Home Sweet Home

Today is my first day back from Salt Lake City from visiting Mari & Josh, and it's one of those rare overcast days in Phoenix. On my last afternoon in Salt Lake, Mari & I were talking about how yummy soup & grilled cheese sounded for dinner, but because we had a big lunch, we ended up not making it. So between the clouds and wanting to just lounge around at home all day and bask in being back home, I decided to find a recipe to quench my craving for soup. When I stumbled on the recipe for "Homey Chicken Stew" in Slow Cooker Revolution by America's Test Kitchen, I knew that was gonna be it. Why? Homey! Right there in the name! Stew: close enough to soup. And, perhaps most importantly, I already had everything on hand - no need for a trip to the grocery store.

I love most everything by America's Test Kitchen, but especially Slow Cooker Revolution these days. With a 6 month old, it's hard to find the time to make a home-cooked meal, nevermind man the stove for the amount of time required to make some things, so the slow cooker has been a godsend. And until Slow Cooker Revolution, I thought my slow cooker was utter crap. Between the roasts that came out overdone and the recipes that called for more prep time than time stewing in the slow cooker, I was ready to toss it out as junk. Luckily, America's Test Kitchen tackled these problems and have transformed this former piece of sh*t into an appliance I now use weekly. So tonight I will finally quench my craving for flavorful, hearty, homemade soup stew.

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, seasoned with salt & pepper
1/4 c vegetable oil
2 onions, minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 T tomato paste
1/2 t dried thyme
1/3 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c dry white wine
4 c chicken broth
12 oz red potatoes (2-3 medium), scrubbed & cut into 1/2" pieces* - I had only russet, so while I understand the reasoning for red, I substituted peeled russets here
4 carrots, peeled & sliced 1/4" thick
2 bay leaves
1 c frozen peas
1/4 c fresh parsley* - I had only dried, so I used that

Brown chicken in skillet (with 2 T veg oil) over medium-high heat on both sides, 5-8 minutes. Heat 1 T more oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, tomato paste, and thyme and cook until onions are softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. (Here, my onions weren't browned yet but my garlic was already about to burn, so I truncated this step). Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in wine, scraping up any browned bits. Whisk in 1 c broth, smoothing out any lumps, then transfer to slow cooker. It smelled AMAZING by this point.

Microwave potatoes and carrots with remaining T oil in covered bowl until vegetables are nearly tender, about 5 minutes, transfer to slow cooker. (This is another hallmark of this cookbook, urging cooks to use the microwave to give vegetables a head start or make the most out of aromatics to get spices to bloom before adding them to your slow cooker. It is GENIUS).

Stir  remaining 3 c broth and bay leaves into slow cooker. Nestle browned chicken and any accumulated juice into slow cooker. Cover and cook until chicken is tender, 4-6 hours on low. (Another tip from the cookbook is to disregard your slow cooker manufacturer's directive to cook chicken for 8-10 hours or on high; it's simply too hot to result in anything other than chicken that is rubbery and overcooked).

Transfer chicken to cutting board, let cool slightly, and shred into bite-sized pieces. Remove fat from surface of stew using large spoon and disregard bay leaves. Stir shredded chicken and peas into stew and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In honor of Mari & Josh, who love great beer as much as Michael does, I will be serving this with a warm beer bread.