Hunter Chicken Stew & A Giveaway Recipe
It’s that time of year again, when packages of canned tomatoes start showing up at my door. I love my job as a blogger! This year I actually got packages from 2 companies, Muir Glen and Red Gold. I am excited to try the Red Gold, a regional canned tomato company, but I started with the Muir Glen because this year they sent me a fire roasted version of one of their limited edition single variety tomatoes.Muir Glen’s Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes are the most used canned tomatoes in my pantry. It is true I have switched over to using a lot of frozen tomatoes, but there is still use for canned tomatoes, and there is especially use for their fire roasted canned tomatoes as a shortcut to bringing that smoky, deep, intense tomatoes flavor to something.
The winner will also receive the Muir Glen 2010 Reserve Tomato Vine Dining Tour recipe booklet, which, as it happens, is where this recipe originated. I emphasize originated, because I accidentally used tasso instead of pancetta (I forgot to label in my freezer–bad Laura!–and could not tell until it thawed), which led to a few more changes as well. Everyone in my family loved the recipe, and I loved finding a non-Mexican use for the fire roasted tomatoes.
Note that this is a simple dish but it takes longer than it looks because of all of the browning stages. It’s worth it, though.
- Hunter Chicken Stew with Mushrooms & Tomatoes
- Adapted from Chef Jason Stratton, Muir Glen 2010 Reserve Tomato Vine Dining Tour
- 2 T olive oil, plus more as needed
- 4 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces, preferably mix of dark and white meats
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3/4 lb mix of wild mushrooms, sliced (I used crimini and shitake as that is what I have locally)
- 4 oz tasso ham, diced
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 1 sweet bell pepper, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 T minced fresh rosemary needles
- 1 t smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 can (14.5 oz) Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups white wine
- 32 oz chicken stock, preferably low sodium
- 1-4 T apple cider vinegar, to taste
Pat the chicken pieces dry and dredge them in the potato starch. Shake excess starch loose. Salt and pepper the chicken and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat in a medium-large Dutch oven (5-7 qt). Brown the chicken in batches, slowly, making the the skin getting nicely browned. Remove and set aside. Add a little more oil if necessary, reduce the heat to medium and brown the mushrooms with a pinch of salt. This will take 15 minutes or so. Remove the mushrooms as well to the bowl with the chicken.
Add the tasso to the pot with a glug of wine if needed to deglaze. Also add a little more oil if necessary. Brown over medium high heat for 3 minutes, then add the onions with a pinch of salt and brown them for 8 minutes. Add the pepper and carrot and brown another 5 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary, bay leaves and paprika and brown for another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes, over medium heat, until the tomatoes deepen in color.
Preheat the oven 375 F.
Add the white wine to the vegetables and let it boil, on medium high heat, until the liquid is reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Add the chicken stock, chicken pieces, mushrooms, and all accumulated juices to the pot. Bring to a boil. Place a heavy lid on the pot and put it in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to the pot and stir. Taste for salt and additional vinegar. Serve with white rice.
The best part of cooking with wine? The glass for the cook!