Pinto Beans and Kielbasa Stew in the Slow Cooker

It was the perfect day ~ a chilly rainy day ~ to pull out the slow cooker, and let it do its magic!

This stew is filled with lots of good flavors, from the pinto beans, to the spices and veggies, to the kielbasa.  To cut the fat content, I used turkey kielbasa.  Do not add it until the last hour of cooking, in order to keep it firm.  

 

Ground ancho chile pepper has a smoky, fruity flavor, with tones of licorice and coffee and a little woodsiness, that is a great addition to this stew.  It’s actually made of dried poblano peppers and is the sweetest of the dried chiles, having mild heat. 

Along with a little heat and lots of flavor, ancho chile pepper adds a nice red color to marinades, rubs and sauces, such as the great Mexican mole sauce.  You can add it to beans and rice, sprinkle it on hot chocolate, include it in brownies, for a twist, and to stews such as this.  If you’ve never used it, I hope you give it a try ~ preferably, with this recipe!

   

Highly adaptable, the fresh Poblano becomes the Ancho when dried.

 

Slow Cooker Pinto Beans and Kielbasa Stew

Ingredients:

1 pound dried pinto beans

2 quarts water

5 cups chicken broth

1 large tomato, chopped

4 ribs celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup molasses

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons ancho chile pepper, ground

2 teaspoons onion powder

Salt and seasoned pepper, to taste

1 pound turkey kielbasa, sliced

Method:

Rinse and sort through the beans, to remove debris.

Combine all ingredients, except kielbasa, in a 6-quart slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low setting for 6 hours.

Add kielbasa, turn heat to high and cook for another hour or so.

Serve with a good rustic bread, and…

ENJOY!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and delicious easy recipes! 

Chicken Kapama ~ Greek Chicken Stew

I fell under a Greek spell for the first time, many years ago, at Greek Islands restaurant on Halsted Street in Chicago.  Think Greek ~ you know ~ azure blue sky, turquoise sea, the warmth of sunshine on pure white buildings; and the FOOD; Greek Cuisine:  moussaka, gigantes, melitzana ima, baklava, saganaki, dolmathes, skewered kabobs and now kapama.

Stewed chicken or “kotopoulo kapama” is a colorful, hearty dish that can be made on the stove-top or in a slow cooker. 

The dish consists of chicken combined with plenty of tomatoes, garlic, onions and lemon juice.  

Adding pungent cinnamon, gives depth to the succulent stew, enlivening the flavors.  You can guess what the benefit of this simmering pot is ~ it’s the fragrant spicy aroma wafting through the air in your kitchen! 

This dish is a heart-healthy chicken dish that is low in calories, fat and cholesterol.  

Serve the stew piping hot over orzo or pasta with a tossed green salad on the side.  The bonus is that Chicken Kapama can be made a day ahead and will taste as good, if not better.  

Just be sure to have some crusty bread on the side to sop up all the sauce!

Chicken Kapama

Ingredients:

3 pounds chicken pieces

1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 cups tomatoes, crushed

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon sugar

½ cup water
Juice of 1 lemon (3-4 tablespoons)

Method:

Combine salt, pepper and cinnamon and dredge chicken.

Place olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

Add garlic and onion and cook for a minute.  Remove and set aside.

Brown chicken on all sides in Dutch oven.

Return garlic and onions to Dutch oven.

In a bowl, combine tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, water and lemon juice.

Pour mixture over chicken.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.

Cook covered for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Serve chicken and sauce over orzo, rice, noodles or spaghetti.

ENJOY!!!

Please take a minute to look at the giveaway I posted on January 5^th!  There is a discount code for purchasing the software and you can enter the contest for a chance to win the creative, fun software!

Visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind of Cooking for excellent tips and recipes. She’s having a great give away now also!!!

Smoky Beef and Hominy Stew

I remember Mom serving hominy occasionally in a stew when I was young.   I haven’t eaten or thought about it since then, until I saw it included in a recipe in Family Circle magazine.  

I showed Bill the recipe and asked if he liked hominy ~ he didn’t really know anything about it but said he was willing to try it if I cooked it.

If you’re not familiar with hominy either, it’s dried corn kernels with the hull and germ removed.  

This is done through a process called nixtamalization, which is a procedure of treating corn kernels with an alkaline solution to remove the hull and the germ. It is said that this process makes hominy more flavorful and aromatic with superior nutrition.

