Kitchen creativity

Plenty left over for lunch tomorrow!

Okay, so my future does not belong in food photography.  But I was pleased with the way this hearty winter stew turned out, so I thought I'd share how I did it.

1 medium onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
4 carrots, peeled and chopped however you prefer them (we like rounds)
2 chicken breasts, chopped roughly
2 mini chorizos, chopped in rounds
1 tin butter beans
1 tin chick peas
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 portion of chicken stock made up with enough water to cover
also would have been nice with some chilli flakes thrown in, and/or fresh ground pepper - the chorizo and stock is salty enough

Serves 4, without extra veg, or stretches to 6 with extra greens on the side - possibly further if you do potatoes or chunky bread.  I think spicy wedges would go nicely with this.

Fry off your garlic and onion, and chuck in the carrots, along with the spices.  Then add the chicken and chorizo and give it a good fry - you can do this in a separate pan and drain off the excess fat, which is what I would have done if I wasn't in a hurry at 7am this morning.  Once the meat is sealed, the stock can go in, and lastly add your tinned veg.  If you like tinned tomatoes, you can have them in it, too, or some red wine would be nice and wintry too, but it is lovely just in the stock.  Give it about an hour to an hour and a half on 180 degrees C, or gas mark 4 or 5 ish.

Enjoy!