Chic Chicken Stew

A loyal reader has asked for a stew that is dinner party worthy. Something chic, warming, yum and simple. This recipe is VERY flexible, you can mix and match ingredients with what you’ve got available or what’s cheap at the supermarket. You can use the recipe for a herby roasted chicken or just buy a rotisserie chick (aka bachelor's handbag) from the supermarket. You can use this to make the stock as well, just remove the stuffing before you simmer away.

‍ATTN VEGOS! Another loyal reader has asked for more vego options, I made this recipe with you in mind, and it will work excellently with the chicken subbed out for two tins of butter beans or roasted cauliflower (or BOTH). Just use a very good quality veg stock, even better if you can make it yourself with some parmesan rinds for a little extra oomph.

You’ll need

1 litre chicken stock (make a roasted chicken stock with the carcass from your chicken, onion, celery, carrots, fennel tops and any other veg scraps from the fridge. Simmer for an hour or so and strain for a golden, delicious, homemade stock).
800g chicken (pulled into pieces from a roast or rotisserie chick)
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
400g mushrooms (torn or chopped into 3cm pieces
1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
1 bunch English spinach
1 leek (sliced 1mm thin)
1 fennel (cut in half and sliced the same as the leek)
Salt and pepper
2 Sebago potatoes (washed, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
A bunch of dill roughly chopped
½ cup sour cream
2 heaped tsp cornflour
½ cup of grated Cheddar
½ loaf day-old bread (torn into 3cm chunks)

Make it

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil on high in a large frypan with high sides (or a saucepan if you don’t have one). Add the torn mushrooms in two batches, cooking till brown. Take out of the pan and turn it down to low, add 1 tbsp of oil and add the fennel, garlic and leeks. Cook slowly till they go translucent and smell excellent — about 15 mins. Add the mushrooms, stock, potatoes and mustard back to the pan and allow to simmer till the potatoes are nearly cooked. Add the roasted chicken, spinach, sour cream and chopped dill then taste and season with salt and a bunch of pepper.

Add a few tbsp of the hot liquid into a bowl and mix in the corn flour till there are no lumps. Add it back to the pan and allow it to simmer to cook out the flour and let the mixture thicken slightly. At this point, you can pop the mixture into a container and refrigerate or freeze till you need it.

Turn the oven on with the grill setting on medium-high. If you’ve used a saucepan or your frypan can’t go into the oven, pour the stew into a ceramic lasagne dish that is oven safe. Place half the cheddar on top of the stew then place the torn bread on top followed by the remaining grated cheddar. Place under the grill till the cheesy bread crust has gone crisp and golden. Allow it to sit for 10 mins before serving to your hungry friends. You can serve this with a zingy fennel salad, some roasted pumpkin, sautéed greens or just as it is. ENJOY.