Supposedly, hominy has been used by the Native Americans for a very long time. In fact, the history of hominy has been traced back to 1200 BC. 

It is said that the process of nixtamalization originated during that period, in some parts of Mexico and Guatemala. Today, hominy is popular throughout the United States, especially in the South.

Hominy is more tender than corn with a much creamier texture.  Stir it into hearty stews or chili instead of the traditional beans.  

I followed the list of ingredients, except for omitting 3 tablespoons of chopped cilantro and I cooked it in a slow cooker instead of in a Dutch oven on the stovetop. If you haven’t enjoyed hominy before, try this!

Spicy Beef and Hominy Stew

Adapted slightly

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons flour

1 to 1½ teaspoons chipotle chile powder, depending on taste

1 pound beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth

1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed tomatoes

¾ teaspoon dried oregano

2 cans (15-ounces each) hominy, rinsed and drained

1 pound carrots, sliced

1 large green pepper, chopped

4½ cups cooked rice (1½ cups uncooked)

Method:

In a shallow dish, whisk flour and chile powder.

Coat beef with flour mixture; reserve unused flour.

In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.

Add beef and cook, turning, until all sides are browned.

Add all of remaining ingredients, except rice, into slow cooker.

Stir in beef and combine well.

Cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 4 hours.

Serve with cooked rice.

Please visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes.

Be sure to enter my Tate’s Bake Shop Giveaway if you haven’t already.

Coq au Vin Stew the Slow Way

So when you were a kid and first heard of coq au vin, did you picture a “cocoa van” too?  And then you were told it was just chicken with wine…

Actually, coq au vin translates “rooster in wine.”  The recipe for this dish was first documented in the early 20^th century but was created at least 400 years ago to tenderize tough old birds for poor households and in these tough times today ~ this recipe I’m giving you still fills the bill!

Prior until the 20^th century, most rural families housed chickens for eggs and meat plus a rooster.  The rooster remained around until he was too old to perform his duties ~ then he would be killed and eaten.  The problem, by this time, was that the meat was barely edible; being tough and stringy.  Thus, this was “poor people’s food” since the well-off could afford better cuts of meat which did not require wine and slow cooking for a tender dish.

Nowadays, chicken is the cut of meat and it’s still stewed in wine.  It’s cooked and served “country-style” with the chicken and vegetables remaining together from beginning to end.  

I chose to cook it in my slow cooker to allow the flavors of the dry red wine and tomato paste to meld with the meat and veggies for a hearty dish on a chilly yesterday!

Coq au Vin Stew in the Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

4 boneless chicken breasts

2 teaspoons herbs de Provence

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cups pearl onions, peeled*

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

3 carrots, sliced

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup sodium-reduced chicken broth

3 tablespoons tomato paste

Method:

Place chicken in slow cooker that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Season with herbs de Provence, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Add onions, mushrooms and carrots.

Whisk together in a medium bowl the wine, broth and tomato paste.

Pour over chicken and vegetables. 

Cover and cook on high for 5½ hours or on low for 7½ hours.

Serve over egg noodles or with mashed potatoes.

4 servings

ENJOY!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and recipes. 

Lima Beans Stewed with Jalapeños

I wish I could take credit for this dish; however, it is one of Stephen’s creations over at The Obsessive Chef.  I’ve been following his blog for a long while and I can tell you he has created many unique dishes.   Stephen previously lived in Denver where Tucker Shaw, food editor for the Denver Post, lauded the obsessive home cook and his food blog.  Be sure to check out his novel blog!

My favorite vegetable might just be lima beans but, it wasn’t always so:  Growing up, Mom had many dinner parties and this particular evening, one guest at the dinner table, a couple of years older than myself, caught my attention.  All I remember of the evening is her chowing down on Mom’s lima beans.  I was mesmerized as I thought this was one of the worst veggies on earth and, how could she stand eating those disgusting things?

Some time later, Mom served us lima beans for dinner and I was baited, remembering Carols’ devouring them.  A taste led to a serving of them and I’ve never turned them down since.  Then I graduated to Mom’s succotash at Thanksgiving time.  

