Boozy Chicken Stew

I've polished off two bottles of wine in two recipes! Dear Lord, I hope I cooked off all the alcohol or my children might be in trouble.

This weekend I made Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon. I basically followed the same recipe I used last time, but I decided to kick it up a notch:

• instead of 8 slices of bacon, I used a whole pack
• instead of 1 head of roasted garlic, I used 2
• instead of 3 carrots, I used 6 or 7

There really was no need to change an already-perfect recipe, and perhaps the whole pack of bacon was a little bit much, but I did like having the extra carrots in there since it's such a meat-heavy stew. This makes an enormous amount of stew, so be prepared!

My intention was to make Coq au Vin for supper last night, but I bought a variety pack of mushrooms to use in the Boeuf Bourguginon and the Coq au Vin, and they didn't last as long as I had hoped. So I was mushroomless, but I still had chicken thighs, bacon, leeks, and white wine. With the help of some carrots and potatoes, I used the Boeuf Bourguignon recipe as a template and came up with a delicious chicken stew:

BOOZY CHICKEN STEW (or if you have a little more self-respect, call it "Poulet au Vin")
8 slices of bacon
12 chicken thighs (boneless & skinless)
3 leeks, sliced (white part only)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
5-6 carrots, chopped
6 small potatoes, chopped
1/3 - 1/2 c. flour
salt & pepper
3 c. white wine (I used a German wine - Liebfraumilch)
1 c. vegetable broth

In a large dutch oven, cook bacon and set aside. Brown chicken thighs in bacon grease and set aside with the bacon. (You will have to brown them in batches.) Add leeks, garlic, carrots, and potatoes to the pot and drizzle with olive oil. Cook until leeks soften, then add chicken and bacon and coat with flour. Season with salt and pepper, and mix well to combine. Pour in wine and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then cover and put in the oven at 325 F for 2 hours.

I dare say I like this recipe better than the Boeuf Bourguignon! (Sorry, Ms. Child.) My kids liked it too, although they were quite perturbed that I made another huge stew, so we have been eating stew now for 5 nights straight. Oh well, it's delicious, it's healthy, and it's got a whole bottle of wine in it - that's what I call a fantastic recipe!