The end of winter

First off.. YAY!!! It's 70º F here in northeast Ohio - the sun is shining and I have all my windows and doors open letting in the warm air! I'm so happy =) Course I know better than to think winter is FOR SURE over.. after all I am an Ohioan. It would not shock me a bit for another snow storm to hit us and I probably won't really believe winter is over until, say.. July. But for now, am happy! Just as I will most likely put away my winter clothes this weekend (most of them anyway) and bring out my summer stuff.. it's also time to put away my wintery, warm you up and keep you cozy recipes. But not before I tried one more new recipe! I found this on Alysha's The Savory Notebook, (Thank you!) one of the first blogs I ever found myself addicted to. =) A couple notes and thoughts before I share the recipe. Firstly, I took Alysha's advice and added a third tablespoon of Dijon mustard instead of the recommended two tablespoons because she said in hers the Dijon didn't come through enough. She thought it was bland, but she was holding her true opinion until she tried it again after a day or so. I never did see if she remarked on it after that. But for me, this was one of the tastiest stews I've ever had and a complete keeper for next winter. But.. I will make a few changes. My stew was extremely thick and it cooked down way before the cooking time suggested. I don't own a dutch oven (dammit all to hell!) so I made this in a rather large stainless sauce pan and I don't know if that was the problem or not. I kept my heat at medium to med.-low so I don't think that was a problem? And my kale stayed tough. After 10 min. of cooking time, as suggested, it was still tough so I slowly simmered it for another 10 min. with the same results. So next winter.. I will double the sauce ingredients and steam my kale before adding it to the stew or substitute spinach. Other than that, I was very pleased. =) Oh wait.. one more thing.. the next time I make it I will not be dead tired after a long day at the dungeon and actually serve it with something other than a fork. =) Dijon Chicken Stew with Potatoes and Kale 4 tsp. olive oil, divided 2 c. sliced leek 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/3 c. all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 ounces) 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces (I didn't have these so I omitted them) 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used 1 1/2 lbs. to make up for the missing thighs) 1/2 tsp. salt, divided 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, divided 1 c. dry white wine 3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided (I used 1 c. chicken stock because I wanted to get rid of it and the rest was the broth) 1 TBS. all-purpose flour 1 1/2 c. water 2 TBS. Dijon mustard (I used 3 TBS.) 2 c. (1/2-inch) cubed, peeled white potato (about 1 pound) (I used new reds) 8 c. loosely packed, torn kale (I found this to be too much, and probably used about 4 cups) Crushed red pepper (optional) Heat 1 tsp. oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leak; saute 6 minutes or until tender and golden brown. Add garlic; saute 1 minute. Spoon leak mixture into a large bowl. Place 1/3 c. flour in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess. I added my salt and pepper to the flour before dredging the chicken in it) Heat remaining 1 TBS. oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add half of the chicken pieces; sprinkle with 1/8 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper. Cook 6 minutes, browning on all sides. Add browned chicken to leek mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken pieces, 1/8 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper. Add wine to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Combine 1 cup broth and 1 TBS. flour, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add broth mixture, remaining 2 cups of broth, water and mustard to pan; bring to a boil. Stir in chicken/leek mixture, remaining 1/4 tsp. salt and remaining 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Stir in potato. Cover and simmer 30 minutes or until potato is tender. After 15 minutes my stew had cooked down too much and the potatoes were fork tender - so maybe check yours. Stir in kale; cover and simmer 10 minutes. Garnish with crushed red pepper, if desired