Imagine. A spoon in one hand. The TV remote in the other. A steaming bowl of goodness in front of you. This is the beauty of this Sunday night favourite. It’s delicate, light and subtle, but supremely hearty, and is so melt-in-your-mouth it can be eaten with a spoon and mopped up with bread while streaming your favourite.
I call it stoop — something between a stew and a soup — and you can tailor it to your taste either way simply by lessening the amount of stock in the recipe. Cumin, cinnamon, and currants give it a sweetness and smoothness that works really well with the chicken. Toasted almond flakes add crunch and pizazz. They are the jazz hands of this dish!! 👐 👐 👐
Because it’s super, super tender, it’s great for little tastebuds, as well as older ones that require soft textures (minus almonds, unless crushed, of course). It’s also nice if someone’s a little unwell, because it’s so mild, and you can adjust the soup to stew ratio when serving.
Speaking of texture, most chicken stew recipes cook in a much shorter time than this. Because of my issue with textures, I ensure the thighs are REALLY falling apart, but you don’t have to. No one I have made it for has ever said the meat should be more fulsome. I make a great big batch so I can freeze lots of portions, which is where the liquid also comes in handy.
“Then he disappeared into the caravan for an instant, and returned with a large iron plate and a knife, fork, and spoon. He tilted up the pot, and a glorious stream of hot rich stew gurgled into the plate. It was, indeed, the most beautiful stew in the world …”
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
Chicken Stoop (Stew/Soup) w/ Currants & Almonds
Ingredients
- 1½ kg chicken thighs, extra fat removed, halved
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 carrots, roughly chopped into 1cm chunks
- 3 large potatoes, roughly chopped into 2cm chunks, rinsed to remove some of the starch
- 1 litre chicken stock (if you prefer more stew than soup use 750ml – ensure gluten free if this is required)
- 2 tins cherry tomato, 400g
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cumin
- 150 g dried currants
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- plain flour, for dusting (or gluten free if required)
- ½ cup flaked almonds, toasted
- olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs, zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Dust chicken thighs in flour and brown in olive oil in large saucepan. Remove and set aside. Drain any excess oil.
- In same pan fry onion, then sweat off carrots. Add in garlic, cinnamon and cumin and stir for a minute.
- Add tomatoes, stock, currants and brown sugar. Bring to boil.
- Add the chicken thighs to liquid and bring temperature down to a low simmer.
- Simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Remove lid, turn up temperature slightly and add in potatoes and lemon zest half an hour before serving and cook until potatoes are tender.
- Season and add herbs. Garnish with further herbs and toasted almonds.
Whoa this looks amazing
Thank you! 🙂