Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs
salt and pepper to taste
tarragon, coriander and/or all spice seasoning
2 cups water
1 chicken bullion cube
carrots, potatoes, celery (I buy frozen vegetables called “stew vegetables” (they come with carrots, potatoes, pearl onions and celery)
1 yellow onion
5 cloves sliced garlic
Prepare:
I use a large pot with a lid. Coat the bottom of the pot with extra virgin olive oil (it has a fruity aroma to it). I buy the CARBONELL brand of olive oil. Then slice up a yellow onion and 5 cloves of garlic. Start sautéing them and add 4 chicken thighs to the pot at medium-to-high heat. salt and pepper both sides of the chicken. You can add some coriander or tarragon or five spice seasoning, depending what you like (or a little of each). I always change my spices for variety. I really like tarragon. I just used salt and pepper the other day. I used tarragon and all spice last week.
Sauté until the chicken is nice and browned on both sides. Add one chicken bullion cube and enough water to almost cover the chicken. How much water you add depends on what you want. If you want to make a soup, then add as much water as you need to feed as many people as you have. I just cook for me, so I don't add much. If you prefer a nice gravy instead of soup, then only add one cup of water. Turn your heat to low and simmer for TWO HOURS. The chicken will almost fall off the bone when to press down with a fork. Add your vegetables and allow it to simmer for another hour.
If you added more water to make soup, then you will need to add more salt and pepper for seasoning. Just keep adding some quantities until it tastes right. My experience is that when your taste buds say That tastes good, stop adding or you'll over do it. If you do add too much, just add more water to dilute it and simmer a little longer.
I use a ladle and scoop one chicken thigh into a bowl and then some vegetables and soup. The chicken falls right off the bone and makes a great chicken soup or stew (depending on how much water you added). Note: to boil down your water level, simply remove the lid. If you let it boil long enough, the pot will assuredly go dry and burn, so keep a watch on it every 30-minutes or so.
One note of caution: Chicken has bones, large and small, so tell your family or guests to be careful not to swallow and choke on any bones. What I like to do is remove the chicken with a ladle, remove the bones by hand, and then put the pieces of chicken back into the pot. This way you can eat heartily without worrying about any chicken bones. Chicken thighs have one large bone each and then some smaller pieces of bone. If you have children, definitely remove the bones before serving your meal.
Also, if health and fat are a concern, remove the skin from the chicken after it simmers for an hour or so. The skin is always the unhealthiest, but best tasting part of the chicken. Potatoes and carrots take a long time to cook, so if you're using fresh-cut vegetables, add them earlier in the process (after about an hour of simmering). Adding the veggies too soon will turn them into mush. Too late and you'll have crunchy veggies. You can cook the veggies separate and then add them to the pot if you'd like. This way you don't have to guess. With time, you'll learn your timing better. The whole meal takes about 3-hours.
And, you can fry up your chicken as I mentioned, and then put it and the vegetables into a slow cooker while you're at church or at the park. When you get home the food will be done.
You make beef pot roast pretty much the same way, except I'd add 1/4 teaspoon of cloves for flavor and a beef bullion cube instead. A little cooking wine (1 Tablespoon) also goes well with beef.
