Pantry Beef Stew and Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

 

Every year we hike down to Florida to visit with our clients who either live or winter there.  I pack a cooler full of fridge food and take bags of pantry groceries so we don’t have to shop as much while we’re there.  When we head home I invariably have some goodies from Bayway and from Ted’s Smoked Fish and from the citrus store.  And, a few leftovers.  This year the leftovers were pretty sparse.  A heart of romaine and a couple of bell peppers and half a sweet onion. 

 

Thanks to two days on the road and consequently two days of crummy road food, both of us had grumbly tummies when we finally got home.  The first evening we’d just gotten home and so we pulled out the Triscuits and the smoked fish dip from Bayway along with the smoked salmon from Ted’s.  Easy peasy. 

 

Saturday we slept.  And, slept.  And, slept.  Then when I finally got to the kitchen I really didn’t feel like cooking.  One of the recipes I’d read was from a Pampered Chef cookbook.  It was for Greek Lemon Chicken soup.  That sounded like it’d do really well with a grumbly tummy.  And it did.  It was so easy to put together.  I even used a can of chicken!  We had this for dinner and then I had it for lunch for three days and was ready to make more when that was done. 

 

Then, Sunday evening we felt better but after working all day I just didn’t have the energy to cook a big meal.  Pantry stew was created!  There’s a recipe for beef and noodles from a gal who used to own a noodle making business.  It calls for a can of beefy mushroom soup.  Something I’d never used until I wanted to make that recipe.  Then, I couldn’t find it at the grocery so ordered a case from Amazon.  You’re seeing what happened here, right?  Use up the soup!  There was also a can of roast beef from Costco that’d taken a tumble on its way to the shelf.  Dented cans should always be used asap as long you know when the dent was created.  Otherwise, they should be discarded.  Too risky!  Note please that I didn’t measure, just dumped…

 

Pantry Stew

Ingredients:

Handful of carrots (par-cook til al dente)

Onion

Garlic

Olive oil

Red wine – maybe a quarter of a cup

Tabasco

Worcestershire

Consommé

Beefy mushroom soup 

Can of beef

Handful of peas

Noodles

Directions:

Heat the olive oil to shimmering in a sturdy saucepan.  Once it’s hot toss in the carrots and onions.  When the onion is translucent, add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.  Then, deglaze the pan with  the red wine.  Add in a couple of good dashes of Worcestershire sauce and some Tabasco.  Then, pour in the soups and add the noodles.  You’re going to let the broth in the soups cook the noodles.  Finally, when the noodles are about three minutes from being done toss in a handful of frozen peas. 

 

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

2 c chopped cooked chicken

2 t olive oil

2 medium carrots, coarsely chopped

½ c chopped onion

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 t lemon zest

¼ c lemon juice (I used double the lemon)

2 T snipped fresh parsley (I omitted this)

1 can cream of chicken soup

42 oz chicken stock

½ t freshly ground black pepper

2/3 c uncooked long-grain white rice

 

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven.  Add the carrots and onions and cook until the onion is translucent.  Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.  Add the lemon juice, zest, cream of chicken soup, broth, and black pepper.  Once this mixture boils, add the rice, cover the pot and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes.  If you’re using the parsley, sprinkle it on top when serving. 

 

 

Red Lentil and Kielbasa Stew

Our annual trip to St. Pete Beach.  It's over.  This year I finally rocked the packing the cooler test.  Put all the stuff on the bottom and then pile on and dump 20lbs of ice on top.  We filled the cooler Thursday evening, started back Friday and got here late afternoon on Saturday.  Still with ice in the cooler.  YES!  All the stuff went into the fridge and I was left wondering what in the heck to fix for dinner.  There was a bag of carrots that needed to be used up.  And, some kielbasa.  How about lentils?  How about some nouc cham?  Known in Vietnam as dipping sauce.  How about two different dishes?

A bunch of the carrots got chopped and plopped in a tablespoon of olive oil.  Then, in went a similarly diced onion.  Followed by a couple of links of kielbasa, well diced.  And, about a teaspoon of cumin.  It smelled wonderful!  Once everything was nice and brown I put in a quart of chicken bone broth, a pinch of cinnamon and pepper.  And, a cup of red lentils.  And, half a cup of white wine.  Then, let everything simmer for about 15 minutes.  The lentils were meltingly tender and had absorbed most of the broth.  

