Recipe Summary:
  • Chicken
Author's Notes: We're paying homage to Edna Lewis by preparing her steamed chicken in casserole recipe. We love that this dish doesn't require much tending, and comes out simple and tasty. Don’t let the “steamed” in the name put you off; at the end, there are plenty of buttery juices, delicious on top of white rice.

Edna Lewis's Steamed Chicken in Casserole Print Recipe

Serves 4-5 • Ready in 1hr

Ingredients:

  • 2 ½ Lbs. Chicken + a few extra wings
  • ½ Cup (1 stick) Butter
  • 2 Medium-sized Onions, chopped fine
  • ¼ Tsp. Thyme
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • ½ Cup Sliced Carrots
  • ½ Tbs. Chopped Fresh Tarragon
  • Salt & Pepper

Preparation:

  1. Have the chicken cut into 8 pieces. Wash and dry with a clean cloth.
  2. Into a heavy pot or saucepan put the butter and heat to foaming stage. Add the onions. When the onions are quite heated through, add in the chicken. Raise the flame and brown the chicken and onions well, without burning.
  3. When the chicken is well browned, turn the burner as low as possible, add the thyme, bay leaf, and carrots, cover with a closely fitting lid, and simmer for 1 ½ hours. Stir by shaking the pot around. The pot can be set into a preheated 250˚ oven. Be sure its quite hot when set into the oven. Cook for 45 minutes.
  4. If you have fresh tarragon add ½ tbs. about 15 minutes before removing from the oven, then salt and pepper to taste and swish the pot around to blend the herb. Adding the tarragon at the last gives a better flavor than if it is cooked in from the beginning. Don’t use dried tarragon; it is too strong.
  5. The chicken wings can be removed if you like; they are added really to give thickness to the sauce, which comes from the two last wing joints.