Something Delicious

[Sun]

Originally Posted by cinnamongrrl563

Today while at work my client (a former chef) had me make a very simple but nummy licious stew. Here's how we did it:

I cut up half an onion into good chunks

dice one stalk of celery

Mince 2 gloves of garlic.

Put in a pan with about a tbs of olive oil....let it all sweat out till soft and nearly translucent....

Add 3/4c dry lentils

a pinch of celtic sea salt

a pinch and a half of his spice ( I will post the recipe for that tomorrow...its AWESOME)

enough water to just cover....simmer till lentils are soft

he also put in some organic taco seasoning... I thought that would give it a nice chili taste....

I also thought adding some nice diced tomatoes would be a nice touch...again add to the chiliness...perhaps some diced carrot...zucchini...garbanzo beans for a little mix.....healthy chili mmmmm

How long do you let that cook for? Looks good. Meat eaters can add some dried sausage like linguica or chorizo chopped up.

Or bacon.

My life has a bacon theme running through it at the moment.

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Sun

How long do you let that cook for? Looks good. Meat eaters can add some dried sausage like linguica or chorizo chopped up.

Or bacon.

My life has a bacon theme running through it at the moment.

Ham hocks.....

[Sun]

Originally Posted by Corkey

Ham hocks.....

Another good idea.

There is a white bean stew that my grandmother made that I make with ham hocks. I also add Escarole at the end. Lots of garlic too. Its insanely good on a cold night with a piece of crusty bread.

[cinnamongrrl]

Originally Posted by Sun

Another good idea.

There is a white bean stew that my grandmother made that I make with ham hocks. I also add Escarole at the end. Lots of garlic too. Its insanely good on a cold night with a piece of crusty bread.

They put bacon on ice cream now....

I know down south everything has either bacon, ham, ham hocks, or fat back in it... It was hard to eat healthy down there. Whenever I ordered a vegetable it tended to be deep fried or doused in bacon....lol..but you cant beat the bbq with a stick! Gonna miss Mutt's pulled pork sammiches forever.....

[Sun]

Originally Posted by cinnamongrrl563

They put bacon on ice cream now....

I know down south everything has either bacon, ham, ham hocks, or fat back in it... It was hard to eat healthy down there. Whenever I ordered a vegetable it tended to be deep fried or doused in bacon....lol..but you cant beat the bbq with a stick! Gonna miss Mutt's pulled pork sammiches forever.....

Bacon Ice Cream? NO!!!

That is just so wrong. Ok we need to draw the line somewhere. That is like heart attack ice cream. I thought the chocolate covered bacon was off the rails but people love it.

We should dedicate a weekend to posting about bbq. This summer I experimented a lot with bbq'ing vegetarian foods because so often veggie folks are left out. Like "here have a piece of bbq'd corn!" how much fun is that? Well I love roasted corn but still...

What is Mutt's pulled pork?

On that note, everyone, tell us about your regional dishes!

[easygoingfemme]

Steel cut oats, which I usually slow cook overnight in the crockpot, but forgot to set up last night, cooked slow on the stove top this morning with almond milk, a splash of almond extract, and cinnamon.

[Sun]

Originally Posted by easygoingfemme

Steel cut oats, which I usually slow cook overnight in the crockpot, but forgot to set up last night, cooked slow on the stove top this morning with almond milk, a splash of almond extract, and cinnamon.

I was just thinking about steel cut oats! This is a cold weather staple for me. Have you tried soaking them overnight in cold water? Cuts the cooking time down to about 10 minutes.

My favorite way to have them is with brown sugar and a little salt. If I have some raisins on hand I may throw a few in.

How do you set up the oats in the crockpot? I bet a lot of people would enjoy waking up to hot oatmeal that is ready to go.

[Chancie]

Originally Posted by Sun

Another good idea.

There is a white bean stew that my grandmother made that I make with ham hocks. I also add Escarole at the end. Lots of garlic too. Its insanely good on a cold night with a piece of crusty bread.

White bean stew with escarole, yum, yum.

[Sun]

Originally Posted by Chancie

White bean stew with escarole, yum, yum.

Hi Chancie,

Yes, yum is right. When I make this I start with lots of garlic. About 10 cloves to every quart of stock. You can soak cannellini beans overnight and cook them in chicken stock or vegetable stock. Or use 2 cans for one quart of stock.

Start by chopping and sauteing the garlic in good olive oil. Add some chopped tomatoes, canned plum tomatoes are fine if ripe fresh are not available. Add diced potatoes, zucchini, carrots. If non veggie, add ham hocks. Sometimes I add a good woody mushroom. Simmer for half an hour,
add 2 heads of escarole, cleaned and chopped. Simmer for another 15 mins.

Serve with shaved Romano or Asiago cheese and fresh ground black pepper.

For a quick fix sometimes I just go with garlic, beans, stock, escarole. This can be ready in less than 20 minutes. Sometimes I add a few good chopped olives. As with everything else I say "make it your own" and tweak it a little bit.