Not My Moms Stewed Chicken

When I was taking a look back at my blog archives to see what recipes I would want to make again because the original photographs were so horrendous I came upon a childhood recipe I blogged about: Stewed Chicken. It's a dish we had quite often during my youth and one that mom made mostly on those cold fall and winter days. The kind of meal that was, as they used to say "stick to your ribs". Something to warm the body, fill the belly and give you a sense of feeling all warm and comfortable after eating it.

This was a meal that generally had some Bisquick dumplings to go along with it. As a kid I loved it (stewed chicken) and even loved the not so light dumplings that accompanied the meal. When I was in my first year or so of marriage I brought forth this dish from childhood to my family. My then new husband made no bones in telling me how much he disliked the dumplings and that he never liked them when his mother made them. That was back in the early 1990's. I waited until 2013 to make the dish again, sans dumplings and in place of them served it over egg noodles. He loved the dish.



Yesterday I thought I would re-make the recipe and re-photograph the dish and just put up the new photo with the original post. That won't work because I changed the recipe slightly and I felt like I would be committing food fraud.

This version is somewhat lighter and to me brighter. I absolutely nixed attempting even a "from scratch" dumpling recipe and made some cheddar biscuits instead. For my husband his was served over his favorite: buttered egg noodles and I sopped up the lovely sauce with a cheddar biscuit.

One last note, I used fresh herbs from our garden that are still holding their own outside. I think the freshness of the herbs is what made this dish so very special so I do recommend them. However if dried is all you have and you don't want to spend money on fresh then adjust per the list of ingredients. I've read in many places where the ratio is this: for every 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs, use one teaspoon of dried. You might want to save that little fact some where in your recipe file.

• 4-6 chicken thighs with skin on
• 3/4 large Sweet Onion – medium dice
• 1/2 lb. Carrots – bite size chunks
• 3 stalks Celery – medium dice
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth or stock
• shortening – such as Crisco®
• 1 tsp. fresh sage - minced (or 1/4 tsp. dried approximately)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary - minced (or 1/8 tsp. dried approximately)
• 1 tsp. fresh parsley - minced (or 1/4 tsp. dried approximately)
• granulated garlic to taste
• onion powder to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp. Gravy Master®

1.  After washing your chicken under cold water, dry it thoroughly. Use salt, black pepper, onion powder and granulated garlic to season both sides of the chicken.
2. Have all your vegetables prepped and have your herbs prepped as well.
3. Heat up a deep skillet over medium high heat. Add in enough shortening to melt and coat the bottom of the pan - about a tablespoon.
4. Place the season chicken thighs skin side down in the skillet. Sear on medium high, adjusting the heat as necessary for about 3 minutes on the skin side to get a golden brown skin color then another minute on the second side. Move the chicken to a waiting plate and brown in batches as necessary.
5. When the chicken is finished, turn the heat down to medium low and add in the onions, celery and carrots. Season with a touch of salt and black pepper to taste. Give a good stir and cook for a few minutes until the onion and celery soften slightly.
6. Add the gravy master in with the vegetables and stir around. The gravy master lends color and a certain flavor the the ending sauce.
7. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Add in the chicken broth. The broth does not need to cover the chicken, you need just enough to go about 3/4 the way up the skillet.
8. Turn your heat down to low. Cover and simmer for about 35-40 minutes and the chicken will be perfect.

I worked up the cost - for us it came to approximately $10.70 to make the dish.  I wish my photographs showed the lovely sauce but there is some at the bottom of the dish. The sauce is really delicious and when you serve your family don't be shy with it.

I've been taking photos with my new i Pad mini and think I need to figure a few things out, but hopefully these are clear enough for you to see the beauty of the dish.