Belgian Chicken and Vegetable Stew (Waterzooi)

Ingredients

• 1 chicken (ca. 1.2 kg)
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 stalk Parsley
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 1 tsp allspice berries
• 1 Carrot
• 200 g waxy potatoes
• 1 Zucchini
• 100 g green beans
• 300 g cauliflower florets
• 2 Spring Onions
• 100 ml whipping cream
• Salt
• pepper (ground)
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash and pat dry the chicken. In a pot, bring about 2 l of water to a boil. Add the chicken and let it simmer. The chicken should be fully covered by water; add more if needed and skim off any foam that forms. Simmer gently for about 1 hour. During the last 10 minutes, add thyme, bay leaf, parsley, peppercorns, and allspice berries to the broth. Remove the chicken from the pot, let it cool slightly, skin it, debone it, and shred the meat into small pieces. Strain the broth through a sieve and reduce it to about 1 l.

2. 2.

   Meanwhile, wash, peel or trim carrots, potatoes, and zucchini, then cut them into sticks. Wash and trim green beans; halve them if large or leave whole. Rinse cauliflower and let drain. Wash spring onions, trim, and slice diagonally into rings.

3. 3.

   Add the potatoes, carrots, beans, and cauliflower to the broth and simmer gently for about 15 minutes. Then add zucchini, spring onions, and shredded chicken, cooking for another 5-10 minutes until done. Finally stir in cream and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.