Skip inferior store-bought broth and just add water to this stew and make your own. We found a way to get every iota of value from the chicken bones. Letting the stew sit the full 12 hours really helps all the flavors meld together. Serve the stew as the centerpiece surrounded by fixings that guests can pick and choose to build their own bowls.
Ingredients
8 servings
Chicken Skin Gremolata:
Lemon Oil:
Stew and assembly:
Chicken Skin Gremolata:
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange chicken skin in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until dark golden brown and crisp all the way through, 12–18 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
Step 2
Combine chicken skin, garlic, parsley, and lemon zest in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.
Lemon Oil:
Step 3
Combine lemon, olive oil, and sugar in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and let sit at least 10 minutes, mixing once or twice.
Stew and assembly:
Step 4
Season chicken thighs all over with salt and pepper. Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-low heat, stirring often, until brown and crisp, 7–10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a small bowl.
Step 5
Increase heat to medium-high. Working in 2 batches if needed, cook chicken thighs, skin side down, in the same pot until skin is golden brown, 7–10 minutes. Transfer to a large plate and turn skin side up. Remove pot from heat. Let chicken cool slightly, then pull skin from meat and transfer to a shallow bowl; cover and chill (save for making the gremolata).
Step 6
Return pot to medium heat and cook shallots and garlic, cut side down, in the same pot, tossing shallots occasionally, until shallots are browned in spots and garlic is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add wine, stirring to release any bits stuck on the bottom of pot, and cook until reduced by two-thirds, about 2 minutes. Add parsley, bay leaves, reserved bacon, and 8 cups water, season generously with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Return chicken thighs to pot and bring stew back up to a simmer. Cover with a lid, leaving slightly askew so steam can escape, and cook, adjusting heat to maintain a very gentle simmer and skimming foam from surface as needed, until meat is tender and easily pulls away from bones, 1–1 1/2 hours.
Step 7
Transfer thighs to a cutting board and let cool 10–15 minutes; keep liquid at a simmer. Pull meat from bones and tear into bite-size pieces. Add bones back to pot as you go. Transfer meat to a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Add kale and simmer until kale is tender and liquid is very flavorful, 25–30 minutes.
Step 8
Remove stew from heat, add meat back to pot, and let cool uncovered (bones and all) until no longer steaming. Cover pot and chill stew at least 12 hours (you can skip this step, but it will dramatically improve the flavor).
Step 9
发现炖,勺子掉一半的四分之三of fat on the surface; discard. Gently reheat stew until barely simmering. Pluck out and discard bones, parsley, and bay leaves. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Ladle stew into bowls and top as desired.
Do Ahead
Step 10
Lemon oil can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.
Stew can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.
How would you rate Slow-Cooked Chicken Stew With Kale?
Leave a Review
Reviews (13)
Back to TopFrankly; I got exhausted just reading the recipe -- not to mention befuddled. And I love to cook, make complicated recipes all the time and don't worry about a myriad of ingredients. But this recipe wasn't clear and there's just too much going on and too many complex steps to put in the effort it will obviously require. Hellennemm Ontario Canada
Anonymous
Ontario, Canada
11/16/2021
Haven't yet made the gremolata, but the soup is quite good without it. As is frequently the case, some of the missing phrases in this recipe are there in the version on bonappetit dot com--it tells you when to remove the garlic, for instance. With regard to the lemon oil and gremolata folks are wondering about, I think those are covered in the "top as desired" instruction at the end.
leek
Seattle, WA
3/19/2021
This was delicious. Confusing recipe to follow. I wish I would have read ALL of the instructions prior to starting. But it was really delicious.
lori318
IN
12/15/2020
I"m in the middle of making this and still befuddled about the garlic. I guess only bottom half goes in (top half fell apart) and does it get taken out? Is the lemon oil one of the toppings or? It didn't say anything about draining off the bacon fat but I did it anyway. Confusingly written. Tastes good but labor intensive not sure it's worth the effort.
lpb1
12/9/2020
This was absolutely delicious day 2 as suggested. Not a fan of Kale so I used spinach. Finally at the end just threw in the lemon oil not knowing where it went. I fried the chicken skin instead of turning on the oven making the age old schmaltz (spelling) for frying everything else. thank you
valerie.biber3536
Tucson, AZ
12/6/2020
Where does the gremaolata go?
finneyet8908
LA
12/6/2020
Tead the recipe 5 times and darned if i can.understand where the lemon oil comes in!
Brave chicken
Ontario Canada
12/5/2020
我刚完成发酵,因此它需要rest, but it's already the best soup I've ever made. A few minor alterations: I didn't read ahead and pulled off the skins before browning them, so I'm not sure how the gremolata will work out. I'm half-assing that with some powdered onion and garlic. I followed the advice below on cracking the bones and it made a perfect broth. Added some fennel top that I had sitting around and it added even more herbal flavor and some texture (this is really light on veggies for a stew).
hogansr
St Louis, MO
1/14/2019
Me again. The stew was delicious. The bottom of the heads of garlic stayed together so I was able to remove them with the bones, bay leaves and parsley, but the top half just fell apart so I didn't even bother putting it in. The stew would be a little boring without the toppings, but with them it's delicious (make extra lemon oil - it's so good!).
moonbeanjo
San Francisco
11/12/2018
This looks like a very good brothy SOUP, but certainly not "stew" as I've always known it. I do intend to try it though.
Anonymous
Carmel, CA
11/11/2018
In addition to adding the bones back into the water to enrich the broth, pound the bones after removing the meat to give the broth a medicinal affect. It helps the bone marrow marry into the broth. Great for a cold!
Anonymous
Laguna Niguel, CA
11/11/2018
Working on this recipe now and perplexed about what to do with the garlic. Two whole heads of garlic, halved, but they never get taken out at any point?
moonbeanjo
San Francisco
11/11/2018
chicken skin gremolata adds a punch of flavor to the stew. radishes add a nice crunch for texture.
kalbi
California
10/28/2018
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