Chicken Stew With Mushrooms, Shallots And Potatoes

Directions

1. This was originally Beef Stew With Mushrooms, Shallots and Potatoes from Bon Appetit, Nov 2000. We do not eat beef very often so I changed this to chicken.
2. Note 1: Original recipe used 3 lbs boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2" pcs. I changed it to chicken and cut it into 1 1/2" strips.
3. Note 2: Original recipe used 3 Tbsp of the flour ... it wasn't sufficient so I doubled it
4. Note 3: Original recipe used 1 1/2 tsp thyme ... I doubled it
5. Note 4: Original recipe used 1/2 tsp allspice ... I doubled it
6. Note 5: 1 - 1 1/2" diameter, scrubbed
7. Note 6: Original recipe called for canned beef broth ... I changed it to the vegetarian chicken broth that is salt free and fatfree. You could use lowfat, low salt canned chicken broth
8. Note 7: Original recipe used 18 shallots ... I only had 6 so I used all of them
9. Place chicken in large bowl. Sprinkle with flour, thyme, allspice and generous amounts of salt and pepper; toss to coat. Heat oil in heavy large pot over med-high heat. Working in batches, add in chicken and saute/fry till lightly browned. Transfer chicken to large dish after each batch; reserve any flour in bowl. Add in mushrooms and potatoes to drippings in pot. Stir 2 - 4 minutes. Return chicken, any collected juices and reserved flour mix to pot. Add in chicken broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat to med-low. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes.
10. Drop shallots into pot of boiling water; cook 1 minutes. Drain and peel shallots. Add in to stew and simmer, uncovered, till chicken and vegetables are tender and sauce thickens, about 30 minutes.
11. This was incredibly good. We served it over couscous and then the left-overs were served another meal over rice. Excellent!!
12. NOTES : Made this for dinner a couple of weeks ago ... finally got it formatted. This was**wonderful**!!