Chicken Hamilton, #recipe from guest Victoria Hamilton

Today we're very pleased to welcome as out guest, our friend Victoria Hamilton. She is the celebrated author of three cozy mystery series and her latest book, No Grater Danger hits the bookshelves on June 19th! Enjoy her recipe and then enter a comment for a chance to  win a copy of Leave it to Cleaver! Here's Victoria:

Do you ever make a recipe exactly as it is listed? I try to do that the first time I make anything, but it rarely works out. Anyway, I saw a recipe for a version of Chicken Cassoulet; it sounded good, and I gave it a go, but even then, I altered it. It took white wine, and I never have wine in the house… that isn’t for drinking, anyway. The fruity ‘wine beverage’ that is my drink of choice would not be the right ingredient, for what it’s worth. So this time I made many more changes and now it is most definitely NOT Chicken Cassoulet. 

So, I name it…

Chicken Hamilton

Serves: 4 – 6

(4 for dinner, 6 for lunch)

Ingredients:

1 – 19 ounce can cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed.

½ tblsp olive oil

12 ounces skinless boneless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into ½ to 1 inch chunks

10 ounces mild Italian sausage, (casing removed) in small chunks.

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 tbsp water

¼ tsp dried rosemary OR ½ tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

¼ tsp dried thyme OR ½ tbsp fresh thyme chopped

¼ tsp grated black pepper

2 cups (or more) chicken broth

3 cups chopped spinach

Directions:

Mash ½ cup beans in a bowl, then add the rest of the beans and set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven, at medium heat. Add chicken in a single layer, cook, turning once, until browned, 2 – 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a bowl (with the beans, if you like) and set aside.

Brown Italian sausage the same way, and set aside, again in the bowl with the chicken and beans, if you like.

(I know… there’s a lot of ‘setting aside’ in this recipe.)

Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, until wilted and fragrant, a couple of minutes. Add water, cover, and cook a few minutes until golden, then add rosemary, thyme and pepper. Cook about thirty seconds, until fragrant.

Add broth, beans (including the mashed beans), chicken and sausage, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, until chicken is thoroughly cooked, five minutes or so.

Add more broth, if needed, to make a soupy stew, and toss in the chopped spinach, stir and cook until it is just wilted, a couple of minutes.

Serve with fresh buttered bread or rolls.  

This recipe is a bit finicky, but really simple and delicious. I’ve made it a couple of times now, and I think I’ll add more herbs next time, and maybe some Old Bay, or other seasoning.

~

To one person who comments here I will be giving away one copy of Leave It to Cleaver, Vintage Kitchen Mysteries #6, to celebrate the upcoming release of my Vintage Kitchen Mysteries #7, No Grater Danger!

Open to all US and Canadian readers. Comment here, with your first name and an email address (yourname (at) yourserver (dot) com) where we can reach you! The draw will be made at 6 PM EDT on Monday, June 4th.

Thank you to Mystery Lovers Kitchen for hosting me!

No Grater Danger

Coming June 19^th!

In the brand-new Vintage Kitchen Mystery from the author of Leave It to Cleaver, someone out to spice up their life means to crush a helpless victim . . .

“Delightfully entertaining, well-written, and an interesting and exciting plot. Literally keeps you guessing right to the end.” —Goodreads on Leave It to Cleaver

Vintage cookware enthusiast Jaymie Leighton is thrilled at the prospect of meeting an elderly descendant of her town’s founding father, not least because she’s known to possess an enviably large collection of antique spice graters. But the curmudgeonly woman also has substantial real estate holdings, and at the moment she’s engaged in a fierce battle with a property developer who wants her to sell off her old buildings in the name of progress. When Jaymie goes to visit the woman and discovers that there’s been an attempt on her life, she polishes up her sleuthing skills to find out who was behind the foul deed.

Her first instinct is to suspect the developer, but as she digs deeper into the case she learns that her older new friend has purportedly been the victim of numerous criminal acts—all of which point to different suspects. Unsure if the stories are true or simply the confused ramblings of a senior citizen, Jaymie sifts through the clues hoping to expose the culprit, but she knows that if she keeps stirring up trouble, she’ll be next on the would-be killer’s list.

Includes a vintage recipe!

Check me out on social media! For more information, visit http://www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com and sign up for the newsletter! – or – find me on Facebook! Victoria Hamilton, Author