Wow. I followed this recipe instructions exactly except for the fact that I had no idea where to find cloves and I don't personally like mushrooms. Yes it takes a while but you can reasonably break down tasks simultaneously. So that not much prep time is needed and much of your dishes and waste are already dealt with before the meal is prepared. This meal was incredible. It's better than most restaurants. I used a stock pot for the first step and a dutch oven for steps three through six. In hindsight I wish I had used chicken broth instead of water in step one. Even without I am telling you this stew is incredible. The combination of herbs is good. One set of herbs (tarragon rosemary herbes de Provence) reminds me a little of absinthe for some reason while the others added plenty of spiciness. I highly recommend this meal. It deserves WAY more reviews. It is spicy hot as some noted but not overly so. If one doesn't want it they could probably leave out the cayenne pepper. I think the cayenne pepper makes it perfect however.
Wonderful flavor. A bit time consuming but overall very good.
Full of flavor with perfect results. Be warned this is spicy hot so do take that into account when preparing this dish. I used dried herbs as I did not have the fresh and just cut back to 1 tsp. of each. I made homemade dumplings instead of the purchased biscuits. Simply dropped them into the stew and done in 20 minutes in the oven (kept the pot top on). Really great recipe Chef John.
This was tasty but a bit too spicy. Next time I would not so much fresh taragon since it has a strong licorice flavor to it. I probably would opt for a spoon of it dry. I'd also cut all of the pepper in half and then add individual taste after it's served.
Awesome recipe! Only a few things I did to make this simpler: One I baked chicken breasts in the oven and used store bought chicken stock and two I did not cook the stew for 45 min. I let it cook just until the carrots were tender. The fresh herbs make this!! Oh I baked it in a 9x13 pan and split the biscuits in half so that they cooked through faster. DEEEEEELISH!!!!!!
WOW! I can't believe there aren't more written reviews. I didn't have all of the herbs called for but used what I had and the stew was amazing. I also didn't have mushrooms so I just added a few more carrots and celery (including the celery leaves because they always add great flavor). It is definitely worth the stove time.
I gave this 3 stars because the basics are there for a good dish but it's not good as written. For starters there is way way too much pepper and it overpowers everything else. The last time I was around someone using this much pepper they were heavy smokers and their taste buds were zilched. Start out by reducing the pepper asked to 1/2 or 1/3 and increase or reduce it from there next time. If you try to rush the dish and not let it simmer to thicken then it will turn out very runny. I substitute frozen bisquits and they work out just fine and I like the flavor better than canned biscuits.
I am just so happy I found and tried this recipe. It is flavourful and delicious. A warning to those about to make it it is a tad bit spicey. I am not one for spicey foods but I still loved this. Next time I will tone it down with the peppers. I think it is a must to use all the spices otherwise you will lose some of the flavor. I cannot wait to make this again. I should mention I don't own a dutch oven so those like me can use a stock pot and then throw it all in a roaster when it is time to place in the oven. Works just the same. Thanks Chef John for another great recipe!
Comfort food times ten. I did a double take when I saw the ingredient amounts for the herbs and spices. After reading through other reviews I checked the amounts for this recipe on Chef John s website. They were the same. Made the decision to halve them and am glad I did. Was a terrific combination and still had plenty of punch. For the liquid used half homemade stock and half water. I think next time I ll add an additional piece of carrot and celery.
