Italian Chicken Stew

3½# chicken thigh meat

3T butter

1 handful of flour

½t ground black and red pepper

1T+ Italian Seasoning

1 28oz. can Hunt's tomatoes

4 ribs of celery - sliced - with young tops

2 big carrots - given a medium chop

1 lg. onion - slice or chop

½ poblano pepper - sliced

1-2# beautiful baby potatoes*

½ bunch of parsley

5-6 big cloves of garlic - rough chopped

~ ½-1c sour cream at the end ~ optional

My plan here was to make a beautiful, rich, shredded-carrot-enhanced-flavorful, saucy, cacciatore-sort-of-chicken thing, to be served over *pasta, quinoa, rice or mashed potatoes.  For some reason though, it seemed the carrots should be diced.  All went well until it was time to put the garlic and parsley in at the end.  I saw these sweet, amazing multi-colored mini-spuds, sitting in the potato bin, just wanting to jump in the pot. . .and. . .it suddenly became a beautiful, rich, flavorful. . .Chicken Thigh Stew! 😉 Follow this recipe using the potatoes in the stew, or omit that step, and serve over one of the suggestions above.

Trim all the fat off the thighs, cut them into your desired size and put them in a heavy bottomed 5-6qt pot with the butter.  Heat till sizzling, stir around for a couple minutes, then sprinkle with the flour, continuing to stir and coat everything with the now, heavier butter mixture.  Season, then continue to stir the chicken, while it sizzles to brown a bit.  Add the tomatoes and the next 4 ingredients.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes at a low bubble.  (Add potatoes now if you're using them.)  Either way, continue to simmer, on low, until the carrots and celery are almost done.

Add parsley and garlic, stir, cover the pot again.  As soon as you hear it bubble, turn off the heat and just let it stand on the burner for 10-15 minutes, at which time it should be ready to serve.  As stew, or over whichever base you chose.  If you want to use sour cream, stir it in now, put a dollop on top of individual servings, or omit it.

😋 Be Bold, Be Creative - Happy Cooking! . .Lin