The Vietnamese dipping sauce got a handful of chopped carrots and an equal amount of chopped zucchini.  I used a recipe from Hungry Huy and it was delicious!  He goes into a lot of detail about dipping sauce.  

This was a perfect winter meal.  And, best of all, it reheated beautifully for lunches the next week!

Red Lentil and Kielbasa Stew

6 servings

Ingredients

1 T olive oil
3/4 c diced carrots
1 medium onion, diced
1 t cumin
2 links kielbasa, diced
1 c dried red lentils
1 quart chicken bone broth
pinch cinnamon
1/4 t chipotle pepper
1/2 c white wine

Directions

Saute the carrots, onion and cumin in the olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add the kielbasa and saute until everything is a bit brown - about 10 more minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. 

Lou's BBQ Beef Stew and Jane's Rice

Torrential rains, floods, snow, frigid temperatures.  During the last three weeks we've had all four.  It started the third week of December.  Our office building has five stories.  The lower level has doors outside and elevator access, but no stair access.  It's where the mechanicals for the building are.  The problem is that when Fall Creek across the street floods, our lower level is below the water level - and so is our parking lot as you can see in the second photo.  The third photo is the same shot a bit later... In spite of some pretty hefty flood doors, it still floods.  In fact this time was the worst flood I've ever seen.  The waters came to within six inches of the tops of the doors. 

 

 

Of course, that meant the heat pumps and the elevator were out.  Getting to and from the office meant three flights of stairs.  Annie the dog was not amused.  Neither were we.  Finally, the elevator started working again on New Year's Eve.  We were thrilled.  Then, the weather folks started talking about snow.  Lots of snow.  Followed by bitter cold.  Did I mention that during all of this our office was under construction?  We were living with a mell of a hess.  Drywall dust.  Noise.  People in and out. 

 

 We needed to have the humongous conference table moved from it's temporary location into the new conference room.  And, the admin desk up front had to be moved.  Movers were the answer.  Then, it snowed about five inches and they rescheduled.  For a Saturday.  At 7:30 am.  Fortunately, they showed up because Sunday it started snowing.  And snowing.  And snowing.  We got 11.4 inches at our house.  Fortunately, Connie made a house for our three-legged feral cat, Smokey.  I jury-rigged a feeding area.  And, Connie plowed a path to the feeding area.  Smokey was in business!  Then, Monday the temp dropped to -12.  Windchills were -40.  The city put an emergency travel only edict into effect.  They didn't have to encourage me!  I was more than happy to work at home.  All of my appointments were equally happy to reschedule.

 

 

 

Friday evening I knew what was coming.  We had to go to the grocery anyway so I bought provisions to make and freeze a bunch of meals.  Made a list of 30 potential dishes.  Sunday morning about 8:00 I dug in.  Chicken Caesar Lasagna.  Chicken Green Bean Casserole.  Spaghetti sauce.  Lasagna.  Chicken Elegante.  Chicken Chili.  Chicken Stroganoff.  Beef Stroganoff.  Black Bean Soup.  Lou's BBQ Beef Stew.  Three days later, we have a stocked freezer at the office.  If there aren't leftovers there will now be decent meals ready to do.  Things with vegetables even if I've not been to the grocery to get salad fixings.  Actually, today we dug in.  Last night we had some of the beef stew.  Today for lunch we had chicken green bean casserole.  Last night was a Mrs Huber evening.  We had her cole slaw and her chicken livers.  And, Jane's rice.  This evening, leftover Jane's rice and some stroganoff.  And, more Mrs. Huber's cole slaw.  YUM!





Jane's Rice

Ingredients:

1 c Uncle Ben's original converted rice
2 c liquid - 8 oz or so of white wine, mushrrom juice plus water
1 4 oz can mushrooms
1 package dry onion soup mix

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 12 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. 





Lou's BBQ Beef Stew

1/2 - 1 lb beef cubes (I cut typical beef stew meat cubes in half)
1 T olive oil or vegetable oil
salt and pepper
1 46 oz can beef broth
1/4 c ketchup
1 T mustard
1 clove garlic minced
2 t Worcestershire sauce
dash Tabasco
2 medium onions, cubed
1 large green pepper, coarsely chopped
8 oz button mushrooms, halved

Directions:

Salt and pepper the beef.  Brown the beef cubes in the olive oil. Brown them in batches so you brown them and don't steam them.  Remove the browned cubes to a paper towel lined plate to drain.  In a stockpot, combine the beef broth, ketchup, mustard, garlic, Worcestershire and Tabasco.  Add the browned beef and simmer for 1  1/2 hours.  Add the onion cubes and simmer for another 40 minutes.  Finally, add the green pepper and mushrooms and simmer for 20 minutes.  Serve in a bowl, plain or over brown rice.

