1st Blog Challenge Recipe: Chicken Stew

In our family, there are many recipes that bring to mind comfort and home. One of my favorite though? Cousin Tim's Chicken Stew. I'll never forget when I first had it. Everyone had been saying for years how great of a cook my cousin was and he even had a small catering company. For some reason, I had never gone to his annual Christmas Eve Chicken Stew. Then one year I did. That first buttery creamy taste of stew MELTED in my mouth and I fell in love with chicken all over again.

I never could come close to mimicking his recipe though. I didn't know the secret. When our wedding came around I could think of no better dish to serve for an outdoor Halloween/Fall wedding than Chicken Stew and Eagle's Chili. So I approached Tim about the price to make a big pot. This sweet darling of a man, made GALLONS (I'm not even sure how many but I'm pretty sure he used at least 20 chickens that's how much there was!) for my wedding as a wedding gift to me. It was fabulous and my guests RAVED about it for MONTHS. So I finally broked down and asked him (begged him and groveled along the ground, see, I'm not above these things) for the recipe. It is fabulous. We do it a tad different but the KEY is the same. So I will tell you how I do it. Play around with it but make sure you follow the first part exactly because that is the key.

Cousin Tim's Chicken Stew
Ingredients:
1 whole roasting chicken
1 large onion
1 whole garlic clove
2-3 large carrots
2 celery stalks
salt and pepper
Half and Half
1 stick of butter

Directions:
Place all of your ingredients (except Half and Half and Butter) in a crockpot. Make sure the bird is washed and dried inside and out and well seasonged with salte and pepper. Just cut your cleaned vegetables in half or quartered in the cavity of the bird. Cover with water. Cook on low for 8-10 hours until bird is falling apart. Place a large collander in a large bowl and pour contents through strainer. Place the broth you collected in the bowl BACK into the crock pot. Throw butter into broth and melt. When melted, add cream until broth turns a golden cream color. SAlt and pepper liberally.

Debone meat and rough chop or shred chicken. The key here is to DISCARD the vegetables. The flavor is infused into the broth and chicken. Add the chicken back into the broth/cream mixture and THAT's IT. Serve with cornbread. You can play with the vegetable flavors that you want as well as how creamy you want your stew but this is the best simple stew you have ever had.

ENJOY!

I took pictures but as you can imagine, with my dinky camera, they didn't come out well. I will post them anyway soon. Promise.

Simple Chicken Soup

On a cold blustery winter day, there is nothing more comforting then a pot of soup, stew or chili. Many people go after bread, milk and eggs. Not me. I'm going after soup fixings. When bad weather strikes, I made a big pot of soup. If we lose power, I can heat it up on the grill and if you are stuck in a cold house, you definately want something WARM to eat, not cold sandwiches! This recipe can be done in the crock pot or on the stove. I at least start it in the crock pot.

Simple Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
4 carrots, peeled and coined
2 ribs of celergy, finely diced
1 onion, diced
1 whole chicken
1/2 pint of cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 box elbow macaroni noodles, cooked just under al dente

Directions:
Cook chicken in crock pot (covered in water) for 8-10 hours until it falls off the bone. Debone chicken and use 3/4 of the meat. (I save enough meat out to do a small dinner or make chicken salad for lunches) as this recipe will feed a family for a few days.

Use about 4-6 cups of the broth, and place all your ingredients (except cream) in a pot and simmer until noodles are finished cooking. Add cream. Serve hot.

Beef Stroganoff

The week of Christmas I wanted simple hardy dishes that would have tons of leftovers. Boy did I ever make stuff with tons of leftovers. I have REALLY got to work on cutting recipes down for the two of us or freezing portions immediately! I'm going to have to throw some food out because there are still leftovers and they are over my three day rule. We just could not eat that much.

I will post the full recipe but I made the error of using too much meat and broth so I had to balance out the ingredients which made WAY too much. This would feed an army so please, PLEASE cut this recipe down. My suggestion...cut the roast in half and freeze half for a later time and use about 2 cups of the broth only to start.

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:
2-3lb Beef Chuck Roast
6 cups of water
2 Beef Boullion Cubes
3/4 cup flour
Salt
1 medium onion, chopped
1 package (10 ounces) mushrooms, destemmed and sliced
3 tbs chopped garlic
1 carton Sourcream (16 ounces)

Directions:
Put all ingredients in crockpot EXCEPT Sourcream. Cook for 8-10 hours on low. Remove roast and trim fatty portions (meat will just fall apart) and cube or shred meat. Add additional flour to thicken broth if needed (pull about a cup of broth out, add flour, whisk until smooth, slowly return to crock whisking the entire time so there are no lumps). Once you get a thickened broth, add sourcream and return meat to crock. Serve over rice or egg noodles. Top with a sprinkle of parsley.

TACO SOUP on a Snow Night

What could be more perfect than that? When I think warmth, I don't just think physical warmth and heat. I think flavors are warm, smells are warm, even the feel of a texture can be warm. On a cold blustery night like tonight (where the sleety, snow wind mix pins your eyelids to your chin and your butt tries to fold in on itself), there is nothing better than a warm soup filled with spice, flavor, texture and heat. I KNEW tonight would not be a plain old chili night, but a perfect time to try TACO SOUP.

TACO SOUP

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
2 medium onions diced
1 LARGE (30 ounce) can of Pinto Beans
1 can Light Red Kidney Beans
1 Can Corn
1 Can diced tomatoes with chilis
1 quart canned tomatoes (about 2 cans at the store or ONE large can)
1 can black olives
1/2 cup green olives
1 package Taco Seasoning Mix
1 package Fiesta Ranch Mix

Directions:
Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Remove and saute the onions in about tbs of the drippings or olive oil. Run beef through a food processor to make sure it is finely chopped. Drain your beans and corn. Add ALL ingredients to a large stock pot and simmer for an hour.

