What's in the pot? Well let me tell you! Since this is an artist blog I thought I'd delve into the art of cooking since I had a blast last evening making a scrumptious Chicken Stew Soup. Is it stew? Soup? Not sure so I'm calling it Linda's Chicken Stew Soup.
(Does anyone actually use the word scrumptious anymore? It means "extremely delicious." Not just delicious - which itself means tastes really good - but extremely delicious.)
I have fun cooking from time-to-time. Last Christmas my husband bought me Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking - 2 vol. set and it opened up the world. [yes, saw the movie and loved it!] And, yes, washing and patting dry your meats before browning, frying, baking, broasting, roasting or whatever it is you want to do really is important and makes a difference. I've always loved to experiment with cooking. There was the time when I bought those huge asian pears and baked them with squab nested in each half. Trouble was my girls were still kids then and they saw those little birds and refused to eat. Had to hide the dinner and fix grilled cheese. Hint: save gourmet cooking for adults.
There are two cookbooks on my kitchen shelf I have fun with:
- Food To Die For: Secrets From Kay Scarpetta's Kitchen by mystery/thriller writer Patricia Cornwell.
- The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins.
These are kind of my go to books. I never follow a recipe exactly...love to change, add, delete and generally "mess" with recipes but I find the ones in these two books great inspirators. ['inspirators' - is this a word?]
Ingredients for Linda's Chicken Stew Soup:
- 4 cups chicken broth [your choice of brand]
- two 14.5 oz. cans Petite Diced Tomatoes w/Garlic & Olive Oil [I bought the Raley's brand]
- 1 can white beans, rinsed
- 1 can black beans, rinsed
- 2 large boned chicken breasts, cut into eatable chunks - about 1" cubes [I chose free range chicken and these pieces of meat were huge]
- One 8 oz package of sliced Baby Bellas mushrooms
- 2 cups tiny fingerling potatoes [I bought a bag of mixed varieties and picked out the tiniest ones...any that were as long as my thumb I cut in half...otherwise keep them whole]
- 1 package pre-sliced yellow and zucchini squash [my grocery store has these pre-sliced or pre-chopped vegetables you can add to dishes like stews and soups] or 1 cup each variety sliced
- 1 package pre-cubed butternut squash seasoned with cinnamon [or 2 cups cubed]
Now let's get down to the fixing and cooking. I'm not a professional chef nor a Foodie Blogger so I can't give you all the nutritional breakdown or timing to the inth degree. I'll do my best - tried to make notes as I worked.
1. First we need to brown the chicken. Frankly I've never browned chicken...have browned beef as beginning prep to a stew so thought browning the chicken would also be a good idea [and it was!] I put about a cup of flour in a bag with a generous shake of Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning. In a very large pot put in some olive oil over a medium heat. In batches, put the chicken chunks in the bag and get them nice and coated with flour [close the bag and shake it well]. Put the floured chicken in the heated oil and brown. I found chicken browns quicker than beef so keep an eye on the pot and monitor the heat so it doesn't get too hot. Put the browned chicken on a plate covered with paper towel to drain and set aside.
2. Once all the chicken is browned, saute the mushroom slices in the same pot. Add more olive oil
as necessary.
3. Once the mushrooms are nicely sauteed and browned [about 5 minutes I guess] add in:
- the chicken
- chicken broth
- tomatoes with their juices
- rinsed beans
- fingerling potatoes
and bring to a boil. Once a boil is reached, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. At this point add your own secret ingredient. We all have them, our special seasoning or dash of sauce or whatever. I'll go ahead and tell you what secret ingredient I added to this: three dashes from my bottle of soy sauce. Yep, soy sauce. Adds an amazing nuance. Also now add:
- the packages of squashes
and simmer for another 30 minutes.
It's done. Oh my but it was good! Browning the chicken made those chunks 'o chic super tender, moist and tasty...and the chicken didn't fall apart like in some soup recipes. This recipe makes quite a bit...at least 10 generous servings. We had crackers and cheese as accompaniment.
Hmmm. No wonder there are so many Food Bloggers out there...this was fun!
Happy Holidays!
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