This is the faster (and cheaper) way to make everybody’s favourite Irish Guinness stew. It might not be traditional, but chicken goes brilliantly with the dark and malty notes of Guinness in this much-loved Irish stew. Not only is it more affordable than the usual beef version, it’s also far quicker to stew. I use bone-in pieces of chicken and simmer it all for just 30 minutes, keeping the chicken pieces lovely and juicy. Just add a side of mash to soak up all that rich-flavoured goodness.
Chicken Guinness Stew
Serves: 4-5; prep: 10 mins; cook: 45 mins
Chicken
• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (or more drumsticks)
• 4 chicken drumsticks (or more thighs)
• ½ tsp cooking salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
Guinness Stew
• 50g unsalted butter
• 1 brown onion, halved, cut into 1cm thick wedges
• 350g button mushrooms, halved
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 1½ cups (375ml) Guinness beer
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 3 cups (750ml) low-salt beef stock
• ¼ tsp cooking salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
To serve
• Creamy mashed potato, made with butter, milk and a sprinkling of parsley
• Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)
Season chicken: sprinkle the chicken all over with the salt and pepper.
Brown chicken: melt the butter in a large, deep heavy-based pan or large pot over a medium-high heat until foaming. Place the chicken in the pan. For the thighs, cook the skin side for 5-8 minutes or until golden, then turn and cook the flesh side for 1 minute. Transfer to a plate. For the drumsticks, do your best to brown them, rotating as needed – it’s a bit hard because of the shape.
Sauté mushrooms: the butter in the pan is now browned, which means extra tasty sauce. Add the onion and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until light golden. Stir in the garlic and thyme for the last 30 seconds.
Make sauce: add the Guinness, turn the heat to high, and simmer rapidly until the sauce reduces by two-thirds, about 3 minutes. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute, then add the beef stock, salt and pepper. Stir until there are no flour lumps, then return the chicken to the sauce, pushing it down between the mushrooms so it is submerged as much as possible.
Simmer: bring the sauce to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring around the chicken every now and then so the base doesn’t catch, until the sauce thickens into a gravy. The internal temperature of the chicken should be 72°C or slightly higher.
Serve: place the mashed potato in bowls. Put a thigh and drumstick on top, then smother with the sauce. Sprinkle with thyme sprigs (if using), then dig in.
Leftovers
Fridge: 3 days; freezer: 3 months.
Korean BBQ Chicken
Serves: 5; prep: 10 mins + 3 hours marinating; cook: 15 mins
Everybody goes crazy over flavoursome Korean marinades. Sweet and savoury with a subtle warm hum and a good hit of garlic, the marinades used for Korean barbecued meat are lip-smackingly delicious. But few people know how easy they are to make at home. It’s all about getting the marinade ingredient ratios right. For a midweek meal, I like to use the oven grill using boneless chicken, or bake it using bone-in chicken. No stove splatter, no stressing about burning the sugars. On weekends though, it’s all about the outdoor grill for that crisp and charry barbecued taste.
Chicken – choose one method
• 1 kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs – oven grill method
• 1.5 kg bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6 pieces) – baked method
Korean BBQ Marinade
• 3 tbsp gochujang (a sweet-spicy Korean rice and soybean-based paste. I use mild: spice level 3)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp light or all-purpose soy sauce (not dark soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp finely grated garlic
• 1 tsp finely grated ginger
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp white pepper
To cook
• Canola oil spray (or other neutral-flavoured oil)
To serve
• Cucumber ribbons (slice three cucumbers lengthwise with a peeler; dress with a vinaigrette and chopped red onion or serve plain)
• White rice (1 cup cooked in 1 and ½ cups of water)
• Green onion, finely sliced diagonally
Marinate chicken: mix the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat well. Marinate for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. (Reserve the bowl with any leftover marinade.)
For boneless, skinless chicken thighs (oven grill method)
Preheat the oven grill to high with the oven shelf 20cm from the heat source. Line a baking tray with foil (not paper, it will burn). Place a wire rack on the tray and spray it with oil.
Oven grill: place the chicken, smooth-side down, on the rack. Grill for 4 minutes or until the chicken is lightly browned. Turn the chicken over. Use a brush or rubber spatula to scrape out half the residual marinade from the bowl and dab it onto the surface of the chicken. Spray generously with oil, then grill for 2 minutes. Remove from the oven, dab with the remaining marinade and spray with oil again. Grill for 5-6 minutes until the surface is caramelised.
For bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (baked method)
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Line a baking tray with foil, then baking paper (you’ll thank me later).
Bake: place the chicken on the tray, skin-side up. Use a brush to dab half the remaining marinade in the bowl onto the skin. Bake for 30 minutes. Dab the remaining marinade onto the skin. Bake for 10 minutes. Dab the skin with the tray juices, then spray with oil. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the skin is caramelised. Remove from the oven.
Serve: transfer the chicken to a serving platter and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Baste the skin one last time using the tray juices (or pour over the chicken). Pile the cucumber ribbons on the side and serve with rice, garnished with green onion.
One-Pan Chorizo Couscous
Serves: 2–3; prep and cook time: 15 mins
This is a Spanish-esque take on couscous.Couscous is a staple in my pantry because it’s a handy no-cook starch that has excellent sauce-soaking capabilities. Of North African origin, it can be used for dishes all over the world due to its neutral flavour. Here, I’m giving it a Spanish spin by teaming it with chorizo (hello, flavour shortcut), a handful of juicy cherry tomatoes, frozen peas and a hint of smoky paprika flavour. The best part though is that the couscous is steamed in the pan while the chorizo is still in it.
Not only does that save on washing up, the couscous gets an excellent flavour infusion from the tasty chorizo pan juices.
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 220g cured chorizo (2 pieces): one cut into quarters lengthways, then into 1cm-thick pieces, the other sliced into 7mm thick rounds
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1 small red onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup (190g) couscous
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 cup (140g) frozen peas
• 1 cup (250ml) low-salt chicken stock
• ¾ tsp cooking salt
• ½ tbsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup (150g) cherry tomatoes, halved
• ¼ cup roughly chopped parsley leaves (optional)
Sauté chorizo: heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan a over medium-high heat.
Cook the chorizo for 3 minutes or until light golden. Add the garlic and onion and cook for a further 2 minutes until the chorizo is golden and the onion is softened. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the tomato paste and stir for 1 minute. Add the couscous, paprika and pepper and stir for 1 minute to coat the couscous in the tasty oil.
Steam couscous: add the peas, stock and salt and let it come to a simmer. The couscous will soak up the stock straight away and that’s okay. Trust the process! Spread the couscous out evenly and scrape down the sides of the pan. Cover the pan with a lid or another frying pan (or a baking tray) then turn the stove off. Leave the pan on the stove for 5 minutes to steam-cook the couscous.
Serve: scatter the lemon zest and drizzle the lemon juice over the couscous. Add the cherry tomatoes. Gently fluff and mix the couscous with a spatula. Spoon into bowls and serve, sprinkle the couscous with parsley (if using) and drizzled with an extra swish of olive oil. l
An edited extract from RecipeTin Eats: Tonight by Nagi Maehashi (Pan Macmillan, $54.99).
