Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Stew for a crew

This is the chicken thighs and reduced marinade
The whole concoction, simmering
The finished product

I made a stew tonight that is beyond awesome. I dare say, bring two pairs of fat pants when you eat it, because you will surely soil the first pair.
I think my pot is right at 5 gallons and this about filled it. If you have a crock pot, that will work, too. Feel free to reduce portions and adjust as needed in case you live in a hotel room in the middle of Nowheresville, California, and only have a hot plate to cook on.
My carton of chicken thighs was 8-fold. I started by making a marinade of BBQ sauce, ketchup, brown mustard, bacon hot sauce (yeah, that's a thing), black pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, cumin, Mesa (It's a 16-spice poultry rub by Bobby Flay. I'm probably doubling up some spices, but oh well), tumeric, a big spoonful of better, vinegar, a little canola oil and a beer. Add enough water to cover the chicken. Knife some holes in the chicken and let that bad boy sit for at least 30 minutes.
I'm a big believer of spicing in the moment. This is just what I had on hand and felt like adding, but spice however you feel!
Heat a thin layer of canola oil in a frying pan and remove the chicken and brown in the pan. You'll probably want to add a little more salt and pepper and maybe butter on each side of the chicken. While the chicken is browning, Put the pot on high heat and reduce the marinade until it is thick and syrupy. The chicken took two batches in my pan. Don't cook it all the way through, though. Let the inside be a little raw so it finishes cooking when you add it back to the stew.
Cut up the chicken into bite-size pieces, throw the bones back into the marinade, and set the chicken bits aside until the marinade is reduced. Add the chicken and reduced marinade back to the frying pan and put on low heat.
Now to start the stew. I got a pound or so of soup mix from the store. It's basically a bunch of beans and a little rice. Add 4 diced potatoes, 5 chicken bouillon cubes and some spices if it's a bit bland. I ended up adding more black/cayenne pepper, cilantro, cumin and bacon salt. Once the taters are soft, add everything you've got in the pan (both the chicken and marinade) and put on medium heat until the chicken is cooked through.
If I had it, I would have thrown in some parsley, chopped onion and maybe some celery.