Saturday Evening Tea - Chicken Stew for the Soul

 Today has been a relatively quieter day compared to the rest of the week and I have taken some time out to potter about doing other things for a change.  That is until it became time to think of tea.  I had spoken the other day of having a chicken stew as I had a pack of deboned chicken thighs in the fridge.  So that is what we had.  When I bought the chicken thighs, they had worked out at a buy two packs for £4.  That offer has since been taken off, and now you pay £4.25 per pack which works out at £8.50.  In future therefore I think I will be buying a whole chicken. which is approximately £5 to £6 (unless I get one from the Butcher which is twice the size of the supermarket ones and where I pay about £9.  However, I do get far more chicken out of this at least three to four meals as they are hefty birds and of course the stock. I had been buying the thighs because they were so good a value.  It seems to always be the case where you find something that is what is classed as a good value all round meat that the price ends up going up.  We used to buy Lamb Shoulder quite regularly and quite cheaply until consumers started buying it and the price then went up.  It is still a tasty bit of meat, but I will not pay through the nose for it.

I am not sure of the origins of the meal we have had tonight, and I suspect that it was a cheap and cheerful meal out of what was classed a high value item (a chicken).  When I was a child, a Chicken was a special event usually saved for a Sunday dinner, and then every morsel of it being used up in one way or another. It was also not as readily or widely available as it has been today.  

Mum always used to make a stew or a curry out of the pickings from the chicken and it was one of the stews I would eat as a child.  I did not like thick gravy, parsnip or swede or dried Kidney beans (shudder) and used to studiously pick out all the offending items and put them to the side of my plate.  I used to be made to sit at table until I had eaten some more but for many years' I would not touch stew.  Mum made one about 18 months before she passed over, and I found I liked it and I have eaten it ever since. This chicken stew is also not as heavy as a Beef stew but still very tasty.  Mum's version used to have potato (to thicken the stew), onion, carrots, peas and a little leek.  I must also say that Mum always used a pressure cooker for our meals during the week and especially for soups and stews.  I was bought up with using the beast and I have never been afraid of them, despite having one incident where the stew ended up on the ceiling (the gasket had gone).  It did not put me off.  I know a lot of people are nervous of them, but the new electric pressure cookers are brilliant and very easy to use.

Recipe for Chicken Stew for the Soul

Ingredients:

Either a pack of raw chicken thighs, or chicken meat of your choice. Or Traditionally meat left over from a roast chicken*.

*Note: If meat already cooked it can be added straight to the pan after being cut into medium sliced pieces.

Two medium sized onions chopped finely into chunks

Two medium sized carrots chopped into matchsticks and very thin slices.

One Leek sliced into slices and then chopped and also sliced into rings.

A cup full of frozen peas

Four florets of cauliflower where the florets are picked off individually.

About four leaves including the stem of cauliflower finely cut.

A couple of strips of Red sweet pepper.

A handful of soup pasta (from the Polish shop) it is very fine sticks of dried pasta.

You can also add in small chunks of potato, fine slices of celery, some Spinach at the end.

Method:

If the meat is raw, fry the chicken off until it is cooked in a little butter or oil, until it is cooked.  Try not to over-brown it though.

I then on a board cut into slices and then two to three pieces per slice until all the meat has been prepared in this way.

Then prepare all the veg so that it is ready to use and add to the pan - it is more efficient this way and will save the energy of your cooking appliance.

Fry off one of the onions until slightly golden, and then add in Leek which has been sliced and then cut into small pieces.  

Add the cooked chicken at this point, or the remains of a cooked chicken.  

Add the carrot; the reason I have match-sticked the carrot, and both cut into thin slices is that it adds more interest to the stew texture wise rather than the stew being overwhelmed with big chunks of things.

Add the cauliflower and the finely shredded leaves with the stem.

Add stock or water half-way up and mix all the items together.  (I added the pan of gravy left over from last night's meal - waste not, want not; I also at this point add in a chicken stock pot, some Marigold vegetable powder and some Engevita, Nutritional yeast, some Herbes de Provence or mixed herbs, a couple of Bay Leaves, white pepper, some Cranberry jelly bring to the boil and let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring to amalgamate all the ingredients together.

Then add the other onion raw, and also the cup of frozen peas.

Finally add in the soup pasta.

You can cook this in a pan on the top of the cooker or an Instant Pot, or similar machine, but it will take a little while.  I had this meal ready within an hour, and that is taking into account the cooking of the meal by bringing up to pressure and then timing for 25 minutes, and then releasing the steam.

I prefer to use a pressure cooker for stews and soups as it concentrates the flavours of the ingredients used.  As I used my Ninja Foodi, I switched programmes and cooked the stew for 25 minutes from bringing up to pressure.  It tenderises any meat doing this, although it can be done in other equipment.

This is the stew after the Pressure Cooker Lid has been taken off.

Once pressure is released, or food is ready by means of other equipment the stew will then need tasting to see if there are any adjustments required to the seasoning or additional flavouring.  Once you are satisfied with this, you can then thicken up the stew. I tend to use Cornflour or Arrowroot, which has been slaked with a little water and then added to the gravy.

I usually serve stew with mashed potato or indeed boiled potato in pieces so that you can break the potato down with a fork and mix it into any gravy.

We have both had a big pasta bowl full of stew with mashed potato for tea.  OH went back for second helpings.  We still have at least a meal left for another day each if not a little more.  

A cheap tasty meal which warms you up of a chilly evening, and is a way of feeding yourself or your family well but economically.  It may not be the Scampi and Chips of your dreams at the end of the day, but it is good heart-warming food that keeps your body fed and warm as most traditional English cooking is. 

If you make a scuttle full it will keep you fed for a couple of days.  Equally, if you just end up with what appears to be a load of gravy left, serve it as a soup with some nice bread as a starter to a meal.  That way you can if you "pad" your food out in other areas, get away with a smaller bit of meat but still keep your family substantially fed.  Also serve a pudding after, served with custard (you can use dried milk for this if necessary).

Not sure what we are having for tea tomorrow.  Could be a Cottage Pie!

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x

P.S. Some of you may wonder why I finely chop some of the vegetables and also use larger pieces. I am a big believer that the gravy or "soup" of a meal is where a lot of the flavour lies in creating a memorable meal.  I was taught to layer flavours up in stages in order that the depth of flavour is built up gradually.  Soups or stews are after they have cooled down and the juices from the ingredients have been able to flow more flavourful.  Even more so in my opinion if cooked in a pressure cooker as it condenses the flavours even more.  Plus, there are no nasties in this particular meal it is all whole good food that will keep you warm and well fed.

P.P.S.  Sometimes stocks and stock alternatives are too salty and people end up adding extra water which thins down the flavour of the soup or stew.  I was taught that if you add some raw potato to the stew until it is cooked, it absorbs any excess salt from the liquid/gravy.  Take potato out before serving.