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Thursday, December 3, 2009

Chicken Stew

Giada De Laurentiis' Chicken Stew is one my absolute favorite comfort foods. It's simple, but delicious, filling, and warm. It's perfect for a winter night...except that it happened to be a day of record heat here in New England. Who cares?


I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying my new dutch oven. This stew was another example of a dish that was both easier and better tasting when cooked in the correct pot. With this stew, the chicken is cooked on the bone submerged in the stew's broth of diced tomatoes, aromatics, and chicken stock. The chicken breasts cooked much more evenly and quickly than when I'd been preparing the stew in a stock pot. I make only a few adjustments to the recipe - I add a can of chickpeas and use oregano instead of dried thyme. I find the dried thyme too overbearing.

The best way to eat chicken stew is with a dusting of Parmesan cheese and a big hunk of warm, crusty bread. Eat one bowl of this dish and I promise you won't be hungry for quite a while. It also freezes well for an easy future dinner.