Of the goodies I received from Polyface Farms, the stewing chicken was one I was really looking forward to.
Stewing chickens are -generally- not actually raised for food production. They are older laying hens who just aren’t laying like they used to. They -generally- are larger birds since they’ve been around a while and have had the opportunity to grow, and while not suited for quick-cooking, are excellent slowly stewed. They can be really rich and flavorful with meat literally falling off the bone.
I got 1 out of 3. Sorta.
My big ol’ stewing hen was a pretty scrawny stewing hen. It was maybe the size of a standard fryer but without anywhere near the meat. And I simmered that bird for hours and it was tough and stringy. Tough.
The original dinner plan was to stew the chicken, pull the meat from the bones and make a cream sauce with vegetables and put mashed sweet potatoes on top – pop back into the oven to brown a bit.
Pretty basic.
But that chicken just didn’t have enough ooomph. I ended up making the chicken and vegetables but chopping the sweet potatoes and cooking them off in the pan.
Dinner was good – and we had leftovers for lunch today – but it wasn’t the stellar chicken I was expecting.
Oh well. I’m doing an interesting beer and soy sauce marinade tonight for some beef. It’s pouring rain outside – and I do mean pouring – but I plan to grill nonetheless.
There’s always the next meal to look forward to!