Chicken & Mushroom Stew recipe from Epicurious.com (with some changes!)

This chicken dish was so delicious I had toe post it.

Tis recipe seemed to take forever to prepare but I was on the phone with my daughter at the same time and I think I was just going along slowly! The total cooking time is about 3-31/2 hours so leave yourself lots of time to make this before dinner. Cooking time is about 2 hours on the stove-top & then I finished it up in the oven to brown the chicken more.

I did not take any pictures except one! I did not even think I was going to post it but we loved it so much I had to. I made a few changes to the original recipe which is how I will post it here.

The recipe is from Epicurous.com & is Chicken and Dumplings with Mushrooms . You can click on that to go directly to the recipe. I did not make the dumplings since we were having it on Friday night and had fresh Challah to eat with the delicious sauce!

Here is the recipe with my changes

Ingredients

oil for the pan

1/2 cup flour

salt & pepper to season the flour & mushrooms

4 chicken legs & thighs attached ( but you can use any bone-in chicken pieces I am sure. next time I am going to use bone-in chicken thighs )

1 1/2 pounds mushrooms ( I used Baby Bella Mushrooms from Costco), cut into thick slices

1 medium size onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves ( original recipe said 6 but I thought that might be too many so I used 4!)

`/4 cup white wine

1 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

8 cups chicken broth, low sodium

Method

You need a large Dutch Oven. This is cooked on the stove-top then I finished it in the oven

1. put the oil into the Dutch Oven & heat up before you are ready to cook the chicken
2. Put the oil Put the flour into a dish with sides, I like to use a pie plate for this but if the chicken pieces are big then use any dish that will accommodate them. Season the flour with salt and pepper
3. Coat the chicken pieces completely in the flour & cook them in batches until the they are really nice and brown. Remove the cooked chicken pieces to a dish while you are cooking the other ones.
4. In the same pot, cook the mushrooms and season them with salt and pepper until they have released their juices and are soft and brown but not overcooked. Remove to a bowl to reserve until later
5. Cook the onion & garlic until the onion is translucent
6. Add the wine & cook for about 5 minutes until it is reduced
7. Put the chicken back in the pot. Add the thyme, bay leaves & chicken stock. Give it a gentle mix. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer, partially cover & cook for 2 hours.
8. After about 1 hour 45 minutes preheat your oven to 375f
9. After 2 hours add the mushrooms. Stir them in gently
10. Leave thy pot uncovered and put into the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until the chicken is brown, the sauce has reduced & the chicken is tender and falling off the bone, cooked completely

I served this with Kasha but mashed potatoes or polenta would be great with it. I also roasted some butternut squash as a side, I cubed it, tossed it in some oil & sat cooked until almost completely soft in a hot oven (400f). Move the squash around a few times while cooking it. Pour a bit of maple syrup on the squash near the end of cooking to sweeten it and caramelize the squash if you want. IT is great without the maple syrup too of course.

Enjoy!