Farmer’s Chicken Stew — The Soup You Make When You Cannot Stop the Storm

A hurricane is forming. They are calling it Irma, and it is heading toward the Caribbean, and I cannot stop watching the weather channel. Mami is in Bayamon. Ana is in Bayamon. My sister, my mother, in a concrete house that survived Hugo in 1989 but that is older now, weaker now, the way everything gets older and weaker with time, including the people inside it.

I called Mami. I said, Mami, there is a hurricane coming. She said, Carmen, I know. I have lived through hurricanes since before you were born. I said, Mami, this one looks big. She said, They always look big on TV. I said, MAMI. She said, We have water. We have batteries. Ana is here. Stop worrying and make dinner. This is Luz Maria Ortiz at eighty years old — telling her daughter to stop worrying about a hurricane and make dinner because dinner is the thing you can control and hurricanes are the thing you cannot and spending energy on what you cannot control is a waste of sofrito.

She is right. She is wrong. She is my mother and I love her and I am terrified.

At the hospital, I worked through my fear the way I work through everything — by cooking. By feeding. By making sure every tray went out on time and every patient was fed and every meal was hot and the kitchen ran perfectly because if I control my kitchen I can pretend I control the world and if I control the world then Mami is safe and the hurricane will not come and the roof will hold and everything will be fine.

Sofia saw me watching the weather and sat next to me on the couch. She put her hand on my arm. My seventeen-year-old daughter, whose biggest concern should be biology homework and college orientation, put her hand on my arm because she saw the fear on my face and she did not look away. She said, Abuela will be okay, Mami. I said, I know, mija. I do not know. I hope. Hope and knowing are different things, and I am standing on hope like a bridge over a very dark river, and the bridge is shaking.

Made caldo de pollo — chicken soup. The cure-all. The thing you make when the world is uncertain and the sky is threatening and your mother is a thousand miles away in the path of something you cannot stop. Chicken soup does not stop hurricanes. But it feeds the people in front of you, and that is what you can do. That is all you can do. Feed the people in front of you. Pray for the people far away. Stir the pot. Watch the sky.

That night, with the weather map glowing on the TV and Sofia asleep on my shoulder, I stood at the stove and stirred. Caldo de pollo — chicken stew, thick with vegetables and heavy with the kind of warmth that holds you together when everything else is shaking. This is the recipe I made that night, the one Mami would have made too, because soup is what Ortiz women build when the world outside is falling apart. It will not stop a hurricane. But it will fill your kitchen with steam and your house with something that smells like tomorrow will come.

Farmer’s Chicken Stew

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup frozen green beans
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Brown the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2. Sauté the aromatics. In the same pot, add onion, garlic, carrots, and celery. Cook over medium heat until the onion is softened, about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Build the stew. Add potatoes, diced tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, and paprika. Return the chicken to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
4. Add the vegetables. Stir in frozen corn and green beans. Continue to simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until heated through and flavors meld together.
5. Finish and serve. Remove bay leaves. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve hot.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 340 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 35g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 890mg