ISO help with chicken peanut stew

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

studentcook

Assistant Cook
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Messages
43
African Chicken Peanut Stew Recipe | Simply Recipes

I am making the above stew and I am a bit confused on some parts.

recipe in the link said:
The best way to make this stew is with two whole stewing hens—older chickens available at Asian and Latin markets. You start by simmering the birds to make stock, which then becomes the base of the stew, and then you use the meat from the hens.

I read the above paragraph and I guess I must not have been paying attention because I went out and bought two whole stewing chickens and then 4 pounds of chicken thighs. The stewing chicken here does not have much meat on it at all.

Q1: How specifically do I prepare the stewing chicken for the stew?

Q2: How does the stewing chicken fit in with the instructions in the recipe? In other words, what do I do with stewing chicken stuff and when?

Q3: Do I still add the chicken broth to the recipe? (chicken broth is the same as chicken stock, I think) Or do I use the soup of the stewing chicken instead?

recipe in the link said:
1 15-ounce can of crushed tomatoes

Q4: I chopped up two big tomatoes, will that suffice?

I am roasting raw peanuts using this link:
How To Make Roasted Peanuts | LIVESTRONG.COM

Q5: Is that a good method to roast the raw peanuts?
 
Hi Studentcook, and welcome to Discuss Cooking. You're probably in the thick of making this recipe by now. No wonder you're confused, as this "Hank" person told you to do things that are not in the recipe that he posted. First of all, he was telling you how to make the stock that is called for in the recipe. You could easily use canned chicken stock and forgo making stock for it. Besides, when making stock it's my experience that the chicken meat is nearly flavorless by the time it's cooked long enough to render a good stock. If I were you, I'd follow the recipe as it was written, and forget about "Hank's" previous instructions.
Yes, the two big chopped tomatoes will work out just fine.

Good luck, and let us know?
 
I haven't started cooking just yet.

Regarding the stewing chickens, I have to find a way to use them here though because otherwise they will spoil...

What about the peanut roasting method?
 
The stew turned out well.

I did have hiccups when making the chicken stock though. The pot I used was too small so the veggies were sticking up out of the top and they didn't go down until some of the other veggies were soft enough to push down. I am going to buy a huge stock pot now so this problem doesn't happen again in the future. This messed up my cooking times but it still turned out ok.
 
I'm glad it worked out and thanks for checking back in SC. A huge pot is a nice thing to have for many reasons. I keep mine in the garage as I can't spare the kitchen space, and it's seldom used. I made a huge pot of turkey stock yesterday with turkey necks and veggies. It simmered away for 10 hrs and now I have a gallon of wonderful broth for making turkey dressing and gravy for Thanksgiving. I'm up to my elbows cooking today.
 
I was going to try cooking a full Thanksgiving meal this year because I have been cooking a ton ever since I started thinking of myself as a chef-in-training. But, I have been looking at recipes here and I do not yet have enough of the essential kitchen equipment (pots/pans/mixer/etc.) to prepare a proper full Thanksgiving meal.

But I am going to aim at acquiring all of the essential equipment before Christmas and then I will prepare a full Thanksgiving/Christmas for my wife for Christmas. I will have to make a thread about equipment later.
 
Back
Top Bottom