Chicken Mushroom Stew

Week two of the lockdown. The strangeness hasn't worn off — it has settled into a new normalcy that doesn't feel normal. The kids are doing school on laptops at the kitchen table. Lisa is on video calls all day from the home office we set up in a corner of our bedroom. I'm running virtual coaching sessions twice a week and it's not the same. I know it's not the same. I'm doing it anyway because the players need structure too, because kids need structure especially when the world takes it away.

I've started a cooking project to anchor the weeks. Each week I'm going to make something I've never made before. This week: mole amarillo — the yellow mole, Oaxacan tradition, less common than the negro or rojo, built on chilhuacle amarillo and tomatillo and masa for thickening. I watched three hours of videos and read two recipes and then did it my own way from the combined notes. The flavor is distinct from anything I've made — brighter, more acidic, with an herbal note from the hierbas santas that I'd never used before. Diego ate two full portions. This is my rating system.

I called every player this week individually. Forty-seven players, forty-seven calls. Some lasted five minutes. Some lasted forty. T.J. — who is now a freshman at Colorado State and quarantined in his dorm — called me back unprompted, just to talk, just because. He said, "I'm glad I know how to cook, Coach." I asked who taught him. He laughed. Nobody taught him. But he was thinking about it. That counts.

Mole amarillo taught me that the most rewarding cooking takes patience and a willingness to combine things you’ve never combined before — and that week, I needed both the lesson and the result. This Chicken Mushroom Stew hits a similar note for me: it’s a dish that builds in layers, rewards attention, and fills a kitchen with the kind of smell that tells everyone under the roof that something good is coming. Diego’s two-portion seal of approval is the only rating that matters, and a stew like this earns it.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 50 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 1/2 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6 pieces)
1 lb cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch rounds
2 celery stalks, sliced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine (or additional broth)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Season and sear the chicken. Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken skin-side down and sear without moving, 5–6 minutes, until skin is deeply golden. Flip and sear the other side 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pot.
Build the base. Reduce heat to medium. Add butter and let it melt. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and stir constantly for 1 minute until fragrant and the paste darkens slightly.
Cook the mushrooms. Add all the mushrooms to the pot in a single layer as best you can. Let them cook undisturbed for 3 minutes to develop color, then stir and cook another 3 minutes until they’ve released their liquid and begun to shrink.
Deglaze and thicken. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and mushrooms and stir to coat evenly. Cook 1 minute. Pour in the white wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let it bubble and reduce by half, about 2 minutes.
Braise. Pour in the chicken broth, add thyme and rosemary sprig, and stir to combine. Nestle the seared chicken thighs back into the pot skin-side up, along with any accumulated juices. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low, cover partially, and simmer 35–40 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the stew has thickened.
Finish and serve. Remove the rosemary sprig. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Scatter fresh parsley over the top. Serve directly from the pot over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or crusty bread.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken Mushroom Stew — Structure When the World Has None