Chicken and Chorizo Stew

It is a good day when you want to cook chicken joints without too much fuss and find you have a piece of cooking chorizo in the fridge plus a tin of butter beans in the cupboard. Suddenly a really delicious alternative is possible.

We ate this stew with mashed potatoes with  a portion of kale mixed in at the end, a simple version of the Irish champ.

Chicken and Chorizo stew for 2 or 4 less greedy ones

4 chicken joints - from a whole bird you have cut into 10 pieces or, of course , a pack from the supermarket - season them well with S and P
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 or 2 carrots cut into thick chunks
A good length of chorizo sausage, not the ready sliced type, cut into chunks
1 tin of butter beans
1 tsp paprika, preferably the hot kind
Butter and oil

1. Heat an ounce or so of butter plus a tbs oil and brown the chicken pieces first. Remove them when they are nicely golden brown
2. Reduce the heat, then add the chopped onion, carrots, garlic and chorizo
3. Soften gently
4. Add the paprika and cook a second or so
5. Add the drained beans and enough liquid to just come up to the chicken level. If you have jointed the chicken and boiled up the left over back bones with peppercorns, an onion and any veg you have to make stock, use this liquid. If not add a little stock powder
6. Like any stew, casserole, ragout etc etc, you can cook this in one pan on the top of the stove or transfer it all to an oven proof dish with a lid and cook slowly in the oven. Either method will work but I think a slow oven, no 2 or equivalent, for one hour and half in this case, is best.

Check the chicken is soft and taste for seasoning before serving with rice or jacket potatoes. It is a tasty and good tempered dish.