated off in some oil, add some stock and then bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 mins. You can either whizz in a blender and then add chicken stripped from the carcass or leave it and add the chicken near the end of the simmer.

The Hill Billy

Shelli2 - You can also check out this thread:
http://m.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055989563

magentas

The Sweeper wrote: »

I make mine, as Hill Billy says, with a whole chicken.

Simplest way: place a whole chicken in a 4-5 litre saucepan and add enough cold water to almost cover it. Throw in a bay leaf, 10 whole peppercorns, an onion and a carrot. Bring to the boil and then simmer for around an hour.

Remove chicken, seasonings and vegetables from the stock. The stock now makes the base of your soup. Put the chicken in a high-sided dish, because it will continue to drain, and let it cool. Discard the used vegetables - you've had the goodness out of them. Strain the stock into a large bowl.

While the chicken cools, slice an onion, some carrots and a couple of sticks of celery. I like to then put these in the same 4-5 litre saucepan, and add a ladle of chicken stock, then allow them to sweat and soften over a medium heat. Season with salt and pepper, and add whatever herbs you like - I like some finely chopped parsley and some sage. Gradually ladel more stock onto the vegetables until you have a simmering soup, with around the amount of liquid you want in your stew. The leftover stock is perfect for other recipes.

Peel some floury potatoes and chop them into even sizes. Add them to your simmering soup and let them cook. This will take around 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes - test them by poking with a knife or skewer, you don't want them to overcook and fall apart.

While the potatoes are cooking, the chicken should have cooled enough to handle - pour any drained stock out of the dish back into your stew. Take the skin off the chicken and strip the meat from the bones. When the potatoes are done, add as much meat as you want to use to your stew and allow it to heat through (it should take about two minutes if the stew is still hot and the chicken is still warm).

I use a small-ish chicken, and there are only two of us, and we have enough stew for dinner and lunch the next day, and then I put the skin and bones back into the leftover stock, top up with cold water, re-simmer to make more stock and use that for any number of things with the leftover chicken meat - risotto, paella, generic chicken and rice dishes, chicken with pasta and a cream sauce using some stock, so on, so forth...

followed this recipe and just waiting on spuds to finish boiling...it looks and smells delish, can't wait to tuck in!:cool: