French Country Chicken Stew

By catfish

Hearty stew with wonderful roux flavor Served with fresh hearty bread for dipping

Ingredients

• 4 pounds chicken thighs skinned
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3 TBL flour
• 1 1/4 inch bacon piece
• 1/4 cup veg oil
• 1 med onion
• 1 tsp black pepper. (I use less Some people like white pepper)
• 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 8 oz can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 1/2 cups low salt chicken broth
• 1 8 oz frozen peas +
• 3 med carrots cut into 1/2 inch rounds
• 12 tiny red potatoes scrubbed and pared with a strip around the middle
• 3 TBL chopped fresh parsley

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 75mins

Preparation

Step 1

Salt chicken.
Dredge chicken in flour brushing off excess but keeping the dish with the flour
Cut bacon with scissors for 1/4 inch dice
heat oil med+ in dutch oven and brown bacon Remove bacon with slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel to be added back in later
Brown chicken in batches 3 1/2 to 4 min per side. Remove to a separate dish after browning
Remove all but 2 tbsp of the oil from the pan
Add in onion, pepper, tarragon, and rest of flour scrapping it back and forth until the onion is clear (translucent)
Add tomatoes with their juice and continue scrapping until most of the juices are gone (this is an important step so give it the time to release its juices!)
Add wine (I let it boil off a bit)
Add chicken broth
Add back in the bacon, chicken, the peas, and carrotts, cover and simmer 30 min
Add potatoes (scrubbed and parred with 1 inch strip)
Continue cooking 20 min
Stir in parsley and salt and pepper to taste