Chicken Stew & Noodles

I learned the hard way to cook my noodles separately from my soup stocks because I don't like mushy noodles.

Please note from my Cheesy Broccoli & Rice post that I don't like mushy rice, either.

Other than that, I am occasionally easy to get along with. :)

This past week I wanted to make a chicken stew but I didn't have a whole chicken to play with. I did have a family size monster pack of skinless, boneless chicken breasts (and God bless those chicken workers that filet these for us. They earn every bit of their paycheck!)

Boiling the chicken works, but leaves a lean broth. I have chicken base, but I wanted the chicken to have a roasted flavor and texture, so I roasted it first:

I sprayed the pan with cooking oil spray, fit the cleaned chicken breasts in, then sprinkled them with Roasted Garlic & Herb seasoning, sea salt and pepper....

Baked at 350 for about an hour until the tops where looking "roasty". Not dry and crusty, but that nice golden/tan roasted look. I used the broth from the roasting to add to chicken broth. (I made mine with water and Tone's Chicken Base, but you can buy the chicken broth if you prefer.)

I used three of the big chicken breasts for the stew. I cut them up, tossed them into the broth...

Then thickened the broth with a 1:3 flour/water mixture... I didn't want it super thick, but thick enough to be more stew-like than soup-like.

Then potatoes. I peeled and cut about 8 medium potatoes (because that's what was in the bag!) and tossed them in to cook. The starch of the potatoes helps thicken the gravy base, too.

Added parsley and black pepper, the coarse kind because I like that punch, but any kind  is fine. Pepper brings out the essence of chicken. (I heard that someplace, and I didn't even know that chicken had essence. Learn something new every day.) At the end I added a small bag of mixed veggies to add color and taste...

And here are the egg noodles, cooked on the side:

Nothing fancy.... but so amazingly delicious! A crowd pleaser for sure and the hardest part was peeling potatoes.

We spent our quiet New Year's with some family... and did a fancy dinner that was somewhat flawed, but the plates and napkins looked fancy and the kids didn't notice... :) Sometimes I fall short on my Pinterest-friendly presentations.

EEK!

Wishing you all an amazing 2020 and looking forward to sharing all kinds of things this year. Books... fun... faith... and food!

USA TODAY Bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne writes beautiful stories of faith, hope and love for multiple publishers and is absolutely thrilled that her midlife career change landed her in the realm of the publishing industry where she could use a lifetime of nametag and hairnet jobs to create absolutely unforgettable characters and settings. She loves talking with readers and writers! Hang out with her on Facebook, visit her website ruthloganherne.com, send her an email at loganherne@gmail.com or jive with her at the Yankee Belle Cafe on Thursdays, a fun, low-key blog where she and a bunch of other wonderful ladies talk about life, food, kids, homes and all the little things that make a day a day!