Chicken Stew with Wild Rice and Mushrooms

Whether spent on the playing field, on the run with errands, or around the home with chores, the weekend winds down so quickly. Sunday Supper calls us to the weekend’s benediction to get us ready for the week to come through the comforting service of good food. The local pub dishes up house-specialty Carbonnade to be served with frosty pints of ale, while the bistro kitchen is sending out burgers crowned with bleu cheese and accompanied by bubby potato gratin. At home, La cuisine de la grand-mère gives off intoxicating aromas from the all-day labor of love of Boeuf Bourguinonne, but grandmothers of every heritage prepare the kitchen medicine of roasted chicken and classic pot roast.

Sunday Supper from grandma’s kitchen is as earthy as kielbasa and sauerkraut and as fancy as roast beef with Cabernet Sauvignon. As the chill settles on autumn nights, how comforting to slide into place with a bowl of rich stew awaiting, attended by warm soft rolls, to be crowned with a slice of chocolate cake. Nana’s chicken soup has us holding out our bowl for seconds, as does Nonna’s minestrone. Traditional Sunday avgolemono calls Opa! alongside chicken gyros, with baklava for dessert. At our California table, chicken stew with artichokes serves up wine country chic, while Cuban pork stew honors our state’s vibrant cuisine across cultures.

I am grateful I learned to cook from my grandmother, whose farm house kitchen homed some of the best memories of my childhood. She was equally fancy and homespun, someone who canned apple pie filling for the church sale but would not have set foot into West Fork Presbyterian absent a sharp suit and white gloves. As is true of most of us, her cooking reflected who she was. Indeed, as I write this column I did not realize she would appear as co-narrator, but then she loved a good surprise and could be bossy – as long as it led home, to crisp fresh sheets on the beds, to depression glass gleaming on the shelves of the hutch in signature Depression Era walnut, to a table set, correctly, for Sunday Supper.

She cooked across the cuisines, but leaned heavily into her own heritage. I watched in amazement as she made pemmican in summer, and watched in disbelief as my uncles ate it at Thanksgiving. She taught me to cook with wild rice, that staple of First Nation cuisine, mixing it with currants from the store and ramps from the garden, or serving it with butter and sage for a warming lunch. Every year I looked forward to the Sunday when the oak leaves were turning amber and brown, when I knew that supper would be Chicken Stew with Wild Rice and Mushrooms. It would be ladled into bowls of maple brown Frankoma, served with her pumpkin bread and whatever garden vegetable she chose to braise in butter.

I wish I could say I have her original recipe, not to speak of the depression glass, but this is my original recipe, as faithful as memory colored by nostalgia. At the time, it was the only dish with mushrooms that either of us liked. I still make Chicken Stew with Wild Rice every autumn, with gratitude for that sustenance of Grandma’s Kitchen that goes far beyond nourishment, at autumn’s gate of gathering in, of the wistful whispers of winds growing colder, of the warmth of hearth and heart.

Chicken Stew with Wild Rice and Mushrooms

A variety of mushrooms are available at most supermarkets and farmer’s markets. Wild rice and dried mushrooms are available at a gourmet store or online. My favorite pan for preparing this stew is Le Creuset’s signature everyday pan.

 

2-1/2 lbs. boneless chicken thighs

1 small onion, peeled and sliced into chunks

1 carrot, peeled and sliced into coins

1 celery rib, diced

1 leek, root end trimmed

3 garlic cloves, peeled and pithed

1 cup wild rice

1 pound fresh cremini mushrooms

½ pound fresh oyster mushrooms

1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms

2 tablespoons butter, plus more for serving

1 tablespoon flour

2 – 3 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

½ cup dry sherry

2 bay leaves

1 bunch fresh thyme, tied with kitchen twine

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

The night before

Soak the rice and shiitakes

• Place the wild rice into a colander. Rinse rice under cool water. Pick through the rice to remove any debris.
• Transfer the rice to a container with a lid. Add one of the bay leaves to the container. Add the dried shiitakes to the container. Add 2 cups water to the container.
• Cover the container and leave overnight in a cool place.

The day of

Poach the chicken

• Place a layer of chopped onions into a large saucepan or stock pot. Add the chicken in one layer, and then add the remaining onions.
• Cover and cook over low heat until the chicken is cooked through, 165 degrees F on a meat thermometer.
• Once cooked through, turn off heat.

Prepare the vegetables and mushrooms

• Pick through the mushrooms, trimming of any rough spots and brushing away any dirt. Cut any large mushrooms into smaller pieces, but retain as much of the mushrooms’ natural form as able. Set aside until ready to use.
• Cut the white and pale green parts of the leek into coins. Place the cut leek into a bowl and cover with water. Swirl the leek to release any silt. Drain the leek in a colander, rinsing to release any remaining silt.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large Dutch Oven or soup pot set over medium heat. Add the carrots and celery and a dash of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, approximately 5 minutes. Add the leek and cook until soft, about 1 minute.
• Add 1 tablespoon butter to the skillet. Add the fresh mushrooms and a dash of salt. Cook the mixture, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms release their liquid, approximately 2 – 3 minutes.
• Add the flour to the pan. Stir to coat the vegetable-mushroom mixture. The flour will cook as you stir; about 1 minute.
• Turn off the heat. Cover the pan with the lid until ready to assemble the stew.

Assemble the stew

• Once the chicken is cool enough to touch, transfer to a cutting board. Tear or chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
• Drain the wild rice and mushrooms into a colander. Shake to release any dirty water, but do not rinse.
• Turn the heat to medium-low. Add the chicken and wild rice-mushroom mixture to the pan. Press the garlic into the pan. Stir the ingredients in the pan to combine.
• Add the sherry to the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sherry begins to bubble, approximately 1-1/2 minutes.
• While stirring, add enough chicken stock to the pan to cover the mixture by ½ inch. Add the bay leaf, thyme, and several grinds of black pepper to the pan.
• Cover the pan and turn the heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, adding more stock to cover the ingredients as needed, until the wild rice is cooked through but retains a bit of chew, approximately 35 minutes. 
• Taste the stew and adjust seasoning as necessary. Stir the cream into the stew in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Remove the bay leaf and thyme bundle, and turn off the heat until ready to serve.

Serve the stew

• Place a bit of butter in each serving bowl. Ladle stew over the butter. Serve with salt and pepper.

Read further

Autumn Cookbooks

Wild Rice with Currants and Ramps

Mushroom Risotto