Chiken Stew

Let me start off by saying I grew up on chicken stew!  My grandma makes the best chicken stew ever!  Chicken stew was also the best lunch day at school....it wasn't served often because the ladies actually made it from scratch but it was always exciting to see it on the menu!

My hubby had never had chicken stew until he met me and he now loves it just as much as I do.  He  said he'd never even heard of it but he's technically not from the south (which I'm assuming chicken stew is) so I guess that's why.

Anyways, I digress, I have Christy Jordan's Southern Plate cookbook and saw her chicken stew in there and wondered if it would be as good or maybe even better than my grandmas so I decided to give it a go the other day.  I will say it was good but I will not make it again just because I like my grandma's recipe better.  They are mostly similar but just a few things are different.  But please do give it a try if you've never had the wonderful pleasure of eating chicken stew.

I will say that I like her method of doing the chicken and I will do that the next time I make it but I would leave out the sugar for sure.  Oh, and I knew 45 minutes of simmering would not be long enough at all because my grams lets her stew go all day just about so I let mine simmer about 2.5 hours.

We always eat with crackers and some slices of block cheddar cheese. 

You can find the recipe here as well as pictures!

Ingredients

• 1 chicken
• 2 lg onions, chopped
• 7 cups water
• 4 cups canned tomatoes
• 6 med.potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups frozen or canned whole kernel corn
• 2 Tablespoon butter
• 5 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper

Instructions

1. Cook chicken until done in water. Remove chicken from broth and discard skin. Separate meat from bones and shred meat.
2. Dip off as much fat from the broth as possible.
3. Simmer potatoes in 1 cup of broth in covered saucepan until done, do not drain. Mash potatoes slightly, keeping them lumpy.
4. Add corn, onions, tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper to broth.
5. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add potatoes and chicken and simmer slowly with lid off for at least 45 minutes.
7. Right before serving, stir in butter and let it melt. Best if made a day ahead and reheated to serve.