Garlic-Balsamic Chicken Stew

I was so hungry the day we made this last week that I didn't bother snapping a picture--this was the following day at my desk. It was really good!

Garlic-Balsamic Chicken Stew

• 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces and skinned (I didn't cut or skin mine, but the broth was a little oily so perhaps this is a good idea)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can of chicken broth (I used homemade stock)
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons AP flour (or arrowroot powder if you want to make this semi-paleo, but with the wine already in I just went for the flour)
• 1 9-oz. package frozen green beans (I had a 1 lb. bag and used them all)
• 5 plum tomatoes, cut into slices (I used canned diced tomatoes)

Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Combine the wine, tomato paste, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and red pepper in a small bowl, then pour over chicken. Add 1 1/2 cups of the broth to the slow cooker. Cover and cook until the chicken is fork tender, 4-5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.

 

About 40 minutes before the cooking time is up, whisk the reserved 1/4 cup broth, vinegar, and flour in a small bowl until smooth. Stir in about 1/4 cup of the hot broth from the slow cooker until blended. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the liquid in the slow cooker, without disturbing the chicken. Add the beans and tomatoes in even layers. Cover and cook on high until the mixture simmers and the beans are tender, about 35 minutes.

Bonus picture of the kid chowing down on grapes! :) I don't usually let her eat in her bedroom but really, anything to get her to sit still for hair brushing.

 

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Clean-out-the-cabinets Vegetarian Night

Feeling dirt-ass poor tonight, so it was "how do I use what I've got and make a whole meal?"

There were red lentils in the cupboard, and a little rice left in the canister, a couple cloves of garlic, some onion, and about a third of the kale from the CSA this week.  Veggie stock I made last night.  That was dinner, and in this combination:

Rice-Cooker Rice and Lentils

• Equal parts brown rice and red lentils*
• Twice that amount of veggie stock* or water
• Two cloves of garlic, crushed or minced or whatever
• A pat of butter or a dribble of oil
• Salt

Throw all that in a rice cooker.   Turn it on cook and let it go until it clicks off.

Cut thin slices off the onion so that they form rings.  Saute these briefly in a skillet, in either oil or butter.  Once they're clear/browned/caramelized, remove from pan and set aside.

Top lentil mixture with onions and eat up!

Skillet Greens

• 1-2 T butter or oil
• 1 clove garlic (or the remains from pressed garlic, which I used
• about 1/2 cup water
• fresh greens (kale, chard, collards, mustard, spinach, or whatever)
• lemon juice or vinegar of your choice

Rince greens in cold water.  Heat the skillet (I used the same one I'd just cooked the onions in) and tear up the greens, still slightly wet, into the pan.  (For tender greens like spinach and chard, the stems can be chopped and added before the leaves.  For kale, the stems went into the veggie bag.) Cover and let steam slightly, adding the 1/2 of water if they start to sear.  Cover again and let steam until greens are tender (about 5-6 minutes for kale) and add butter/oil and garlic.

Saute just a bit, then remove from heat before they greens get scorched.  Sprinkle with lemon/vinegar and salt, if desired.

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*Lentils:  Any kind of lentils will work.  Red lentils turn this into a stew/casserole, depending on how much liquid is left.  They fall apart, seriously.  Brown lentils retain a slightly crunchy beaniness if not cooked a bit beforehand, so if you want them soft, they'll have to go in at least partially pre-cooked.  Haven't done this with green or black lentils.

*Vegetable Stock: I save all my veggie scraps in the freezer in a much-reused gallon-sized plastic bag, until the bag gets full.  Then I dump the contents into a stock pot, cover with water, salt lightly, and boil the stuffing out of it.  When all the veggie scraps are looking like all the life is out of them, I remove the solids, run the liquid through a strainer-inside-a-funnel into a jar, and there you have it.  (By the way, my "funnel" is the cut off top of a gallon milk jug.)

Blondeez Not Daily At All Anymore Diary--Weekend Update

The week got away from me, in many ways, so I'll just catch you up on meals and recipes of note.  There weren't many.   Seriously, I was in survival mode this week.  But my parents arrived on Thursday to celebrate the kid's birthday, so we had a decent dinner that night!  I roasted a chicken and potatoes and steamed artichokes, then put together a salad with 50/50 lettuce and spinach, avocado, cucumber, and yogurt blue cheese dressing.  A bottle of chardonnay and we were a very happy bunch!  No recipes except for the chicken, which comes from my favorite basic, delicious food book.  How to Cook Everything is a great reference manual--I have often had a random thought or ingredient and looked up his instructions.  A lot of times I have another recipe in mind, but he explains technique with illustrations (like how to truss and carve poultry!) and has wonderfully simple recipes that can be dressed up or dressed down. 

Then last night my parents were at a cousin's for dinner so CJ made crock pot Beef and Sweet Potato Stew, which was a great and comforting meal after a long week.

Roast Chicken with Roasted New Potatoes (from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything)
Serves 4
Cook Time: 60-75 min

• 6 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. fresh (or 2 tsp. dried) herbs--thyme, rosemary, marjoram, oregano, or sage
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 whole (3-4 lb.) chicken, trimmed of excess fat, then rinsed and patted dry.
• 1 1/2 lbs. waxy red or white potatoes, skins on a scrubbed (either baby/new or cut into chunks)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix together the olive oil, herb, salt, and pepper.  Place the chicken, breast side down, on a rack in a roasting pan.  Toss half of the herb mixture with the potatoes and scatter them in the pan.  Begin roasting.

After about 20 minutes, take the pan out and spoon some of the oil mixture over the chicken and potatoes, then turn the chicken breast side up.  Shake the pan for the potatoes turn and cook evenly.  Roast another 7-8 minutes, or until the breast begins to brown.  Turn the heat down to 325 degrees F and baste the chicken again with the rest of the oil mixture.  Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh read 160-165 degrees F.  Total roasting time will be 50-70 min.

Remove the chicken and test potatoes for doneness.  If the potatoes are not soft, turn the heat up to 425 degrees F and roast for a few minutes while the chicken rests.

Beef and Sweet Potato Stew (crock pot) (from The Paleo Recipe Book)
Serves 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours

• 1 lb. beef chuck or otehr stewing cut, in 1-inch cubes
• 3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• pinch allspice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 large onion, cut in chunks
• 1 can (28 oz.) tomatoes
• 8 dried apricots, halved (optional)
• chopped parsley for garnish
• cooking fat (we used walnut oil)
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat a skillet over a medium heat, season the beef cubes to taste with salt and pepper and brown on all sides with some cooking fat in the hot skillet.

Place the browned beef, sweet potatoes, garlic, allspice, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, onion, and tomatoes in a crock pot and cook on high for 8 hours, until the beef is fork tender.  Add the dried apricots and cook, covered, for another 20 min until the apricots are soft.

Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick before serving with chopped parsley on top.