Best Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

I've always wondered what makes a good stew...have you? i've eaten a lot of stew in my life and i basically love them all except that if you had bland stew then that's different...

if you ask me, a good stew must have good ingredients i mean it has to be fresh...mmm well actually having leftovers and turn it into stew also makes good stew but my point is that the initial ingredient must start fresh..i know what i mean? anyway the spice must not be too overwhelming that you can't even taste the main ingredient which in this case would usually be either beef or chicken of fish or other seafood...i always have this at the back of my mind when cooking " the main 'cast' must always be in the limelight "

apart from that it has to be serve hot or at least warm and to be honest...i love having a big bowl of hot stew just on its own or with lightly toasted home baked bread with butter on a rainy day or night...i think soups and stew taste their bestes during those time or if you're in a 4 season country during winter, its warm you up on no time.

made this last night with a high fiber loaf (which i'll post my recipe later)...ohh its healthy and tasty...

since we are using slow cooker then if you're making it fo dinner then you'd need start cooking at 2pm but if you're working then you can do this before you go to work its fine.


Ingredients:
1/2 chicken
1ltr chicken stock (preferably home made if not store bought is fine)
2celery sticks cut into rough chunks
1-2 carrots cut into large cubes
3-4 potatoes but into large cubes (you can adjust teh amount to your liking)
2 large onions cut into large chunks
2clove garlic crushed

for thickening the stew:
1.5tbsp corn flour

seasonings:
salt to taste
1tsp black pepper
1/2tsp white pepper
1tsp sugar

methods:

simply dump in all the vegetables in the slow cooker then put the chicken on top. pour in the chicken stock.

if you are making this at 2pm then set the slowcooker on high and let it do its thing. around 6:30pm or so you make go and have a looksie and see if the chicken is cooked and tender. it should be very tender by now, take out the chicken and set a side to cool. then shred the chicken for easy consumption. then put the shreded chicken back in the stew.

in a small bowl, take some of the stock from the slow cooker and dissolve the corn starch to thicken the stew. stir the stew and see it thickening if the stew is too thick to you liking then you can adjust it by adding more water. then let it simmer just for a bit say for another 5 -10 minutes on low heat. don't forget to have a taste before you serve do the final 'touch ups' (adding additional seasoning to taste if necessary). then ready to serve.


p/s: if you are making this before going to work then set the slow cooker on low heat the rest is about the same.

if you have left overs which i doubt you can use it to make chicken pie or chicken pot pie all yo need is the short crust or puff pastry and some remikins...