Bayou Chicken and Sausage Stew

As the temperatures have been gradually dropping, some stew sounded good, real good.

Bayou Chicken and Sausage Stew
from Cooking Club of America
click to print

6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 lb.)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp peanut oil
6 oz. andouille sausage (2 links), sliced (1 inch)
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
14-oz. chicken broth (from Better Than Bouillon)
1 (14.5-oz.) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried thyme
1 small yellow summer squash or zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces

Ten thighs were found in this 4.24 lb package. I used six, bagging the remaining four in a freezer bag for another use another day.

Pat chicken dry; sprinkle with salt.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add oil; heat until hot. Cook chicken in two batches, skin-side down, 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown, turning once.

Hooray for the splatter screen!

Place browned chicken in Dutch oven.

Drain all but 2 tablespoons of drippings from skillet. Add sausage; cook over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Add to Dutch oven.

Cook bell peppers and onion in skillet 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables start to soften. Sprinkle with flour; cook and stir 1 minute.

Stir in broth until blended. Stir in tomatoes and thyme. Pour over chicken.


Bring chicken mixture to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes.

Add zucchini; cook 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center and vegetables are tender.

Seven feet away, there's still daylight in my apartment.


Browned bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, sausage, fire-roasted tomatoes, and zucchini...I really thought this was going to rock my world. Turns out, it was just okay. Mostly it was annoying.  That there were bones meant I needed to use a fork, knife, AND a spoon to eat stew. It tasted alright, but not good enough to wrestle with for another go-round after I polish this batch off.

Really, I could've chopped the chicken and removed the bones before serving, reminiscent of the Chicken Stew with Garbanzo Beans and Squash treatment. But actually, I like the stew with the beans better. I'll not be doing this one again.

Half of the stew is in the freezer. Maybe after revisiting the leftovers in the future, I'll have a change of heart. You know what -- maybe it just needed a crusty bread! Zoinks!

Cost:

• thighs: $2.52
• sausage: $2.50
• red bell peppers: $3
• onion: $0.25
• chicken stock: $0.25
• fire-roasted tomatoes: $0.99
• zucchini: $0.70

Total:  $10.21 or $2.55 for each of four generous servings.

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