Serve HOT with a garnish of corn chips, sour cream, or grated cheese. (or all of the above!)

Note: This could be done in the crock pot. Brown beef and onions, simmer all ingredients in crock for 4-6 hours on low.

White Chicken Chili

I believe it was the same Le Petit Pierogi blog that I found a recipe for White Chicken Chili. I did change this one quite a bit right off the bat but I am VERY pleased with it. I do believe it is one of my new favorite dishs and definately being added to the winter rotation! Plus I was able to use the leftover chicken broth to make a batch of Baked Garlic Cheese Grits so EVERYthing was used. LOVE Days like that!

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs Chicken, boiled (or crockpot), deskinned, deboned and cubed (about 3 large breasts)
1 onion, chopped
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 tbs Olive Oil
2 (15 1/2 ounce) cans of Great Northern Beans
1 large can of White kidney beans
4 cups Chicken broth
2 (4 oz) cans of diced green chilis (this makes it mild, if you want hot add more)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried italian seasoning
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
16 oz sour cream
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Crock pot chicken breasts. ( I did it for 10 hours while I was at work but you could do it on high for 4 or boil it on the stove for quicker fixing).

Debone/deskin the chicken and save broth.

Add 4 cups of broth and chicken back to crockpot (or pot). On stove saute over medium heat garlic/garlic powder and onion in oil. Add to crock pot. Add beans, chilies, seasongins to crock pot and cook on high for about an hour till hot and bubbly. Stir in Sour cream, cream and cheddar and serve hot. Is great warmed up as leftovers as well.

Crock Pot Vegetable Stew

Sometimes, you aren't in the mood to cook. Seriously, the best cooks need a day off. Once you start cooking homemade dishes, you can't turn it off. Ordering Pizza or making Hamburger Helper loses appeal. Comfort food becomes home cooked dishes but when you are too tired to cook, those foods aren't so comforting anymore because they are work. I think EVERYONE should have a series of Crock Pot dishes, or premade frozen dishes that can be thrown together/thrown in the oven, with little prep work or concentration. This little gem is a slightly heartier version of a simple Vegetable Soup.

Ingredients:
1 lb Beef stew/ Round steak cubed
1 can diced tomatoes undrained
3 cups water
1 large onion diced
3 celery ribs, sliced/diced
3 beef boullion cubes
2 carrots coined
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup frozen limas

Directions:
Combine ingredients except for frozen veggies in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours on high for 6. Add vegetables, cover and cook on high for another hour and a half or until meat and vegetables are all tender.

Stuffed Cabbage

I actually took a bare bones ingredient list given to me by BGG (from her Girlfriend) and combined it with a more traditional Southern version Recipe to create my own Stuffed Cabbage.

It cooks away in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven as I type this. Pictures and results to come later.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

1 large head cabbage

Filling:
2/3 lb ground Beef (chuck or sirloin works best but hamburger will work too)Browned
1/3 lb Italian Sausage-Browned
1 stalk finely chopped celery
2-3 tbs dried parsley
1 tbs dried basil
1/3 cup brown rice, raw, can use instant or regular
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Topping:
2 tbs crushed garlic/finely chopped
Half of One Large Purple Onion Sliced
1 Can Stewed Tomatoes
1 Can diced tomatoes

3 to 4 teaspoons lemon juice (1 large lemon)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup hot water


Remove about 6-8 large leaves from the cabbage; cut off very thick part of each leaf. Pour boiling water over the cabbage to wilt the leaves.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine Filling ingredients in large bowl. Place a mound of meat mixture in cupped part of each softened cabbage leaf. Fold over sides of cabbage leaf; roll up. In bottom of Dutch oven, place a few of the remaining leaves from the cabbage head. Combine Topping Ingredients (minus sliced onions) in seperate bowl. Arrange layers of cabbage rolls, seam side down; cover with Topping mixture and sliced onions in a Dutch oven or large casserole. Place in oven for one hour. Check for tenderness. Cook longer if necessary.

I may try this in a crock pot next time. Uncooked for 4 hours.

Eagle's Chili

This recipe was given to me by a generous friend who passed away in April. Every Halloween he would make huge pots of this Chili and invite anyone and everyone to his house in celebration of Friendship. For our wedding, he passed the recipe to me. It's called Eagle's Chili. I have tweaked it a bit here to make a small pot of simple Chili for the everyday. It's hearty and thick and pairs Great with Cornbread or Garlic Bread. You can eat it plain or garnish it with a variety of crackers, sour cream, and/or cheese, nacho chips or even chives. There is an endless possibility of things you can do with a basic hearty chili.

Eagle's Chili
1 1/2 lbs hamburger, chopped fine or crumbled
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 large green bell pepper, chopped fine
2 large cans of Bushes Mild Chili Beans
1 Large can of Diced Tomatoes
1 jar of V8 Vegetable blend or Plain Tomato Juice
1 Package of Taco Seasoning
1 jar of sliced mushrooms
Chili Powder to taste

Directions:
Brown Hamburger. When hamburger is almost done add in onions and green pepper and saute in the hamburger juice. Add in Envelope of Taco seasoning and stir till well blended. Transfer to a crockpot. Add the rest of ingredients and cook for 8-10 hours. Periodically stir and add chili powder.