Home
Beer Chicken Stew with Biscuits on Top - Recipe by Adam Ragusea
RECIPE
- .5 Lbs bacon. Chopped in big chunks. Thick-cut bacon preferred.
- About 2 cups of diced aromatic veggies. Can be whatever you want. Empty out the fridge!
- Some cut up mushrooms
- 4 Boneless skinless chicken thighs dredged in flour
- 1 Beer. A lager or brown ale
- 1 recipe of buttermilk biscuits. You can use the Pillsbury ones
- Herbs that you like, e.g. thyme, sage, rosemary
- Chop the bacon up and cook it off in the bottom of a large pot that can go into an oven.
- When it's crispy, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
- In the hot baconfat, brown the chicken thighs on both sides. You don't need to cook them through, just brown on them. Set them aside as well
- Assess how much fat is in the pot. Remove as much as you want.
- Add the chopped up veggies to the fat, and let them brown and soften
- Add the mushrooms and let them cook and soften up a bit.
- Once mushrooms and softened, put the bacon and chicken back into the pot
- Season your stew with, salt, pepper, and whatever herbs/spices you want.
- Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit
- Pour in the beer. You're looking to cover the contents of the pot, so if you do not have enough beer, fill in the rest with water.
- Bring it to a boil, and then lower the heat to let it simmer uncovered to reduce the water a bit
- At this point, prep your biscuits and put them in the fridge while waiting for the stew to be ready.
- Melt some butter with herbs and pepper in a small bowl
- After about 30-40 minutes of simmering, the stew should be thickened and reduced.
- Place the uncooked biscuits on top of the stew, brush the top with the melted butter, and put the entire pot into the oven
- Cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until the biscuits are nice and brown on top
- Serve with more beer!
Food Critic Review
NY Times Review
"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read.
But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.
But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends.
Last night, I experienced something new, an extra-ordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement.
They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Ragusea's famous motto: 'Anyone can cook.' But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Ragusea's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Ragusea's soon, hungry for more.""