Chicken Stew with a Little History

When it's cold outside and you're hungry, the first thing you think of is comfort food. Comfort food can be different for each person but in my mind, it has the same base or beginnings: hot, hearty, stick to your ribs kind of food.

It's snowing, again, and I'm in the mood for my comfort food! What is my comfort food? I love pot roast, soups and stews and casseroles. Today I'm making chicken stew, on the stove, but you could do it in a crock pot too for convenience. Chicken stew is one of those dishes that can have so many variations, you could have it every day and it would taste totally different each time. You can also customize it to the liking or dis likings in your family. Some of us were blessed with children who tend to stick to what they know. If it's green or looks funny, they aren't going to eat it! For a whole lot of different recipes, click here.

So when you are sitting around bored out of your mind and watching it snow you tend to let your mind stray and you start thinking and asking questions. My question of the day? Where did stew come from? Who invented it and when?

Well come to find out stew is really old!!! It's been dated back to 1 B.C and even further with tribes using any meat they can come across and boiling it with whatever else they could find. Essentially, stew is a mixture of two or more ingredients that are boiled together. There are variations of chicken stew from every corner of the earth. To read up on this oh so interesting information, click here!

But if that doesn't interest you just read on and learn how to make it

1 lb chicken breast

3 tbsp oil

1 tbsp chicken bouillon base

5 c water

3 celery stalks, cut into large chunks

4 lg carrots, cut into chunks

1/2 stick butter

1/2 c. white wine

1/3 c. flour

1 c. milk

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. basil

garlic powder (sprinkle over chicken when before saute)

onion powder (sprinkle over chicken before saute)

In a lg stock pot saute the seasoned chicken in the oil until browned. Add 5 cups of water and the chicken base. Let simmer over medium low heat for an hour and remove chicken to a separate plate to shred in large chunks and put back into pot. In a separate skillet, melt the butter and add the flour to make a paste. Whisk well and cook for 1 minute then add the wine. Let it cook another minute and add about 3 ladles full of the broth from your stock pot and 1 cup of milk. Whisk again and cook until thickened, making sure to stir constantly. Add the mixture and veggies to your stock pot along with all of the spices. Simmer another 30 minutes on low, serve hot with some really good bread and enjoy.