Trim the chicken and season both sides with sea salt and pepper. Cut up your onion, carrots, and celery, as well as the garlic (if not using pre-minced).

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pot and brown it for about 3 minutes per side, then transfer to a separate plate. The chicken won’t be cooked through at this point; it will finish cooking in the stew.

While the chicken is browning, chop up your potatoes. I cut the smaller ones in half, and the larger into thirds or quarters, depending on size.

After seven minutes, stir in the garlic and saute briefly.

While the onions, carrots, and celery are sauteeing, cut the browned chicken into bite-sized pieces with poultry shears.

After sauteeing the garlic in with the veggies briefly, stir in the flour and continue to cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the vegetables are nicely coated and the flour is browned. (Note that the bottom of the pot will get coated with the browned flour, but we’ll deglaze that, so no worries.)

Pour some chicken broth into the pot and deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden utensil as the liquid begins to loosen them.

Stir in the rest of the chicken broth and the water, as well as the browned chicken, potatoes, & seasonings. As you stir, continue scraping any remaining browned bits off of the bottom of the pot.

Bring everything to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the potatoes are tender, the chicken is cooked through, and the stew has thickened nicely.

Taste your stew and add additional sea salt and pepper as necessary. (Mine needed a generous amount of black pepper!)

Discard the bay leaf and serve.