Cozy AF French Chicken Stew

Cozy AF French Chicken Stew

RECIPE (makes 4 portions)
▪3lb/1.5kg skin on chicken drumsticks (about 10)
▪1 bottle (750mL) dry red wine
▪150g/4pcs thick cut bacon
▪225g (~2c) Pearl onions or shallots
▪225g (3 med-large) carrots, large diced
▪1lb/450g crimini mushrooms (baby bellas), quartered
▪Olive oil
▪Salt
▪Water
▪25g (1 1/2T) tomato paste
▪25g (4-5 cloves)minced garlic
▪75g (1/3c) cognac
▪40g (1/3c) ap flour
▪300g full bodied chicken stock (or 300g (1 1/4c) water + 25g (1 1/2T) Better than Bouillon + 3 gelatin packets)
▪2 springs thyme
▪2 bay leaves

Add drumsticks into ziplock bag and add 750mL of wine. Marinate in the fridge for 20-30 min.

Remove chicken from wine and lay drumsticks out on a parchment lined sheet tray. Save the wine for later. Dry chicken on all sides well. Bake at 450F/230C for 20-30 min.

To prep the rest of the ingredients, slice the bacon into lardons (rectangles).
Cut off the pearl onion poles and peel.
Cut carrots into large dice
Clean and quarter the mushrooms

Preheat dutch oven over medium heat. Add about 2T of olive oil followed by bacon. Stir and render bacon for 10-12 minutes, stirring often, until browned. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, leaving as much bacon fat in the dutch oven as possible.

Return pot to heat and add mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Stir and add about 2T of water if needed to release bacon fond. Stir and continue to cook for 5-6 min until they’ve softened and have begun taking on color.

Add pearl onions, carrots, and a large pinch of salt. Stir and sweat until veggies have lost some moisture. Stir in tomato paste and garlic. When tomato paste has become a rusty color, deglaze with cognac, scraping up fond in the pot as you go.

When cognac has evaporated, add flour. Stir and cook until pasty. Add reserved wine from chicken marinade. Add full bodied chicken stock. Once stirred in, add rendered bacon adn bring to a simmer.

Add chicken back into the dutch oven with broth and veggies along with any resting juices, making sure to submerge meat as much as possible.

Add herbs and top with a parchment lid. See video @8:17 to see how to make it

Load dutch oven (with parchment lid) into a 350F/175C oven to braise for 40-50 minutes.

Remove from oven to check chicken texture. It should be pull apart, but still a bit firm and not totally fall apart. Once it’s at that point, remove chicken from the pot and set aside.

Heat cooking liquid and veggies over medium high and bring to a simmer to reduce for 10-15 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Finally, add chicken back into the reduced sauce once more and baste to reheat.

Serve over egg noodles.

EGG NOODLES
▪200g (5-6c) dried egg noodles
▪50g (1/4c) pasta water (reserved from cooking pasta)
▪100g (7T) cold butter

Boil to package instructions, reserving about 1/2c pasta water. Drain, return pasta to pot with starchy water and cold butter. Stir and toss to emulsify butter with water and glaze noodles.