Cut up your chicken into portions. Brown in alittle oil, remove from pan. Fry chopped onion. Add crushed clove of garlic. Fry one minute. Add bacon pieces, fry another minute. Put chicken back in pan. Add white wine and boil one minute. Add chicken stock and simmer twenty mins or so. If it gets dry, add a little more stock. Add a couple spoons cream, sprinkl with a little chopped taragon or parsley and serve with noodles or mashed potatoes.

CHUNKY CHICKEN STEW

(Makes 2 servings)

1 t. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 c. thinly sliced carrots
1 c. chicken broth
1 can (about 14-oz.) diced tomatoes
1 c. diced cooked chicken breast
3 c. sliced kale or baby spinach

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir 5-minutes. Stir in carrots and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered, 5 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes; simmer 5-minutes or until carrots are tender. Add chicken; cook and stir until heated through. Add kale (or spinach); stir until wilted.

Grainlady Note: This recipe also works well with turkey.
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EASY CAJUN CHICKEN STEW

2 T. vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 can (about 14-oz.) diced tomatoes with roasted garlic and onions
1 pkg. (about 10-oz.) refrigerated fully cooked chicken breast strips, cut into pieces
1 pouch (about 9-oz.) New Orleans-style chicken-flavored ready-to-serve rice mix
1 c. canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1-1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 t. hot pepper sauce
1/4 c. chopped green onions

1. Heat oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper and celery; cook and stir 3-minutes. Add tomatoes and broth; bring to a boil.

2. Add chicken, rice mix, beans and pepper sauce. Reduce heat to low. Cover; cook 7 minutes. Stir in green onions. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand 2-3 minutes to thicken.

Makes 4 (thick and hearty) servings.

Note: If canned diced tomatoes with garlic and onions are not available, substitute 1 can diced tomatoes, 1/4 c. chopped onion and 1 t. minced garlic.

I just make my own "chop and drop" chicken stew with whatever is in the fridge....sprinkle chicken (boneless breasts and/or thighs...you can leave in serving size portions or you can cut into chunks) with salt and pepper and then brown in olive oil and remove from pan. Turn the heat down and then to the oil to simmer gently add veggies....definitely onions, garlic and green pepper...but you can add mushrooms, diced carrots, celery, red pepper, broccoli, olives, sun dried tomatoes, or whatever else might appeal. After the veggies start to get tender, add tomato sauce (I prefer hunts) and some wine if you wish and then a generous dose of italian seasoning or make your own flavor blend ...oregano, basil, marjoram, rosemary, parsley. Add chicken back and simmer all together until chicken is done. If you want, you can also add canned beans that are rinsed and drained like small white beans or red kidney beans at this point to heat through. Serve over pasta of your choice and sprinkle with parmesan cheese...or serve over rice...some would serve over polenta too. If the sauce isn't tomato-y enough for you, you can stir in some tomato paste too.

I love chicken stew. This is my basic outline. I vary the vegetables, adding green beans or peas, rutabaga and sometimes a one token carrot for Moe.

Chicken Stew And Dumplings
==========================
This is just a basic outline for the Stew. I never really measure anything when making any kind of stew. Just use it as a guide.

4 to 6 Chicken Breasts (or legs and thighs
Or a whole chicken, cut up)
5 to 6 whole small cooking onions
2 or 3 stalks of celery
2 or 3 potatoes - halved or quartered (Do not use potatoes in stew if making Southern Style dumplings. I make mashed potatoes to serve with Southern style dumplings)
1 clove of garlic
fresh thyme or dried
1 bay leaf
chicken broth
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Regular Dumplings
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1 1/2 cups flour
1 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening(butter/margarine or crisco
3/4 to 1 cup of milk

Mix dry ingredients and cut in shortening. Add enough milk to make a soft wet dough. Drop by tablespoon on to the top of stew and cover and simmer on low for about 15 minutes.

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Southern Style Dumplings
--------------------------------------
2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of baking powder
Milk

Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter. Add enough milk to make a soft dough. Knead for a minute until smooth and let sit for 1/2 hour. Roll out dough to desired thickness. Dough should be on the thin side. Cut into 1/2 inch strips, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long.

Drop into boiling stew and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until noodles are cooked.

