Creole Chicken
Awaiting Trial Recipe version 1 · Filed by the Court (seed pool) · Adapted from 'Creole Chicken' — Farmers' Bulletin 771, 'Homemade Fireless Cookers and Their Use,' USDA, Feb. 1917 (public domain, U.S. federal work). Measures and oven temperatures modernized. Conversion: the original's optional thickening with browned wheat flour is replaced with cornstarch at exactly half the flour amount, as a slurry; the dish is otherwise naturally gluten-free. Fireless-cooker holding time converted to a covered low simmer.
An older stewing chicken is simmered, then finished in a tomato sauce with sweet peppers, onion, and a little ham. The fireless-cooker original translates cleanly to a covered pot on low heat.
Why this complexity: Long, slow simmer for a stewing chicken; Sauce is made separately, then combined.
Ingredients
- 1 medium chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), cut up as for stew
- 1 pint boiling water (2 cups), plus more as needed
- 6 ripe tomatoes, chopped, or one 28-ounce can tomatoes
- 3 sweet red peppers, cut in small cubes
- 3 sweet green peppers, cut in small cubes
- 1/2 pound ham, finely chopped, or 2 to 3 slices bacon, finely chopped
- 1 onion, about the size of an egg, chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter or bacon drippings
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water (only if the broth needs thickening)
Method
- Put the chicken in a pot with the boiling water, cover, and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the onion in the butter or drippings until pale yellow. Simmer the tomatoes with the bay leaf for 15 minutes, strain, and pour over the onion.
- Add the ham and parsley to the tomato mixture and cook 15 minutes more. Stir in the peppers and the chicken's cooking stock and bring to a boil.
- Add the chicken pieces, cover, and simmer very gently until tender, about 1 1/2 hours (the original holds it 2 to 3 hours in a fireless cooker).
- If the broth seems thin, stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer 1 minute. Remove the bay leaf and serve hot.
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