This time of year nothing says Comfort Food more than a hearty delicious stew and my deconstructed chicken stew is comfort food at its best.
While I did cut down drastically the amount of gravy that normally would come with a stew, being a southern boy I decided to bread and pan fry my chicken for the added flavor. But if you’d like to make this even more healthy and lose the extra calories from frying just roast or grill your chicken.
By roasting the vegetables and not subjecting them to the boiling and simmering in the gravy, they had a wonderful fresh flavor, each vegetable keeping its identity. The coating on the chicken added another element to the dish, with the final touch of that creamy mushroom chicken gravy taking this dish into the Comfort Food Hall of Fame!
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Deconstructed Chicken Stew
Ingredients
Roasted Vegetables
- 3 medium potatoes cut into chunks
- 2 carrots peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1 medium onion peeled and chopped
- ½ cup green peas
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
Pan Fried Chicken
- 8 chicken thighs boneless skinless
- 2 large eggs eggs lightly whipped with ¼ milk added to make the egg wash
- 1 cup all purpose flour seasoned with sea salt and black pepper
- oil to pan fry chicken
Mushroom Gravy
- 2 cups mushrooms sliced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken stock
Instructions
Oven Roasted Vegetables
- Coat prepared vegetables with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper
- Place in baking dish and roast in 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes
Pan Fried Chicken
- Rinse chicken thighs in cold water, then pat dry with paper towels'
- Dredge chicken in seasoned flour
- Dip chicken in egg wash
- Dredge chicken in seasoned flour and set on plate until ready to fry
- Add olive oil to a large saute pan and let the pan get very hot before adding floured chicken
- Pan fry chicken 3-4 minutes or until golden brown over medium high heat, then turn over and cook other side for the same time or until golden brown.
- Place pan fried chicken in baking dish and finish in oven until chicken has reached an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees.
Mushroom Gravy
- Add butter to sauce pan and melt
- Add sliced mushrooms to pan and saute mushrooms until they are almost fully cooked
- Add flour to pan and stir to make roux mushroom mix, reduce heat to very low and simmer for 5 minutes to allow flour to cook.
- Add chicken stock and mix well to get out any lumps
- Add additional stock or water if gravy is too thick.
Assembly
- Place roasted vegetables on platter, top with pan fried chicken and then top with mushroom gravy
- Serve immediately
Nutrition
It doesn’t have to be winter time to enjoy this delicious Deconstructed Chicken, this dish is perfect for anytime of year. Serve it up with your favorite biscuit and you’ve got a meal that will surely satisfy.
Have a great week my friends and take heart, spring is just a few week away! See you soon.
Renee
You were right to say this is ultimate comfort food. This is a great recipe, thank you. I made it two nights ago and we enjoyed the leftovers again last night. I followed the recipe almost exactly (only difference was I used the same vegetables but more of them) and it was really, really good. It took me a little longer to make it but that was because for some reason I couldn’t get the gravy to thicken up.
john davies
Hello again Chef Dennis,
A few weeks ago it was the “BEST TIRAMISU YOU WILL EVER MAKE”, Today was your delicious deconstructed chicken, another good choice I will tag to make again. After the tiramisu my wife and I have been looking at all your recipes; my wife has a soft spot for comfort food. Today was that perfect day for such a choice. This was an easy recipe to follow and the vegetables like you mentioned had that wonderful fresh flavor and the coating on the chicken turned out perfect. Our only change was two use the breast rather than the thigh, and with the veggies smothered in the mushroom chicken gravy, well it was a match made in heaven. Thanks for sharing your delicious recipes. And, tomorrow…. well we are trying the stuffed pork tenderloin, can’t wait to try that one. john
Chef Dennis Littley
thank you for letting me know that you’ve been enjoying my recipes, that really makes me happy! I hope you find a few more that you want to give a try and I hope you enjoy the stuffed pork loin as much as we did
SteveWec@htmlogiste
Amazing what you have done with chicken! It looks tasty and amazing!
Kaitlin
Beautiful! I’m going to have to make this soon, it looks AMAZING!
adam @unorthodoxepicure
What a nice way to serve chicken stew!
Minnie@thelady8home
This looks delish! I would love to try the mushroom gravy.
Kim Bultman | a little lunch
Definitely hall of fame material, Dennis — nice “deconstruct!” 🙂
Lail | With A Spin
Roasted veggie and mushroom gravy sounds delicious for this stew.
Larry
Great idea Dennis and it looks delicious. I’d not heard the “deconstructed” term before.
Betty Ann @Mango_Queen
Oh this is an ultimate comfort food dish & I always have these ingredients around. I must try this one. Thanks for sharing, Chef Dennis!
Abbe@This is How I Cook
You might call this stew but to me it looks like deconstructed chicken pot pie. And I LOVE chicken pot pie. Thank you!
RavieNomNoms
This is a great idea! Look lovely!
anna
looks delish!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
I love that you roasted the vegetables, mouth-watering!
Michelle
Great idea to roast the veg and retain flavor. Love it.
andi winslow
This dish looks delish, I like the idea of the roasted vegetables. I printed off the recipe and hopefully give it a try very soon. Thanks, Andi the wednesday baker
Chef D
your very welcome Andi, glad that you like it
Yarnitect (Dana)
ohh la la…chicken and gravy is my favorite. I’m trying this one!
Chef D
Thanks Dana, it really was delicious!
Taking On Magazines
I love deconstructed dishes and this one makes my heart sing. Yeah, it’s comfort food, but it’s gorgeous enough to serve to guests and then watch them sigh with pleasure. I really appreciated the explanations for why you cooked the components the way you did. Thanks for that.
Chef D
I love when things come out that good, thanks Christiane!
Malki
Need to try this. Very presentable!
Robin
Looks good. Might be tonight’s dinner. My kids won’t go for the mushroom gravy, though, so I think I’ll make a chicken gravy with stock.
Chef D
it’s amazing my girls at school won’t eat mushrooms either, but I’m sure it will be just as good with out them!