Chicken In Butternut Squash: A Hearty Autumn Stew
A little Parsley to accent the fall colors
This gorgeous autumn dish is great with some fresh whole wheat bread or over rice. This is the second dish I made from my enormous batch of chicken stock. Like the soup, I froze most of this in single-serving amounts, and it reheats well. I add a little water before reheating so this already thick soup doesn’t get too thick while reheating.
The recipe takes almost a quart of stock, but the starches from the squash and plantain thicken the mixture so much that you end up with more of a thick stew than a soup. You know it’s gonna be an amazing dish when the brown crust starts forming underneath everything, and then you add stock and release all that flavor.
The butternut squash and the browned chicken give this dish nice shades of orange and brown appropriate for the season, especially as the squash cooks down and mixes in with the other ingredients.
Heat & Knives
The Recipe
Source: Kitchen Expedition
Seasoning Mix
2 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground sage
¾ teaspoon cayenne
¾ teaspoon ground savory
¾ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1 (3- to 4-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 medium-size butternut squash, about 2 ½ to 3 pounds, diced into 1/2-inch pieces, about 6 cups, in all
2 cups chopped onions, about 1 medium-large (10 ounces)
1 cup chopped yellow bell peppers, about 1 medium
1 cup ripe plantains, diced into 1/2-inch cubes, about 1 medium (8 ounces)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic, about 2 cloves
3 ½ cups chicken stock, in all
Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
Sprinkle the chicken evenly with 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the seasoning mix and rub it in well.
Preheat a heavy 4-quart pot over high heat until it is very hot, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken, in batches if necessary, large pieces first and skin sides down first, and cook, turning frequently, until golden brown but not fully cooked, about 8 minutes per batch. Remove the chicken and set it aside, leaving in the pot as much of the seasoning mix and chicken fat as possible.
To the same pot, add 3 cups of the squash, the onions, bell peppers, plantain, ginger, garlic, and the remaining seasoning mix. Stir well, add 1 cup stock and scrape up all the browned bits on the pot bottom. Cook, stirring and scraping every 2 or 3 minutes, until a golden brown crust forms and sticks hard to the pot, about 15 minutes. Stir in 1 cup of the stock, then scrape the pot bottom thoroughly. Cook until the starches from the squash and plantain begin to thicken the mixture, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the remaining stock, then switch to a whisk and use it to break up the plantain and squash to help thicken the sauce. Add the remaining squash, return the chicken and the accumulated juices to the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes. Serve hot—it’s especially good with brown rice.
Diced butternut squash
A lovely plate of seasoned, browned chicken
The squash will cook down as the mixture simmers
November 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Why was I not invited to this dinner?