Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken drumsticks, skinned (see note below before throwing out skins)
- 2 tbsp olive oil or butter
- 2 red onions, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- salt & pepper to season
- 4 large carrots, cut in coins
- 2 large parsnips, optional, cut in coins
- 2 pounds red or yellow potatoes Cut in 2 inch chunks
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 4 cups low sodium chicken stock, (1 litre)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, or to taste. I like a peppery stew
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning, or 1/2 tsp powdered sage
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 Tbsp Summer Savoury, Mt. Scio Farms Brand is best
- 4 tbsp flour mixed with 1/2 cup cold water as a thickening slurry.
Instructions
- Add the olive oil or butter to a large dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the onions and garlic, lightly season with salt and pepper and cook just until the onions begin to soften.
- Place the skinned drumsticks on top of the onion and garlic and lightly season the top again.
- Place the lid on the dutch oven and place in a 325 degree F Oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and add all of the vegetables, the chicken stock, black pepper, poultry seasoning, bay leaves and savoury. season with a little more salt if necessary. (If adding the finely chopped crispy chicken skin, add it now, See note)
- Return to the oven for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.
To finish the stew
- Remove the chicken legs from the stew and strip all of the meat from the bones.
- Bring the stew to a slow simmer on top of the stove.
- Mix the flour and water together so that there are no lumps.
- Slowly add to the simmering stew stirring constantly.
- Add the chicken back to the pot and simmer for only a couple of minutes before serving. At this stage you could put the stew back into the oven if you were adding dumplings.
- Gravy tip for Chicken Drumstick Stew Regular reader will know that waste is kept at a bare minimum in our household and even more so for food waste. In this recipe I’ve even used the chicken skin to enhance the flavour of the gravy. The drumsticks in this recipe are braised without their skins to cut the fat in the meal. I don’t throw out those skins though. I take the skins and lay them our flat onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake them in a 350 F degree oven for about 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown and very crispy, like crisp cooked bacon. All of the fat renders out of the skins and I then blot them with paper towels to remove any surface fat. I them chop them into fine crumbs of crispy chicken skin which I add to the pot when adding the vegetables. The result is like adding a natural bouillon cube without the added salt. It really amps up the flavour in any gravy that you are making.
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.