Chicken Stew with Kale and Chorizo by Tom

Shredded Chicken, Potatoes, Kale and Chorizo in a Tasty Broth

 Barbara was working feverishly to finish her write-ups for the People Wall project this week, so asked me to step in and make dinner.  She actually found this recipe, so all credit goes to her.  I was just the implementer.  

I don't usually think of chicken as a main ingredient for a stew.  But we had boneless chicken thighs in the freezer and needed a dish to use them with.  Our weather had been quite cold the last few days, so a stew did sound like an appropriate dish to make.

Although the recipe called for bone-in chicken with the skin on while browning, both the bones and the skins are removed early in the preparation process.  So using boneless, skinless chicken thighs made a lot more sense.  Also, the package of chicken thighs I had was double the weight of what the recipe called for.  So I doubled the recipe, which worked out perfectly for two nights worth of dinners.  The original recipe was for two servings.  Doubling it gave us four servings.  The second night was just as good as the first night.

This may be the best chicken stew I have ever had!  A good choice.

---Tom

Chicken Stew with Kale and Chorizo

 (The Best Chicken Recipes cookbook from the editors of Cook's Illustrated)

Serves 4 

2 lbs. boneless chicken thighs

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 ounces chorizo, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into ~1/4" pieces

2 medium shallots, minced

4 medium garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

3 cups chicken broth

12 ounces kale, stems removed and leaves chopped

4 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1" chunks

Use a 3 quart stockpot with a tight fitting lid.

Trim excess fat from the boneless chicken thighs.  Pat dry with a paper towel, and salt and pepper them.  Heat the olive oil in the stock pot over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken and cook until browned.  This will take about 5 minutes.

Turn down the heat to medium and add the chopped chorizo to the pot and cook along with the chicken for another 4-5 minutes.  The chorizo should just start to brown. 

Now stir in the shallot, garlic and oregano.  Cook until fragrant, which should only take 30 seconds or so.  Stir in the chicken broth and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.

Reduce the heat to low.  Cover the pot and cook for about 25 minutes.  This, in combination with the next step, will cause the chicken to start shredding, which is a good thing.

Remove the cover and add the chopped kale and cook it down.  You may have to do this in several steps to get it all in the pot.  Next add the potatoes into the stew.  Cover again and cook over medium heat until the potatoes are tender.  This will take about 10-15 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Remember that the chicken stock does bring in some amount of salt, so be sure to taste to insure you do not over-salt this dish.

And, now you are done!  Dish into a bowl and enjoy.  

Refrigerate the leftover chicken stew in the pot for reheating the next day or whenever you want to eat it again.

---Tom