Babushkas Slow Cooker Root Vegetable And Chicken Stew Recipes

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, soak dried mushrooms in water overnight at room temperature. (Alternatively, you can cover mushrooms with hot water and let soak for 2 hours.)
• Remove mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid. Slice off stems and discard them. Cut the caps into 1/4-inch pieces.
• Place kombu in a large pot, add mushrooms and their soaking liquid, and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Meanwhile, make a drop lid (called an otoshibuta in Japanese) by folding foil into a round just smaller than the pot. Poke a few holes in the drop lid with a chopstick or knife.
• As soon as liquid boils, remove kombu and discard or save to reuse. Add chicken, taro, radish, carrot, sake, soy sauce, sugar and salt to the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, place drop lid directly on top of cooking vegetables and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
• Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Add sweet potato to the pot, cover pot again with drop lid, and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes, until vegetables are cooked through but not mushy.
• Meanwhile, shred cooled chicken and divide among four bowls. Stir rice wine vinegar into stew, along with salt to taste, then ladle it into the bowls with the chicken. Garnish with sansho powder or shichimi togarashi and serve.

Steps:

• Heat a saute pan over medium-low heat. Cook chicken thighs in batches just until skin starts to brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Don't overcook; the meat should still be pink and raw on the inside. Set chicken aside in a bowl, reserving juices in the pan.
• Saute onion and celery in the pan until turning translucent and browning at the edges, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Add potatoes, rutabaga, turnips, carrots, mushrooms, and garlic to the onion-celery mixture. Sprinkle salt, herbes de Provence, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper on top. Stir and mix vegetables until coated.
• Place 1/2 of the vegetable mixture in a slow cooker. Add 1/2 of the chicken. Layer remaining vegetables and chicken on top. Pour vegetable broth over the mixture in the slow cooker.
• Cook on Low for 7 hours, gently stirring every few hours if desired.
• Use tongs to remove chicken from the stew. Let cool. Separate skin and bones from the meat and shred meat. Stir meat back into the slow cooker.