Guinness Braised Chicken and White Bean Stew

Happy St Patty's Day!

Nothing says St Patrick’s Day quite like braised meat and Guinness (and bacon). By using chicken you can get a great braise in less time and the Guinness matches perfectly with the braised thigh meat (plus short ribs cost more than gold in this economy)

A few notes:

I do a 1:1 ratio of carrots to onions as the sweetness of the carrots cuts the bitterness of the beer.

I add a small amount of brown sugar to the veggies as they cook to mellow the flavor.

It’s important to get a nice crispy sear on the chicken so be patient. The scoring of the skin adds surface area to the sear and allows the skin to crisp up more.

Do not boil the braise as it cooks; be sure to check the liquid every 5-10 minutes to make sure it’s at a lazy bubble.

If you want to make this gluten-free, remove the flour and thicken with a mix of cornstarch and water drizzled into the liquid at the very end of cooking (when you remove it from the oven, put it on the stovetop and finish with the slurry over medium heat). Make sure you simmer the stew with the cornstarch slurry to allow it to thicken (about 5 minutes with the slurry).

This is a large batch (serves about 4-6 people) so you can cut the recipe in half.

You can add sliced green cabbage to the mix if you want to get especially festive.

Ingredients:

6 each bone-in chicken thighs (skin-on)

2 tablespoons avocado or olive oil

1 onion medium dice

2 large carrots diced

4 ribs of celery diced

10 cloves of garlic whole

10 strips of bacon

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 large can of Guinness

1-quart baby yellow potatoes cut in half

2-quart chicken broth

6 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

15 whole peppercorn

3 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons whole butter

1 lemon juiced and zested

2 small cans of cannellini beans (white beans) rinsed and strained

2 tablespoons fresh chives

1. Score the skin on the chicken thigh by cutting slits through the skin.

2. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or sauce pot/braising pot

3. Sear the chicken on both sides. Be sure not to burn it. Get the pan really hot then turn the heat down after you add the chicken skin-side down first. Be patient as it may take some time to brown.

4. Remove the chicken and place on a sheet pan or plate. Leave the oil in the pot and add the bacon and render it slowly over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic once it has cooked for about 2 minutes. Saute until lightly browned.

5. Add the sugar to the veggies and caramelize for another minute, stirring consistently.

6. Dust the flour over the veggies and mix together, The flour will mix with the fat to create clumps that look like sand. Add your guinness to the mixture and stir consistently so the flour and veggies mix in with the beer.

7. Add the chicken stock at this point and bring to a simmer, consistently stirring so there are no clumps of flour.

8. Once it has come to a light simmer, add the chicken, potatoes, bay leave, thyme, and peppercorn to the pot. Bring to a lazy bubble, cover partially (it needs to be open a touch so it can breath) and put the pan in a 325F oven. If you don’t have an oven, place it over very low heat and partially cover. You DO NOT want this to boil, just simmer lightly.

9. Simmer/cook for about 45 minutes. The chicken will begin to fall off the bone. Remove from the oven/stove and fold in the soy sauce, lemon (zest and juice) and white beans. Season with more salt if needed. You can also add some spice or hot sauce to bring it up a notch.

10. Season with chives and enjoy!