I usually just cook lima beans in a little water and serve with salt and pepper so this recipe of Stephen’s intrigued me since I knew I would’ve never considered adding jalapeño peppers to the beans.  It was delicious ~ Bill and I both liked it.  The jalapeños added a little fire and stewing them in chicken broth added rich flavor.  I used a fresh jalapeño pepper, nice and spicy; no cilantro here though.  I still haven’t learned to like that!

Here’s Stephen’s recipe:

Lima Beans Stewed with Jalapeños

1 Tbs butter

1 Tbs olive oil

1 16 oz bag frozen limas, thaw them

1/2 cup chicken stock

6 oz can jalapeños (I used 1 fresh, chopped)

salt and pepper to taste

cilantro for garnish

hot sauce for garnish (optional)

This is super easy. Heat the butter and oil Add the beans and stock and cook at a low simmer for 20 minutes. Add the jalapeños, salt and pepper and continue to simmer for 10 more minutes. Serve up with cilantro and hot sauce. This is true comfort food.

Thanks, Stephen!  This is a keeper for sure!

Visit my friend Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway!

Braised Beef Shanks with Mushrooms

It’s a shame that the simpler cuts of meat are often the ones that are neglected by the food TV shows, restaurants and then by home cooks also,  who pass over the not so fancy cuts of meat in their market.  Cuts such as beef shanks are not only economical (mine were 89 cents per pound); they render inviting delectable flavors when cooked properly.  

Braising is a great way to cook tougher cuts of meat.  Braising is done by browning the meat on both sides in a hot skillet.  This helps to seal the moisture inside the meat.  Then the meat is placed in Dutch oven or pot with a lid and cooked with some liquid on low heat for a long time.  The result is a juicy, tender dish with savory rich flavors.

There are no shortcuts here with cooking time.  Just like the turtle, the long slow cooking wins the race.  It’s the lengthy cooking time in the pot that allows the meat and vegetables to coalesce into robust flavors.  Bill and I devoured his dinner with gusto.  The meat was so tender it fell off the bone with each bite.  It is a succulent hearty dish for yet another chilly windy evening!

Braised Beef Shanks with Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 bone-in beef shanks (about 2 pounds)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 large onion, chopped

3 carrots, coarsely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup dry red wine or beef broth

1 (14-ounce) can undrained diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano

1 cup beef broth

12 ounces button mushrooms, quartered

Gnocchi, small new potatoes or rice

Method:

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Season beef shanks with salt and pepper.

In a Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add beef shanks and brown on both sides.

Remove beef from Dutch oven.

Add onions, carrots and garlic to Dutch oven.

Cook and stir for a couple of minutes.

Add wine and deglaze pan by scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.

Add undrained tomatoes, beef broth and beef shanks to pan.

Bring to boiling.

Cover and bake 5 hours or until beef is tender.

Add mushrooms the last 20 minutes of cooking time.

Meanwhile, cook gnocchi and strain well.

Remove beef shanks to a serving platter.

Strain vegetables from cooking liquid and spoon over meat.

Skim fat from cooking liquid and drizzle over beef shanks, vegetables and gnocchi.

ENJOY!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway! 

Chicken and Dumplings!

I could count the ways Bill loves chicken and dumplings but I don’t have enough fingers.  Chicken and dumplings is way at the top of his list of favorite dishes and one that he says I don’t make nearly often enough. 

The term “chicken and dumplings” first appeared in print in the 17^th century; however, it has been cooked in many cultures in various manners for many centuries.  It was the Southerner’s love of this dish that made it popular and the comfort food that we cook today. 

The biggest problem may be deciding upon which type of dumpling you prefer.  Drop dumplings or flat dumplings?  Make them with cottage cheese or potatoes?  So many recipes…  My recipe for dumplings is the way Mom made them ~ making a delicious rounded dumpling using mainly flour and milk.  Pretty simple!

I like chicken and dumplings a lot but, my favorite way of eating dumplings is over homemade bean soup.  Yum!  Grandma and Mom both cooked dumplings this way and it was the perfect comfort food to me!  Bill says, “With bean soup, you’re kidding??? No way!”  Whatever! 

Chicken and veggies stewing in broth

Chicken oven ready

Dumplings done

Here’s the recipe for his favorite dish that is perfect for the bitter cold snowy days here:

Chicken and Dumplings

For the stew:

1 whole chicken, 3 pounds, cut into sections and trimmed of excess fat

10 cups chicken broth

1 large onion, chopped

3 carrots, cut into bite-size chunks

1 teaspoon thyme

1 can (10-ounces) cream of chicken and mushroom soup

Salt and pepper, to taste

Pour broth into a large stock pot.

