Hearty Chicken Stew
3 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups diced onion (about 2 medium)
1/2 cup diced fresh mushrooms
1-1/2 cups diced carrot (about 3 medium)
1 cup diced Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cup diced celery
5 cups chicken stock
1 cup dry white wine (optional)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup frozen baby sweet peas, thawed
1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice
3 cups skinned and boned raw chicken, cut into 1-inch cubes
Melt butter in a large stainless steel or enameled Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and mushrooms. Saute for 3 minutes or until mushrooms are lightly browned.
Add carrot and next 2 ingredients. Saute 2 minutes.
Stir in stock and next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Stir in chicken, peas, and lemon juice. Remove and discard the bay leaf. (I don’t add the chicken to the broth, I add it to the jars as I add the broth. This insures that each jar has the same amount of chicken.)
Pressure can pints for 1 hour 15 minutes.
For stewier stew (or chicken pot pie filling):
Strain broth from 1 pint jar of chicken stew, reserving the broth. Melt 2 tablespoons over medium heat. Stir in 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until golden. Gradually add reserved broth, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Stir in strained chicken mixture.