Paella and jambalaya are both dry stews with the rice cooked right in the pot along with smoked sausage and/or ham, chicken and shellfish. PreliminariesIf the shellfish is frozen, defrost and clean: peel and devein the shrimp, scrub the clams and/or mussels. (The clams in the image above were pulled out of a box of Trader Joe's frozen steamer clams. No scrubbing needed. They tasted quite good considering the ease and convenience.) Heat pan And decide what the fat will be: olive oil for the … [Read more...]
Lentil Stew
When there's nothing in the house to make; make this. Preliminaries Prep any meat or poultry from Step 1 of the Stew-cordion: chicken, sausage, lamb, or soak dried mushrooms in hot but not boiling water. Otherwise just rinse and just pick over the lentils. Heat pan And decide what the fat will be: healthy olive oil, or a combo of butter, bacon or nearly any other fat and/or oil. Heat oil And start to rummage for the veggies. Brown meat Brown it if you've got it. Otherwise, just quickly … [Read more...]
Cacciatore, Tomato Sauce or Italian Gravy
Hunter stew, tomato sauce or gravy? Grandma was Sicilian and made a thin, soupy sauce. Like most Americans, I like mine thick. A very liquidly stew is a soup; a stew poured over a starch is a gravy or sauce. Stretching one ingredient and pulling back on another creates a different dish, but why bother with a different recipe? Preliminaries Optionally cut up a chicken (or buy it that way), cut Italian sausage into chucks (or leave whole, but larger pieces take longer to cook.) The image below … [Read more...]
