Creamy Chicken Stew
Robin loves to read the Dining section of the N.Y. Times. One of her favorite columnists, Mark Bittman, recently wrote about braising instead of roasting a chicken. Slowly cooking the chicken with vegetables in a creamy sauce sounded wonderful and so we adapt the recipe for our ingredients. We serve the one-pot dish with egg noodles, although bread would have been sufficient and would better soak up the flavorful sauce. Originally served as part of: Humble Stew.
Ingredients
- 4½ pounds whole, fryer chicken
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- salt & pepper
- 3 small yellow onions
- 25 mini packaged carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 medium parsnip
- 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes
- 6 cloves large garlic
- 1 dried bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ cup dry vermouth
- 1 cup pasteurized cream
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (cleaned and chopped)
Instructions
We start an hour and a half before we want to eat. The chicken is carefully rinsed, the gizzards and neckbone (the liver is discarded) are put in a small pot, and we put the chicken on a parchment covered cutting board. It is patted dry. With kitchen scissors, we add trimmed excess fat from the chicken into the small pot.
After cleaning our hands, the butter is heated in the Dutch oven over medium heat. A heaping 2 cups of water are added to the small pot and it is brought to a simmer over medium heat as well and then the heat lowered.
When the butter has melted and is foaming, we quickly salt and pepper the breast side of the chicken and add it to the butter breast side down. We clean our hands again and salt and pepper the backside of the chicken. We continue to cook the chicken, moving it with tongs occasionally, until it is nicely browned. This takes about 7 minutes.
We turn the chicken on its side and cook for another 3 minutes. Then it is turned to brown the back of the chicken. We repeat the moving of the chicken to make sure it is not sticking and when browned, we cook for another few minutes on the chicken's other side. It is removed to a clean plate. The butter and fat from the Dutch oven is poured out into a container and discarded.
Meanwhile, the small pot with the "stock" is skimmed of the foam with our "skimmer" and cooked gently.
While the chicken is browning, we prepare the vegetables. The onion is trimmed, halved, peeled, and then sliced. This yields over 2 cups of sliced onions. We also rinse and pat dry the mini carrots and then halve them.
When the chicken is removed to the plate and the fat discarded, we add the onions to the Dutch oven and scrape up some of the bottom "bits" with a wooden spoon. We cook for a couple of minutes over medium-low heat.
We clean, trim, and chop the celery, yielding ½ cup.
We add the celery and carrots to the onions and stir well.
The parsnip is cleaned, peeled, and chopped, yielding ½ cup. This is also added to the vegetables and stirred. The potatoes are cleaned, peeled, halved, and chopped, yielding almost 2 cups. We stir in the potatoes. The garlic cloves are peeled, trimmed, and left whole—adding these to the pot.
The onions have been cooking for about 10 minutes. We add the bay leaf and dried thyme and continue to cook and stir for another 5 minutes.
We stir in the vermouth, scraping up the browned bits as best we can. While this cooks for a couple of minutes, we pour the chicken broth from the small pot into a large 2 cup measuring cup fitted with a strainer. This broth is added to the Dutch oven, along with the cream.
When the liquid is boiling, we add the browned whole chicken back into the Dutch oven, breast-side up. The liquid and vegetables come halfway up the chicken. We lower the heat so it is at a slow simmer, cover the pot, and cook for 20 minutes. We flip the chicken over, adjust the heat as necessary, and cook for another 20 minutes. We want the chicken tender and cooked through. We flip again and cook for another 20 minutes.
After an hour, the chicken is removed to a large bowl. The vegetables are removed to a smaller bowl with a slotted spoon. While the chicken rests, we raise the heat on the creamy liquid and boil it for a few minutes. We also taste it for seasoning.
When the consistency is nice for the sauce, we turn off the heat and return the vegetables to the liquid. We carve the chicken, adding the pieces of dark and white meat into the creamy liquid in the Dutch oven. We sprinkle with parsley and serve from the Dutch oven.
Ingredients
- 4½ lb whole fryer chicken
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- salt and pepper
- 3 small yellow onions (sliced, over 2 cups)
- 25 mini carrots (halved)
- 2 stalks celery (chopped, ½ cup)
- 1 medium parsnip (peeled and chopped, ½ cup)
- 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes (peeled and chopped, almost 2 cups)
- 6 large cloves garlic (peeled, whole)
- 1 dried bay leaf
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ cup dry vermouth
- 1 cup cream
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)
Instructions
Start 1½ hours before dinner. Rinse the chicken. Put the gizzards and neck in a small pot (throw out the liver), pat the chicken dry, and trim the excess fat into the pot with kitchen scissors. Wash your hands.
Add a heaping 2 cups of water to the small pot, bring it to a simmer over medium heat, then lower the heat. Skim off the foam now and then as it cooks; this is your broth.
Grown-up
Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. When it foams, season the breast side and lay the chicken in breast down; then season the back. Brown it, moving it now and then with tongs, about 7 minutes. Turn it to brown each side (3 minutes each) and the back. Move it to a clean plate and pour off the fat.
Add the onions to the pot, scrape up the browned bits, and cook over medium-low heat.
As you get each vegetable ready, stir it into the onions.
When the onions have cooked about 10 minutes, add the bay leaf and thyme and cook 5 minutes more, stirring.
Stir in the vermouth, scraping up the browned bits, and cook a couple of minutes. Strain in the broth from the small pot and add the cream.
Grown-up
When it boils, set the chicken in breast up; the liquid should come halfway up. Lower to a slow simmer, cover, and cook 1 hour, flipping the chicken every 20 minutes, until tender and cooked through.
Move the chicken to a large bowl and the vegetables to a smaller one with a slotted spoon. Raise the heat and boil the sauce a few minutes, until it’s as thick as you like. Taste for seasoning.
Turn off the heat and return the vegetables. Carve the chicken into the sauce, sprinkle with parsley, and serve from the pot, with egg noodles or bread to soak up the sauce.