The Big Red Chicken Stew!

Perfect for cold weather eating, the Big Red Chicken Stew was born of another of my ‘clearing out the bottom of the fridge’ moments.

It’s spicy, tasty and has that real ‘welcome home’ factor for a cold evening. It’s great for a crowd too..

EQUIPMENT:

• a large casserole or saucepan, which can stay on the hob.
• A smaller saucepan for the potatoes

 

INGREDIENTS: these quantities will feed a crowd. The ingredients are more like suggestions really, here’s what I put into my version:

                                         

• 3-4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces( or chicken thighs if you want to allow them to cook for longer)
• 3-4 rashers of bacon, cut up.
• half a chorizo sausage, sliced( about 100g)
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped
• 1-2 red peppers, chopped or sliced
• two tins of tomatoes
• 1 red or green chilli -finely chopped
• teaspoon of smoked paprika
• 4-5 large potatoes, peeled, chopped into bite sized pieces and well rinsed
• Glass of red wine
• Chicken stock cubes (optional)
• Salt and black pepper to taste

METHOD:

• Get the potatoes on, as they’re the slowest part of this recipe. Cut them into bite-sized pieces and boil until tender but not mushy. While they’re cooking, you can get on with the rest of it..

• Heat a large cast-iron or similar casserole, or, you know, your biggest saucepan – it has to go on the hob – and throw in the chorizo

 

• Stir it around over the heat until it starts to crisp up at the edges, and the oil starts to run, add the bacon bits and allow them to crisp up a bit too.

 

• Reduce the heat a little and then literally throw in everything else (leave the chicken until later as chicken breast can get tough if  over-cooked; if you’re using thighs, pop them in straight away).
• Give it a good stir, and have a look to see how much liquid there is – I usually add about 2 of the tomato tins of water or chicken stock.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce it immediately to a gentle simmer.
• By the time you’ve done this, the potatoes will probably be ready, so drain them well and put them straight into the casserole.

 

• Give the stew about 10 minutes ( or as long as you like)  to get acquainted with the cooked potatoes, keeping the heat low, then taste it and adjust the seasoning. If you like it quite spicy add some tabasco if you have it.
• Serve it in bowls, topped with some fresh coriander if you have it, and lots of crusty bread…

 

My Big Red Chicken Stew, making winter bearable since 1997….

NOTES:

• This will keep for a couple of days in the  fridge, and is great as a reheated lunch the next day, or even the day after.
• If you don’t have Chorizo, just use a teaspoon or two of smoked paprika – don’t over-do it though – it has a very strong flavour.
• My old school friend Janet suggests that you add a tin of butterbeans into this stew to compliment the chorizo, giving it a proper  Spanish flavour. Thanks Janet!