Playing With Fire - Chicken Thighs and a Chicken and Veggie Stew

A recent cold day gave me the opportunity to build a fire in my fireplace, which of course means cooking!

I didn't have any particular recipe in mind, I just wanted to play and see what I could make.  Also, I wanted to try out my new fireplace crane.

Lovely, no?

It is important to manage your fire and hot coals supply before, during, and after cooking.  You always have to be thinking ahead and considering, "Do I have enough to cook now?  Will I have enough later?  How quickly are the coals burning out and do I need to put fresh wood on the fire to start making more?"

A lot of these answers depend on the wood you are using and the foods you are cooking.  With practice, you can assess the situation quickly and adjust as needed.  When I do historical food demonstrations, I start with charcoal, which is easier to haul and use than chunks of wood.  

Sometimes I see television shows or movies portraying cooking with fire as a pot over robust flames (ahem, Star Trek Voyager and Neelix's kitchen!) but that gives you little control over the cooking process.  You need to be able to adjust the heat by moving coals in and out, sometimes under the pot but sometimes on top of or next to.  When I cook when flames are present, the pot is usually off to the side while the contents are stirred often and the pot rotated to offer the cooler side to the fire.  In very old kitchen setups, you will see areas where a few coals can be placed on bricks and the pot is set on a grate over them.  With this, you can get very gentle heat for delicate cooking.

So I lit the fire and waited for the coals to form.

This wood popped cinders often.  Note the small black chunks on the tile.

Then I pulled some coals towards me and started preheating my Dutch oven.

Those coals are HOT!

Into the pan went olive oil.  I had prepared the boneless, skinless chicken thighs by rolling them in breadcrumbs spiced with pepper, cinnamon, garlic powder, and paprika.  The following picture reminds me that you should always have a plan for where you will set your utensils.  I don't want to put them on the tiles.  In this case, the tongs rested on the plate that held the meat.  Sometimes you need a separate plate or bowl, depending on how many tools you are using.  

Gloves with leather palms work well for heat protection and are easy to put on or take off.

I used the tongs to put the thighs in the pan and wiggled them a little to help keep them from sticking.  They started sizzling immediately.  

(Note:  I learned the wiggle technique from Hank Shaw's website, "Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook", found here:  https://honest-food.net/  Look at his post for "How to Sear Fish."  Credit where it is due!)

I checked them often, and when the downside was browned, I flipped them and moved the pan further from the heat so they could cook thoroughly.

I love the crust they developed!

Notice that I put a lid on the pan at this point.  Remember how I said the wood was popping a lot of cinders?  I tell you, cinders taste bad and you want to keep them out of your food as much as possible.   I needed a long time to get the meat's interior cooked, which means exposure to cinders.  Cover your pans as often as possible.  Some of my pans didn't come with lids, so I use lids that I do have to cover them, even if they don't fit well.  I'm also in the process of making ceramic lids that will fit them.  

The pan is getting heated on one side now, but the bricks were pretty warm and the pan was still hot.  I was confident that the thighs would cook as I wanted them to.  I also reduced the number of coals in the cooking area.

When they were done, they had released juices into the pan.

Smelled good!

The thighs were cooked all the way through, maybe more than I would normally cook them, but they were still moist and tasty.

I decided last minute to make a gravy out of the pan juices.  I added more breadcrumbs and adjusted the spicing (including salt) to enhance the flavors.  This I cooked in the Dutch oven but on my stove.

A very thick gravy.

The meal consisted of chicken thighs topped with gravy, whipped sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce.  You can find the recipe for the sweet potatoes by clicking here:   Cardamom-Scented Sweet Potatoes.

MMMMMM!

A very lovely meal indeed.

Hey!  I still had fire and coals and the time to make something that cooked slowly (while I enjoyed the meal).  So I made a chicken and vegetable stew and utilized the crane.

This time I used my large kettle (not the giant one you see in the corner of the fireplace).  I put in olive oil, chopped chicken thighs, and chopped onions.  I cooked them over hot coals, covered but checking them and stirring often, until the onions were transluscent.  A few times I rotated the kettle to warm up the cool side.

This is one of those situations when you need to think ahead about where the utensils would be placed  and where the hot lid would go while I was stirring and checking.  A nearby clean pot held the spoon when it wasn't in my hand, and the same pot held the lid when I was stirring the food.

The lid is too big, but it worked.

Then I added the rest of the ingredients, all canned: corn, garbanzo beans, green beans, tomato sauce.  I didn't throw any spices in until later.  I included the liquid from the green beans and corn, too.

After everything was stirred, up onto the crane it went!  Online reviews of the crane said it could hold a lot of weight, but I was worried anyway.  What if it pulled out from the wall?  Well, it didn't, and I was glad.  I built up the fire and put a lid on the kettle.  It was high enough that the live fire wasn't overheating the food.  

Lid went on after this picture was taken.

The beauty of the crane is that I don't have to lean into the fireplace and lift a heavy kettle up and out.  Safer, for sure, and easier on my back and arms.  It swings the kettle over to me, and I just need to lift it off the hook and set it on the hearth.

Aside from the occasional checking to see how the fire was doing and to stir the stew, I ignored the cooking process.  A lovely slow-cooking process ensued; I was looking for the tomato sauce to darken, which means it is well-cooked.

At some point I added spices:  pepper, garlic, salt.  After about three hours (or so), the stew was ready.

We ate it the next day, which allows the flavors to meld and develop.  Always a good thing to do with stews.

Of course it was good!  Success, twice!

It is always fun to play with the fire and cook something.  I'm hoping for another cool day in the near future so I can do it again.

Cheers!