Place the cut up chicken, onion and carrots in broth.

Bring to a full boil over high heat.

Reduce heat to medium-low.

Add salt and pepper and thyme.

Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Set oven at 250 degrees.

When chicken is cooked, remove from pot to a baking sheet.

Remove skin from chicken and break meat from bones. 

Season with salt and pepper.

Cover chicken tightly with foil and place in oven.

Skim fat from broth.

Remove 2 cups of broth to a small bowl.

Add can of cream of chicken mushroom soup and whip with a whisk.

Pour into stew and stir well.

Adjust heat so it bubbles vigorously, but not a rolling boil.

Make batter for dumplings.

Drop dumplings by heaping tablespoonful into stew.

Cover tightly for 10 minutes and cook without lifting lid.

Uncover and cook for an additional 10 minutes over simmering stew.

Remove chicken from oven.   Place on meat platter.

Place dumplings in a serving bowl.

By now the “gravy” (stew broth) should be thicker; place in serving bowl to ladle over dumplings and/or chicken.

Serve and enjoy!

Dumplings:

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup milk

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. 

Add milk and stir to make a soft dough.

If dough is too thin or thick, add a little more flour or milk.

Ready to drop into stew according to directions above.

Yum!  Chicken and dumplings is the quintessential comfort food!

Don’t forget to enter my CSN giveaway I posted Monday!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway!

Steve’s Brunswick Stew

 

Steve said this is really great on a cold day in the winter.  Wait a minute---a cold day---he lives in Jacksonville, FL!  I think, they think, down Jax way, that anything below 50 degrees is cold, right Steve?  When it reaches 50 degrees here in the frigid Midwest, people are out in shorts washing their cars. Guess this means that we would think his Brunswick stew is doubly great, and it is!

Steve and Bill worked for the same company for many years before Bill retired and shared some business trips, of which I am still waiting for the details of!

Neither Bill nor I have ever eaten Brunswick stew and I was intrigued when Steve said he has a great recipe for it.  I knew I had to try it!  And he is right on spot ~ it’s excellent!

Evidently, there is a “stew” war over the origin of Brunswick stew!  Here are two opposing stories:

One account traces the creation of the dish back to 1828 in Brunswick County in southern Virginia and the other attributes its origins to the stew being first cooked in 1898 in Brunswick, Georgia.

The Virginia story goes that a Virginia State Legislator was on a hunting trip with some friends and his chef, “Uncle” Jimmy Matthews.  “Uncle” Jimmy was the designated camp cook, and while the others hunted, he shot and dressed some squirrels.  As he waited for the hunters to return to camp, he put the squirrels into a large cast iron pot with some butter, onion, stale bread, herbs and spices and let the mixture stew for hours.  The hunters heartily approved of it.

Georgia history states that the first batch of Brunswick stew was cooked by a soldier working in the mess hall at a fort on St. Simons Island, on the coast, near Brunswick. 

Who knows, maybe both stories are accurate…

Brunswick stew is now usually made with chicken or a mix of meats, which may include beef, pork or even rabbit or squirrel.  Corn, tomatoes and onions are added and maybe peas, lima beans or okra.  I think the ingredients Steve added are perfect and I’m just glad he didn’t include rabbit or squirrel!

Steve says if you can’t find the BBQ meats in cans, look for tubs of it the refrigerated meat section and that is where I found them; with 2 brands being Lloyds and Curly’s.

This would be a perfect dish for your Super Bowl party!

Steve’s Brunswick Stew

Ingredients:

1 can Castlebury BBQ Pork

1 can Castlebury BBQ Beef

1 can Castlebury BBQ Chicken

2 cans Rotel tomatoes and chilies (I used regular)

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can cream-style corn

1 can English peas

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

In a large pot, combine it all well.

Let it simmer for several hours, the longer the better.

Stir occasionally.

8-10 servings

Ummm, mmmm!  It is delicious and will get us through the cold winter perfectly! 

Pam’s note:  I cooked this in my slow cooker for 5 hours on low. 

Thanks Steve for the great recipe ~ it’s the best and so are you!

FYI Steve ~ I still have “Steve” the parrot from Missouri hanging in the kitchen; the “impulse buy,” remember him?

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway!