Sarasotas Greek Chicken Stew Food

CHICKEN STEW

Steps:

• 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.
• Serving suggestion: crusty bread.

GREEK CHICKEN STEW

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and seasoning and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, broth, bay leaves, and pepper. Stir well. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chicken, lower the heat to medium, and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. The mixture will thicken. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Stir in the olives and lemon juice, and serve immediately over the couscous.
• While the stew is simmering, bring the broth, oil and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the couscous and raisins, cover, and remove the pan from the heat. When the moisture has been absorbed, about 5 minutes, sprinkle the cinnamon and orange juice over the couscous. Fluff with a fork to combine the flavors and loosen the couscous. Do not stir.

GREEK CHICKEN STEW WITH CAULIFLOWER AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep, heavy lidded skillet or casserole and brown the chicken, in batches if necessary, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove the pieces to a plate or bowl as they're browned. Pour off the fat from the pan. Add the vinegar to the pan and scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the pan.
• Add the remaining tablespoon of the olive oil to the pan, and turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pan, until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low, cover and let the onion cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until it is lightly browned and very soft.
• Add the garlic and stir together for a minute or two more, until the garlic is fragrant, then add the tomatoes and their juice, the cinnamon, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and simmer 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the mixture is reduced slightly and fragrant.
• Return the chicken pieces to the pot, along with any juices that have accumulated in the bowl. If necessary, add enough water to barely cover the chicken. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
• Add the cauliflower and kalamata olives and simmer for another 20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender and the chicken is just about falling off the bone. Stir in the parsley, taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with grains, with the feta sprinkled on top if desired.

SARASOTA'S GREEK CHICKEN STEW

Steps:

• Chicken -- Take the chicken out of the refrigerator to bring to room temperature. Season and rub the chicken well with salt and pepper. Then in a large baggie, add the flour and add the chicken (a couple of pieces at a time) and shake until lightly coated. Make sure to shake off as much possible. Set to the side.
• Sear -- In a large (non-stick which is what I prefer) pan, add the olive oil and bring to medium high heat. Sear the chicken on each side until lightly golden brown. You are not cooking it all the way through, just a light sear. Just a couple of minutes on each side is all it takes. Remove and let cool.
• Sauce -- As the chicken cooks, mix your sauce. In a large bowl, add the eggplant, mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Mix the broth and sherry (or wine) with the flour and stir well. Add the liquid to the bowl along with all the seasoning, Add a pinch of salt and pepper - you can always add more seasoning later, so go light and mix all the ingredients together.
• Crockpot -- Add the chicken to the bottom of the crockpot and top with the sauce. Don't mix once you add it to the crockpot. On top of the chicken and sauce - add the artichokes and capers. Don't mix the artichokes and capers inches.
• Cook -- Cover and cook on low heat for 6-7 hours. My crock pot takes 6 hours. We all know how different cooking times can be by using older vs. newer or round vs. oblong. Once the chicken is done, Mix everything together well and check for seasoning one last time. Pepper is usually the only seasoning I add. And now you can start your egg noodles.
• Serve -- I serve this family style and make sure to use a deep dish as the sauce is great. Add the butter noodles and top with the chicken breasts and eggplant sauce,.and garnish with fresh parsley. I love to cut each chicken breast in 2-3 pieces just so everyone can take what they want, but that is optional. A nice green salad or a tomato cucumber salad on the side goes great with this dish. ENJOY!

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN WITH SATAY SAUCE

Steps:

• Cook the olive oil, sesame oil, red onion, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a small, heavy-bottomed pot on medium heat until the onion is transparent, 10 to 15 minutes. Whisk in the vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, peanut butter, ketchup, sherry, and lime juice; cook for 1 more minute. Cool.
• Using a sharp knife, carefully remove the entire breast of the rotisserie chicken and slice it diagonally in 1/2-inch-thick slices. Skewer the chicken slices with wooden sticks and serve with the sauce. Reserve the remaining chicken.

GREEK CHICKEN STEW WITH RICE

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm oil. Add chicken and brown, about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer browned chicken to a plate.
• Reduce heat to medium. Add more oil if needed. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in rice. Return chicken to pan.
• Add stock, lemon juice, oregano, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until chicken is no longer pink in the center, rice is tender, and liquid is absorbed, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Stir in olives. Place on a platter with chicken on top of rice, and sprinkle with feta cheese.

SARASOTA'S CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS WITH ARTICHOKES & LEEKS

Steps:

• Stew -- Two stages. First add the oil to a large deep pan and saute the chicken until lightly golden brown. About 5 minutes or less. Remove and set to the side. Now add a little more oil if necessary, but it should be ok, and add the the leeks, onion, celery, garlic and fennel. Saute until soft and translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add in the artichokes and cook another 2-3 minutes. Then add the chicken back inches.
• Broth -- To that pan, add the chicken stock or broth, white wine, bay leaf, fresh thyme, lemon juice, lemon zest and pepper. Go easy on the salt as the chicken broth is salty. Just taste after it has simmered a bit to adjust any seasoning. Let simmer 20 minutes as you make the dumplings. Simmer on medium low heat. Before adding the dumplings I add the cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce slightly. Just stir in and it will thicken in just seconds.
• Dumplings -- Mix the Bisquick or Jiffy baking mix, milk parsley, pepper, salt (optional), and parmsean cheese. Don't over mix. Just mix to combine. Spoon heaping tablespoons about the size of a golf ball onto the the chicken broth, Cover, with either a lid or aluminum foil and cook 15 minutes on medium (not quite boiling) heat until they puff up.
• I love to garnish with the greens from scallions. ENJOY!