Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

Well, I guess it is still winter, so let's make slow cooker chicken stew.

What I love about the slow cooker (a statement I never thought I'd make) is that you can really throw any combination of meat, broth and veggies in it and end up with a lovely satisfying meal with little to no effort. At the end of the day (literally) you can serve up a wonderful meal that satisfies both young and old alike.

I've added a ton of root veggies, some porcini mushroom stock, and lots of garlic for a very tasty and hearty stew. The veggies and mushroom stock add an earthy sweetness to the final product.

My neighbors have a ten month old baby. I offered some of this stew to him and he went crazy. He was eating with two hands, the meat, the stewed fennel and the carrots. He made all sorts of appreciative noises, too, and kept reaching for more. I couldn't ask for a better endorsement of the tastiness of this stew.

Well, I got one. My 14 year old daughter was skeptical at first, based on the not-so-pretty-ness of the chicken itself. Once I shredded it up and convinced her to give it a try, she was hooked. The meat was juicy and sweet and tasted of all the great veggies that surrounded it while it cooked.

If this slow cooker chicken stew can please kids aged ten months to 14 years old, then I think it's well worth making. Oh, and of course, the adults loved it, too.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

serves 8

Ingredients

  • 6 strips bacon, cut up into small pieces
  • 3 onions, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thick rings
  • 1 bulb fennel, fronds and hard ends removed, cut into chunks
  • 1 bulb garlic, skin removed, cloves crushed
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2 sprigs fresh sage
  • 2 sprigs fresh oregano
  • 20 oil cured olives, pits removed
  • 6 chicken thighs
  • 1/4 cup rice flour
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil (or bacon grease, if you have it)
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 to 2 porcini mushroom boullion cubes (or you can replace the 1 cup of water with wild mushroom broth)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Method:

  1. Dry the chicken thighs and coat each piece thoroughly in the rice flour.
  2. Put the diced bacon in a small saucepan and over with water.
  3. Boil the bacon in the water for ten minutes, drain, dry and set aside.
  4. Heat a large skillet over medium to high heat.
  5. Add the bacon fat (or olive oil).
  6. Place each chicken thigh in the hot pan, skin side down. Do not crowd the thighs, you may need to cook them in batches, to make sure there is enough space in the pan.
  7. Cook on the first side for 5 minutes, then flip the thighs over and cook for an additional five minutes. Remove to crock pot and set aside.
  8. Once all of the chicken has been browned and removed, add the root vegetables and the boiled bacon to the hot pan. Brown on all sides, making sure to scrape up all the flour onto the veggies.
  9. Add the vegetables and bacon to the slow cooker, arranging the chicken to rest slightly on top of the veggies.
  10. Add the chicken stock and the porcini boullion cube to the hot pan, cooking long enough to dissolve the boullion.
  11. Pour the stock over the chicken and vegetables in the slow cooker. Add water to cover, if you haven't got enough liquid to get to the minimum fill line.
  12. Turn the slow cooker on to low and cook for 6 hours.

Baked Eggs with Fennel and Shitake Mushrooms

 The first time I had baked eggs was in Paris. A large Le Creuset-style saucepan showed up at the table, pipping hot, filled with at least 4 eggs, half a pound of bacon, potatoes and lots of cream. It was delicious.

I vowed to make them at home, which I finally got around to this week. In the two years since the baked eggs of Paris, I've stopped eating dairy. I didn't have any bacon in the house (which rarely happens around here), so I had to think of other mix-ins that would elevate my baked eggs to those I had in Paris.

  Instead of creating a cream-based dish, I went for a mix of sautéed shitake mushrooms and grated fennel with sage. The flavors combined perfectly with the egg, and the texture was great.

 Make sure to

Sage added a nice earthy tone to the mix. I was also going to add my much loved black truffle oil to the eggs, but thought that might be going overboard, flavor wise.

As I write this, I've come up with my next version of this dish: baked eggs with mushrooms, bacon, black truffle oil and sage. Anything you'd add into an omelette will work here, too. Just experiment, watch that the eggs don't cook too long and enjoy!

Baked Eggs with Fennel and Shitake Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup shredded fennel
  • 8 to 10 shitake mushrooms, tips removed and sliced
  • 4 teaspoons olive oil
  • 3 sage leaves, minced, or 1 twig tarragon, stem removed, leaves minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Heat a small sauté pan, add 2 teaspoons of the olive oil to the pan and the fennel shitake mushrooms and half of the herbs.
  3. Cook for 2 minutes on medium heat until the fennel softens and the shitake mushrooms brown.
  4. Oil two ramekins with the remaining olive oil and crack an egg into each.
  5. Split the fennel and mushroom mixture evenly between the ramekins, spooning it over the egg. Add salt, pepper and fresh herbs.
  6. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until you see the white hardening around the edge of the ramekin.
  7. Serve while still warm.

Serves 2. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time 12 minutes.

PS: Here's the baked eggs they served me in Paris. Whoa! So awesome....

Delightful! Roasted Summer Squash with Roasted Garlic and Fennel

 Wow. That's all I can say. This summer squash with roasted garlic and fennel salad blew me away.

(yes, I know I came up with it and that's not a really modest thing to say, but I'm just being honest).

The taste of fennel brings me directly back to Gran Fran and Joe's house. We eat fennel raw, like it's celery. I didn't realize this was not the way normal people ate fennel. I was surprised to find it cooked in a dish at a restaurant and everyone at the table looked at me like I was crazy.

