Chicken Waterzooi with Leeks and Root Vegetables
- Savory
- No rush
- Comforting
- Stovetop
- Oven
A gentle Flemish stew of golden chicken thighs, sweet leeks, carrots and celery simmered until tender, finished with a little cream for a silky, comforting broth.
- Total
- 75 min
- Prep 20 · Cook 55
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
You'll practice: Searing · Tempering eggs
Instructions
-
Pat the chicken thighs dry and season both sides with 0.5 tsp salt and 0.25 tsp black pepper. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers.
~5 min
Dry skin and shimmering oil mean the surface browns instead of steaming, which builds deeper flavour.
Searing Get the pan properly hot and leave the chicken undisturbed until it releases easily; moving it too soon tears the skin and loses the golden crust.
-
Lay the chicken thighs skin-side down in the pot in a single layer and sear until deep golden, about 6 minutes. Turn and brown the second side for 3 minutes, then lift the chicken out onto a plate.
~9 min
A single uncrowded layer keeps the pan hot so the skin crisps and browns through the Maillard reaction rather than stewing.
Searing Get the pan properly hot and leave the chicken undisturbed until it releases easily; moving it too soon tears the skin and loses the golden crust.
-
While step 2 cooks
While the chicken browns, trim and slice the leeks into 1 cm rings and wash them well. Peel the carrots and cut into 1.5 cm rounds, and slice the celery into 1 cm pieces.
~8 min
-
Add the leeks, carrots and celery to the pot and stir in the browned fat. Cook until the leeks soften and turn translucent, about 6 minutes, scraping up the browned bits.
~6 min
Scraping the browned bits back into the vegetables dissolves those caramelised juices into the broth for extra savouriness.
-
Pour in 800 ml water and add the remaining 1 tsp salt and 0.25 tsp black pepper. Return the chicken to the pot, bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook until the chicken reaches 74°C/165°F and the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
~30 min
A gentle simmer keeps the chicken tender and the broth clear, while a hard boil would toughen the meat and cloud the liquid.
-
While step 5 cooks
While the stew simmers, peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm cubes. Add them to the pot for the last 15 minutes of simmering, until a knife slides through easily.
~15 min
Adding potatoes late stops them from breaking down and turning the broth starchy and cloudy.
-
Whisk the egg yolks with the cream in a small bowl. Take the pot off the heat, ladle a spoonful of hot broth into the cream mixture while whisking, then stir the tempered mixture back into the pot. Do not let it boil again.
~4 min
Warming the yolks gradually and keeping the pot off the heat stops the proteins from curdling into lumps.
Tempering the egg yolks with hot broth before adding them keeps the cream from curdling; keep the pot off the heat once the liaison goes in so the broth stays smooth.
Tempering eggs Whisk a little hot liquid into the yolks first, then return the mixture off the heat; adding cold cream to a hot pot curdles it.
-
Taste the broth and adjust the salt and black pepper. Serve the chicken and vegetables in shallow bowls with plenty of the silky broth spooned over.
~3 min
