Chicken Stew is one of the best ways to warm up a cold winter’s day. If you can rustle up some fresh rosemary, this stew will be all the better for it.
Hello, Winter…you are late.
We have been waiting for you since December. We would have been very appreciative of your wintery precipitation during the Christmas holiday but this February delivery of ice and snow is unwelcome. Take it back, and next time, deliver it in a timely fashion.
The icemaggedon that has hit our home leaves me home-bound with two eight year olds whose boredom is guaranteed to reach new heights. My own boredom is also reaching something of a fevered pitch and to top it all off, we all seem to have a head cold.
Lovely.
The only consolation is that we have a fridge full of food and plenty of time to cook a few delicious meals to keep us warm during this stretch of winter weather.
A nice chicken stew is a wonderful way to combat a case of the winter blahs. It’s a hearty and filling dish that will warm the cockles of your heart ( What is a “cockle” anyway?) and hopefully keep us satisfied until the first signs of Spring finally reach us.
Feel free to top this Chicken Stew with a few hearty dumplings for an extra filling meal.
Ingredients
- 2 T vegetable oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 celery ribs diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 t . dried thyme
- 1 t . dried rosemary
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 4 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 2 leaves bay
- Sprig fresh rosemary optional
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat in a large dutch oven. Toss the chicken pieces in salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of flour. In two batches, cook the chicken pices until nicely browned on each side, about 8 minutes per batch. Remove the chicken to a bowl. Add the remaining oil and add the onion and celery to the pan and season with a pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add in the garlic, thyme and rosemary and cook for one minute. Add in the flour and cook for another minute. Whisk in the chicken broth making sure to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add in the carrots, reserved chicken and its collected juices, and bay leaves. Bring the stew to a boil, cover and place the pot in the oven for 50 minutes or until chicken is very tender. Remove from oven and take out the bay leaves and rosemary sprig. Stir in the frozen peas. Serve with crusty bread.
- Tip: This stew is a great make ahead meal. It will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
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