Our new Costco staples these days are the mini bell peppers and baby portobello mushrooms. They are incredibly versatile and we use them for breakfast and dinner all the time.

Tonight I made something from scratch having not used a single recipe or reference. I just followed my nose and what I came up with was a flavorful chicken stew that was fantastic over a bed of saffron jasmine rice. Many of the ingredients can be left out or substituted, but I just went with what we had in the cupboards.

Here’s how to make it since I’m sure I’ll forget and will need to reference this recipe again. I apologize for the poor quality photo. Unfortunately it’s always dark when I make dinner so I get no natural light for my photos.

Ingredients:

Chicken parts; I used two thighs and a large breast cut in two

flour

2 strips of bacon, roughly chopped

olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

6 mini red, orange and yellow bell peppers, chopped

6 baby portobello mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup red wine

1 tsp. porcini powder

2 tsp. dried thyme

salt and pepper

smoked paprika

1 Tbs. tomato paste

1 large ripe tomato or 1 regular can diced tomatoes, drained

1 cup dried jasmine rice

pinch of saffron

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place some flour in a paper bag and toss the chicken around till the pieces are well coated.  Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat and add the bacon. When bacon is browned, remove from pot and set aside. Add a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and then add the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and smoked paprika and flip when chicken is golden brown. Brown the other side of the chicken and remove and set aside. Add a couple of more teaspoons of olive oil and add the onion, peppers, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook till onions become translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and paprika. Be sure to scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, tomato paste and wine; stir and scrape. add the thyme, porcini powder and tomatoes. Place the chicken and bacon back in the pot. Bury the chicken in the other ingredients, cover pot and place in the oven for one hour.

When there’s 15 minutes left on the chicken, cook your rice according to packaging. Sprinkle in the saffron when you add the rice to the boiling water.

The chicken should be tender and falling apart. Serve over the rice. Yum! I think kalamata olives would be a good addition to this dish, but I didn’t have them today.