Caribbean Chicken and Bean Stew
This hearty chicken and bean stew can be prepared in multiple ways. If you want to cook this in a crock pot, I recommend searing your chicken and sautéing your vegetables before putting them into the crock pot. You will get more flavor out of this dish. If you don't have time, you can definitely just throw everything in a once. I made my chicken and bean stew in a dutch oven. Less dishes is always a plus for me. When selecting chicken, you can either use a small whole chicken cut into pieces or just bone in skin on chicken thighs. The most important thing is that the chicken is bone in and skin on. NEVER BONELESS SKINLESS. Bone and skin = flavor.When selecting beans, it's really up to you. Kidney, black, white, black eyed peas all work well with this recipe. I used a small red Dominican bean that's sort of a cross between a kidney bean and a black eyed pea. I prefer to use dried beans instead of canned. I think that the dried beans soak up more of the juices of whatever they're cooking in. I also like the firmness. I think canned beans are too soft. But that's just my preference. Either will be great in this recipe.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs bone in skin on chicken thighs
- 2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 3 green onion chopped
- 3 habanero
- 1 head minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 2 medium tomatoes diced
- 4 cups cooked beans
- 2 cups chicken stock
- salt and white pepper to taste
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
- parsley chopped
Instructions
- You can use any type of bean to your choosing. I used a Dominican red bean. Kidney, black, white, or black eyed peas all work well for this dish. Soak your beans in cold water overnight, or at least for 8 hours. Boil your beans for about an hour, or until the are tender. Drain and set aside.
- Season your chicken with salt and pepper.
- In a dutch oven, heat cooking oil over medium high heat. Add in the chicken thighs skin side down. Brown for 4-5 minutes or until the skin is crispy.
- Flip chicken to the other side and cook for another 4 minutes. Remove form the dutch oven and set aside.
- Add in onions, garlic, green onions, thyme, ginger, cumin, paprika, allspice, and habanero. Saute until onions are translucent.
- Stir in the beans, chicken stock, tomatoes, and bay leaf. Add the chicken thighs back in. Simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour.
- Stir in cilantro and parsley the last 5 minutes of cooking. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Bowl this up and enjoy. Goes great with corn bread.
