Tocanita de pui (Romanian chicken stew)

Hai haaaaai,

Today I woke up feeling under the weather a bit so no OOTD cause I only got out of bed to soak some sun and read and that gets no outfit post haha

I was missing home a bit so I called mom to ask her for a recipe and here it is (Yupp, i'm sharing important family secrets with you). I must say I'm extremely proud of the way it came out, since it was the first time I ever attempted it; it felt like I was at grandmama's house <3

Ingredients:

2-3 Chicken thighs/wings/legs 

Half an onion

Seasoning(I use VEGETA)

1 big red/orange pepper/ 2 small ones

1/4 of a big onion 

Half a big tomato

1 Lovage

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

Start off by boiling the chicken with half an onion and add vegeta for flavoring. Keep the skin on for flavor, you will take it off when it's done boiling. 

You will notice some grease from the chicken coming on top, spoon it out from your broth. You don't want skin fat all up in your food now do you?

While your chicken is boiling, prepare the actual "tocanita" by chopping the other half of the onion and the pepper/s. Coat a big pan with enough oil to cover the bottom of it and add your veggies. Season with pepper and fry them on low heat. 

Once the veggies have softened, chop the tomato, add it to the veggies. Turn the heat on.

Check on the chicken and see if it has boiled by cutting a small piece of it. When it is ready, take the onion and the skin out and leave the chicken with the broth by the stove. 

Once the veggies are all soft, add the chicken, half of the chopped lovage and some broth.

The lovage is what adds all the traditional Romanian taste to this recipe, you will notice the smell as soon as you add it.

Add 1/4 cup of white wine 

Let them all simmer for about 10 more minutes, adding more broth if needed. It all depends on how thick you want your stew to be. Add some more pepper and vegeta if you would like at this time. Remember to flip your chicken from side to side to make sure it gets the flavor everywhere.

After 10 minutes, voila, you have your delicious and flavorful tocanita de pui.

I like to pair it with either mamaliga (polenta) or homemade bread and a green salad on the side

(my mini garden with basil, parsley, mint and lettuce)

For the salad I used lettuce, cucumber and bunch onion (green onion, long and less smelly)

Season with salt and pepper, olive oil and white vinegar after your own taste.

Mom's homemade bread, the bunch onions from her garden and the lettuce from my little pot, made me feel like I am in the country side at grandmama's house. I just needed some Maria Tanase or some Gheorghe Zamfir and some birds in the background and I'd definitely feel like in the MOTHERLAND.

"I cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to food"

-W.C. Fields

Take your vitamins and get enough sleep cause this weather change is a sure

promise for a cold :p

XOXO,

Ioana