French Chicken Stew Recipes

Steps:

• In 5-quart Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-high heat 7 to 9 minutes, stirring frequently, until bacon is browned and crisp. With slotted spoon, remove bacon to 5- or 6-quart slow cooker.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add half of the chicken to bacon drippings in Dutch oven; cook 3 to 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned. Remove chicken to slow cooker with bacon. Repeat with remaining chicken.
• Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to Dutch oven; stir in onion, carrots and mushrooms. Cook 5 to 7 minutes or until onion is tender and mushroom juices have released. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds.
• Add wine; heat to boiling, scraping bottom to release any brown bits. Cook 3 to 5 minutes or until wine is reduced by half. Transfer mixture to slow cooker. Stir in chicken broth, thyme and bay leaf. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
• In small bowl, mix flour and water; stir into slow cooker. Cover; cook on High heat setting 20 to 25 minutes or until thickened. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Discard bay leaf. Garnish with parsley. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Steps:

• Prepare the chicken but don't skin.
• Salt the pieces and dredge them lightly in the flour, brushing off and saving the excess.
• Trim off and discard the bacon rind.
• Slice the bacon across the width into 1/4 pieces Heat the oil in a large kettle and brown the bacon lightly.
• Remove and set aside.
• Brown the chicken pices in batches, removing them as they finish browning.
• Remove and discard all but 3 Tbs of the fat.
• Add the onion, pepper, tarragon, and the remaining flour.
• Scrape these back and forth in the hot fat until the onion is transparent.
• Add the tomatoes and their juice and continue the scraping action until most of the juice has evaporated.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of water, the wine, and the crumbled bouillon cube.
• Add the bacon, chicken, peas, and carrots.
• Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes Scrub the new potatoes under cold water and pare off a one inch strip around the middle of each one, leaving the peel on the ends.
• Add them to the stew and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Stir in the parsley.
• Salt to taste, and serve hot.

Steps:

• Brown ChickenSeason chicken on both sides with 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Preheat a Dutch oven or other large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter and the oil to pot. When butter melts and foam subsides, add half the chicken, skin side down, in a single layer; do not crowd pot. (If butter begins to blacken, lower heat.) Fry chicken, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes total, and transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.
• Saute MirepoixReduce heat to medium, and add mirepoix (onion, carrot, and celery) to pot, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Saute mirepoix, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown in places, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Cook Mushrooms and FlourAdd mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms darken, become glossy, and begin to release liquid, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in flour, and cook until flour is absorbed by vegetables and is no longer visible, about 1 minute.
• Pour in Wine and BrothAdd wine to pot, and bring to a boil, stirring until liquid just thickens, about 45 seconds. Add broth, and stir.
• Simmer ChickenPlace chicken, skin side up, in a single layer on vegetables; pour juices that have accumulated on plate into pot. Tie parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf together with kitchen twine; add to pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover partially. Cook until internal temperature of thickest part of chicken registers 165 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to a clean plate. Simmer liquid, uncovered, until reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Discard herbs.
• Make and Add LiaisonTo make the liaison (sauce thickener), whisk together egg yolks and cream in a medium bowl. Whisking constantly, pour 1/2 cup cooking liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time, into liaison to temper it. Stir tempered liaison into pot.
• Finish with Tarragon, Lemon, and ButterReturn chicken to pot. Add tarragon, lemon juice, and the remaining butter. Bring to a simmer, stir gently to combine, and serve.