Thursday, November 29, 2007

Dinner of Champions

I'm back to my old tricks of cooking up a storm. Here's what I made for dinner:

Chicken Stew
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Show: Everyday Italian
Episode: One Pot Meals
Chicken Stew

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 stalks celery, cut into bite-size pieces
1 carrot, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 chicken breast with ribs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained (rinsed if not organic)

Serving suggestion: crusty bread

Heat the oil in a heavy 5 1/2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, and onion. Saute the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.

Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 25 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Add the kidney beans to the pot and simmer until the liquid has reduced into a stew consistency, about 10 minutes.

Discard the skin and bones from the chicken breasts. Shred or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the stew into serving bowls and serve with the bread.

4 comments:

Patti said...

Sounds great! Can't wait til I'm at the solid food stage so I can try it!

Cheri said...

Sounds yummy, Tonya! I just got the Lost Dogs Farm Olive Oil bottled, so I'm hoping to get you some before too long!

Tonya said...

Ooohhh...I'm so glad to hear it. I just can't bring myself to buy it in the store. BTW, the stew would be good with crusty bread or even over polenta, if you wanted something heartier.

Anonymous said...

sounds awesome. i have an eaiser receipe to make something simular in the crockpot.