When we were kids, I remember once we told one of the neighbor kids that it was gum, but I have no idea why we decided to trick this kid. I happened to have some fennel in my mouth that I'd been chewing for a long time, so it had become a kind of a paste. I guess the kid believed us, not sure, I remember just following along what one of my older sisters told me to do and ended up chewing that fennel for a very long time.

But I digress. The short story here is that I came up with a perfect combination in this recipe (no modesty again). The crunch and anise of the fennel against the soft sweetness of the roasted squash is just right. By adding in some mellow roasted garlic and a bit of vinegar, the dish comes together perfectly. If you eat cheese (which I can't), make sure to have some nice grated Parmigiano Reggiano on hand to sprinkle over top.

 as featured on The Fruit Guys website

Roasted Summer Squash with Fennel and Roasted Garlic

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup summer squash of your choice, cut into chunks
  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/8 cup red vinegar
  • 1 bulb fennel shaved
  • 4 cloves roasted garlic (recipe here)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place an empty jelly roll pan in to heat up at the same time.
  2. Once the oven has preheated, carefully remove the tray from the oven, pour 1/4 cup of the olive oil onto the tray and place the summer squash on top.
  3. Turn the squash chunks over several times to coat in the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  4. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the pieces have browned and softened.
  5. In a large salad bowl, mix the roasted summer squash with the shaved fennel, roasted garlic and the remaining oil and vinegar.

Serves 4. Prep time, 5 minutes; cook time, 20 minutes.

Cook’s note: Serve alongside a frittata or a pizza.

What, Really? You Want Me To Make Bolognese Tomato Sauce, Vegan Style?

I have discovered that, although I love my homemade tomato sauce with meat, I've managed to make a vegan version that is just as good.

I'm not kidding. I've had a few people taste it: vegetarians, newly-healthy eaters, and avid meat eaters. All of us agree that it is amazing.

The most important part of the sauce is the canned tomatoes you use. My mother, Gran Fran, swears by canned San Marzano tomatoes. They just taste better, even if they cost way more than the others. I think she learned about these from her Italian grandmothers, who hail from Southern Italy, not sure. They make for a much richer flavor, real tomato-y and not metallic at all. I used the diced ones. I'm sure Gran Fran is not happy with this at all, but the pre-diced ones make my life easier and the sauce chunkier.

When we were kids Gran Fran used to make use push whole canned tomatoes through a sieve to extract the seeds, skin and core. No matter what, I somehow always had a cut on my hand, which the acid from the tomato would burn. Gran Fran had no time for these kinds of complaints. There was likely some sort of a response along the lines of "When I was your age, we had to can the tomatoes ourselves." Or some such other silliness.

The addition of a generous handful of fennel seeds to the sauce makes it taste just like it does when I put sweet Italian sausage in there. I've tried it without the fennel, and it's just kind of bland, still better than store bought, but nothing special. A great trick that Gran Fran uses is to heat up the tomato paste in a small saucepan and most of the dried spices to it and some olive oil. By cooking them together, the tomato paste picks up the flavors and distributes them into the sauce more evenly. I think Gran Fran told me once that cooking the spices this way makes their flavors release more strongly. It's one of those things I do because my Mom told me to.

Oh, and don't forget to brown some garlic lightly before putting the tomato sauce and wine in the pot.

I do also add a half bottle of red wine. Any kind will do, even cheap stuff, though more expensive wines definitely add a little more depth to the sauce.

Cooking for a really long time over a low heat once everything is incorporated (Gran Fran-ism) is key to your sauce's success. This time I had to go out for a few hours after I started to sauce. I turned the flame off and let the pot sit until I came back, partially covered. This seemed to help the sauce thicken because when I came back, it was more set than when I left. I turned the flame back on and cooked it for another two hours, for a total cooking time of 4 hours. Slow cookers can be tried here, but I have not had the best luck with getting a good thick sauce in my slow cooker until the second day, reheating on the stove.

I'm going to make a bunch of this and can it for future use (or sale, who knows?). Last night, in a rush to make myself something to eat, I was lucky enough to find a gluten-free pizza crust in my cupboard and a jar of this fabulous tomato sauce in my fridge. Let me tell you, with a couple of anchovies and some pine nuts, I had myself a wonderful pizza, in under 20 minutes.

Bolognese Sauce: Italian Vegan Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 2 cans San Marzano diced tomatoes
  • 4 cloves garlic, smashed, skins removed
  • 1/8 cup olive oil
  • 2 tbsps tomato paste
  • 1/2 bottle red wine
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 teaspoons fennel seeds
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 spring fresh rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground black pepper

 Method:

  1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed non-reactive pan. Add the garlic and let sit for two minutes, just before it browns.
  2. Pour both cans of diced tomatoes into the pan, bringing it to a boil.
  3. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat and add the tomato past, fennel, oregano, rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
  4. Cook the tomato paste and spices for three minutes, until fragrant.
  5. Add the tomato paste with spices, the red wine and the bay leaves to the boiling tomato sauce.
  6. Boil for one more minute, stir, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
  7. Cover the pan halfway and cook for two hours, stirring occasionally.
  8. Turn off the heat for an hour or two, keeping the sauce in the partially covered pan.
  9. Return the heat to high, bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for an additional two hours, stirring occasionally.
  10. Serve over pasta, on pizza or over broiled chicken breasts.