food.jdspc.com

Chicken Stew

Making a stew is probably the easiest most bestest food there is…
The trick is the sequence in which you add the ingredients. You need to build flavors.
This is a basic Chicken Stew. Add whatever you like or whatever you have in the refrigerator.

• 1 chicken
• 1 large onion
• 1 garlic pod
• 5 stalks celery
• 3 serranos
• 1 pkg baby carrots
• 1 pkg frozen corn, green bean mix
• 4 large potatoes
• 2 cans stock
• 2 cans tomatoes
• (save unused parts of carrots, celery, onion and serranos)

Chop the ends off the onion, carrots and celery and place in a large stew pot or Dutch Oven.
Place chicken in the pot as well and add about 2 quarts of water, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmering boil, cover slightly and cook for 1 hour.
Removing any excess skin/fat as it falls away from the bird to minimize grease build up.
Remove chicken and let rest 20 min. Strain the water to use for stock.
I like my stock thick but you can find many ways to clarify the stock via Google I am sure.

Add oil or bacon fat to same pot and sauté onion and celery with a bit of kosher salt, covering to retain moisture. (10 min)
Add garlic, carrots and serranos. Stir and cover. (10-15 min)
In the meantime, extract meat from bird.

Add tomatoes let cook 5-10 minutes then add chicken. Cover 5 minutes.
Skim off as much fat that has congealed at the top of the stock.
Add the stock, season with salt, pepper and a bit of cumin.
Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for about an hour.
Add potatoes and frozen veggies. If necessary, add water to cover.
Cook covered additional hour. Be careful not to get a rumbling boil happnin’…

Cornbread or bisquits make an awesome companion and great to sop with!

Being a single southern male, you would figure that I’d already done this one.
This is not a fancy meal but it is the king of roadside diners in the south.

As always, the freshest ingredients the better.
The use of lean meat will keep you from having to siphon out excess grease.
If for some reason you don’t feel like making the Sun Sauce, I recommend Mrs Renfro’s Habanero Salsa…

Ingredients

2 lb lean hamburger
1 diced pork tenderloin steak about an inch thick
1 large onion – chunks
6 cloves garlic – minced
2 serranos – minced
1 red bell pepper – 1″ slices
1 cup Sun Sauce
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
3 cups bread crumbs w/basil
1/4 cup Sun Sauce for glaze

Preheat oven to 350

Butter up a 13x9x2 glass baking dish.

Prepare and combine, in order, the first 10 ingredients.
Fill the dish with meat and gently spread evenly. Do Not Pack!
Cover with foil and bake for about 20 minutes. Check for grease, siphon if need be.
Cover and bake another 20 minutes…repeat the grease thing.

Spread remaining Sun Sauce for your glaze and place in the oven…raising the temp to ‘broil’ and keep a close eye on it…when crispy, retrieve from oven, cover and let sit for 20 minutes or so…

Serve up some Garlic Mashed Taters and Green Beans…

This is a very basic salsa using only fresh ingredients and minimal seasonings…

1 good size tomato
2 cloves garlic
1 good slice of red onion
1 Serrano pepper
1 stalk of fresh basil
1 wedge of lemon or lime
Olive oil

Since you are using a processor, there is no need to chop stuff up. Just small enough to fit everything into your favorite processor.
Before start up add about a bit of oil…
The reasoning here is that you want the salsa chunky and the less you chop the better…
With one hand use the pulse feature and with the other add oil until you get the consistency you desire…too easy!
Squeeze the lemon or lime to increase the zesty flavor and to deter dis-colorization…
Taste and add salt if desired but I do not recommend it…

This will make a small amount for topping on tacos, but if you want more for chips and such just double.
This stuff is hot! Depending on the size of the pepper used.

Why is this so good?
Freshness!
Plus the basil gives it a more sweet flavor instead of cilantro…