--------------------------------------

Parsley Bread Dumplings
=======================
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 slices white bread, quartered
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Combine parsley and bread in processor; whirl until medium
size crumbs. Add 1 1/4 cups flour, baking powder, and salt; process just until combined. Add 1/2 cup milk and butter; process using on-off pulses just until blended. 5 Drop mounded tablespoons of dumpling mixture into stew.

Add chicken to a pot and cover with chicken broth or combination of
water and broth.

Add 1 garlic clove, a few sprigs of thyme and bay leaf. Cook for 15
minutes and add whole peeled onions, celery cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
and simmer until onions are tender. Remove Chicken from pot and
separate meat from bones. Add chicken back to pot. If using potatoes
add now.

Now add what ever dumpling recipe you are using and simmer until
dumplings are cooked.

If you like your stew thicker, mix some flour and milk or cream in a
jar and pour into hot stew. Stir to make sure there are no lumps.

You could use any one of the dumpling recipes that Ann listed in this version of chicken stew:

Vermont Chicken Stew and Dumplings
Source: Jean Anderson's The Grass Roots Cookbook

1 hen or chicken pieces - about 6 lbs., excess fat removed
3 quarts cold water
2 medium onions, peeled and cut in thin wedges
2 ribs of celery, cut in 1-inch chunks
2 large carrots, cut in 1-inch chunks
1 bay leaf
3 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 recipe dumplings

Chicken Gravy:
3 cups of chicken broth, reserved from stewing the chicken
1 cup milk
1/4 cup water
8 TB regular, all-purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch or two of sage or poultry seasoning, if desired

Place hen (and giblets, if using) in large, deep pot. Add water, onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer about 2 hours or until hen is tender.

Remove chicken from broth and cool, refrigerate the broth. Peel skin from chicken and discard; remove meat from carcass and cut into large chunks. Strip as much meat from neck as possible, if used and mince the giblets.

Remove broth from fridge and skim off hardened fat. Measure out and reserve 3 cups of broth for making gravy. Return rest of broth to pot and heat over medium heat setting; add chicken (and giblets) and bring to a simmer. Taste for seasoning and add more s&p if needed.

Prepare dumplings (I make the Southern-style rolled dumplings) and cook in the hot chicken and broth as directed.

Meanwhile, while the dumplings cook, bring reserved 3 cups of broth to a simmer in a medium-sized pan. Make a slurry of the 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup water, and 8 TB flour by shaking all briskly in a lidded jar to make a smooth paste. Pour slurry gradually into simmering broth, whisking all the while, until thickened and smooth. Season to taste and add s&p and the sage/poultry seasoning if you like. Turn heat to lowest point and let the gravy mellow while the dumplings finish cooking.

To serve, ladle dumplings into large soup plates and top with kettle vegetables and chunks of chicken. Pass the gravy separately.

note: sometimes I add some frozen green beans and corn to the broth just before the dumplings are added; this adds some texture and color to the stew.

Teresa

I love the dumpling recipes that Ann_t and Teresa listed. I made that one time and put lots of mushroom in, with fresh parsley from the garden. That was the best soup ever, it beats chicken-noodle soup.

I'll have to try the others listed. I currently use Ohiomom's chicken stew. Matter of fact, it's become my "after Thanksgiving" tradition for the turkey. I love it! I'll try to write it from memory; should be ok, just made it yesterday (I wrote an ode to it years ago, it's so good):

Ohiomom's Chicken Stew
1 pound chicken breasts cubed
3 T oil
1 onion
2 stalks celery
3 carrots
3 potatoes
4 cups stock
1 t basil
1 t rosemary
2/3 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup cream

Brown chicken and vegetables in oil. Add the stock and herbs. Simmer for 30 minutes to soften the veggies. Then add flour to water. Add the flour/water to the pot to thicken. In the last 5 minutes, add the cream and warm through.

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Honestly, I usually use leftover chicken and cook the veggies differently. I boil the potatoes and carrots to make sure they get good and soft, while browning the celery and onion in the stock pot. Once all three are ready, warm it through for a few minutes, and then toss in the already cooked chicken with the cream.

I hope I got it right, but I'm fairly sure it is.

I like Rob333 idea of putting 1/2 cup cream in the broth... that goes well with the potato.

Below is a link to Tuscan Chicken stew with white beans and tomatoes ... I have lots of tomatoes frozen from my garden. I'll cook that and report how it goes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tuscan chicken stew with white beans and tomatoes