Cajun Chicken Stew

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!! I know, I know, I’ve been MIA and I’m so sorry! There's been some pretty big changes in my life in the past few months. For starters, I'm pregnant!! 25 weeks as of yesterday. And the same week we found out we were pregnant, I also found out that I got the promotion at work. Talk about a week of crazy emotions!

During my first trimester I couldn't look at raw meat, and since my second trimester has started I've been incredibly busy at work with my new role. So my cooking slacked, and we've been eating LOTS of peanut butter sandwiches. But luckily we love peanut butter sandwiches and my sweet husband and soon-to-be-daddy has never once complained about our lack of leftovers. He's the best 💕

So here are the things I’ve learned in the past few months of sucking at blogging

• I’m not good at social media posts. Like at all. And I’m ok with that. 
• I’m not great at trying a new recipe over and over until it’s perfect, because right now, I just don’t have the time or energy. And I’m ok with that.
• I’m going to continue to share recipes that come easy to me. They may include not completely from scratch ingredients and they may not be the most photogenic (aka this meal) but I’m perfectly fine with that.
• I originally envisioned a huge following like other bloggers (you know the ones), but now I realize how ~narcissistic~ that was and I want you to know how truly overjoyed I am anytime I get a DM or a text saying that a friend or family member tried my recipe. It makes my whole week! And it's all I need to continue this little side project that brings in $0.30 a month. Y'all are the best!!

Thanks for hanging through that blurb. That’s not what you’re here for- you’re here for the stewwwww 🍗

Some notes before we get started-

1. This is a VERY CHEAP MEAL and is great as leftovers
2. It does take some time to make the stew, so plan on making this on a Sunday
3. My recipe is a very basic chicken stew so feel free to change it up! It's taken me so long to write this one because I make it differently almost every single time.

Cajun Chicken Stew

• 4 chicken quarters (See Note 1)
• 1 stick salted butter (½ cup) (See Note 2)
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 4 ½ cups water
• 1 teaspoon Tony’s
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• Dash (or 5) of hot sauce
• Optional: ¼-1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• Chopped parsley as a garnish
• Fresh cooked rice

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Season chicken quarters with salt, pepper, and Tony’s on the skin side and place skin side up in a roasting pan (see pic above)
3. Roast for 1 hour and 10 mins, let rest while completing steps 4-8
4. Add butter to a Dutch oven or 5 quart pot and melt. Once melted, add in flour and stir to combine
5. Cook roux- over low/medium heat stir every minute until roux is a peanut butter color. Make sure not to leave it as it can easily burn! I like to use a flat wooden spatula for this. This will take anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on your fire, be patient!
6. Add in 2 cups of cold or room temperature water to the roux. It’ll steam up so be ready!
7. Stir in ingredients from Tony’s to hot sauce (and cayenne if you want it) and bring to a boil. The roux should incorporate with the water and it’ll look like a really thick gravy
8. Stir in the other 2 and ½ cups of water and bring to a boil
9. Add in that chicken! I usually like to separate the drumstick from the thigh before adding to the stew, makes it easier to fit.
10. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover completely, and let it cook down for 2 hours. Stir every 20ish minutes.
11. Once the 2 hours are up, I remove all of the chicken and shred to smaller pieces. This is completely optional. I remove all skin and bones, leaving only the chicken in the stew. Stir and serve over some freshly cooked rice!

• Note 1 - chicken quarters are CHEAP! My package of 4 chicken quarters weighing 5.5 pounds (including bones) was $6.75. Can't beat it. You can also use 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs or 8 of either. You can use white meat if you reallllly want, but I suggest at least having a mix of white and dark meat.
• Note 2 - I use oil for my gumbo roux and butter for my stew roux. It's completely up to you, but I think butter adds better flavor to the stew than oil. Just know that it's interchangeable.