Lamb and Bulgur Stew with Beans

Ya'll ready for a little yard tour here?  We've been at the office WAY too much.  So, finally we came home kinda early.  Like before 7pm.  Connie's not laughing.   I am.  You either laugh or cry.  Your choice.  I laugh.  Well, every once in a while I have a meltdown.  But not tonight.  We were home.  The flowers were glorious.  The light was ok - fading fast but ok.  And, I had my sweetie next to me and a glass of wine in my hand and I was walking my yard.  YEAH!

Out the back door to the hosta garden and the fence garden.  The new hellebore is now the size of the old one.  The hosta are loving it.  One fern survived the nasty honeysuckle.  The wild ginger is coming back from last year's drought.   The Virginia bluebells are starting to melt away.  Such are ephemerals. 

Around the corner, TC (Tommy Cat) is watching us from a safe perch behind the rhubarb.  Ok, yes, you could wear those for clothes.  They're mammoth.  And the rhubarb is fabulous.  We had rhubarb, goat cheese and shagbark hickory syrup salad over sorrel the other night.  Amazing. 

Have I ever shown you the compost bin Connie built?  He's amazing. 

On to the garden.  Our first sprout from the 25 asparagus roots Connie just put in.  The ten we already have just don't produce enough for us.  But, they sure do look wonderful.  So do the peas and radishes.  Oh, and the strawberries and cruciferous bed.  Not sure what made it in there but take a look at the Brussels sprouts from last year that seem to be coming back.  We're leaving them just to see what happens... 

 

 

The golden raspberries along the fence are going nuts.  Last year the birds and squirrels beat us to most of them.  This year we will be more vigilant!  Then it's on to the corner garden.  The wisteria.  Oh, my.   It's stunning.

A look under the crabapple at the hosta and daylilies and it's out the gate to the bed in front of the living room window.  Columbine and meadow rue and bleeding hearts and heuchera.  The columbine that doesn't quite go was from my old house.  Pretty much a volunteer and didn't show up at all last year.  I was more than thrilled to see it this year.  Then, on along the entrance street.  The persimmon tree is LOADED with fruit.  We'll have a bumper crop this year.  Speaking of a bumper crop, ditto the crab apple.  Then, there's the yarrow, Shasta daisies, peonies, lilies, hosta... 

On around the corner to the future orchard.  Right now it's home to a peach  and an apple tree.  Their second year.  I counted 66 peaches coming on.  Yup, you read that right, 66.  About four apples.  There's a plum, apricot and sour cherry to go in.  Next year we'll add two pears, a sweet cherry, another persimmon and another apple.

To the front garden.  I still remember people gawking when we moved in and killed half of our front yard.  No, more like 2/3rd's.  Grass is so bad for the environment.  And, flowers are so much prettier.  The stellar performers up front right now are the peonies, roses and Siberian iris.  Amazing.  Around the corner there are iris and pinks.  We've also got salvia, bachelor's buttons, daylilies, cranesbill geraniums...

Then, it's on to the herb garden.  Pretty much everything you can name.  And, a couple dozen pepper plants.  Plus blueberries. 

 

 

We do love our yard.  As much as we love cooking.  While we wandered the yard I had a meal cooking away in the dutch oven.  I'd never cooked with bulgur before.  But, we do love lamb.  So, I was game.  Found a bag of Bob's Red Mill bulgur at the grocery so we were good to go.  The recipe actually called for fresh spinach.  But, I had a bag of baby spinach, kale and chard.  That worked perfectly.  We totally loved this dish.  I added a splash of siracha, substituted pinto beans for the white beans and left out the paprika since I'm not a fan of that.  But otherwise I stayed pretty true to the recipe.

Lamb and Bulgur Stew with Beans

Ingredients:

1 lb ground lamb
1 medium onion, diced
2/3 c bulgur
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 1/3 c water
1 14.5 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
5 oz baby spinach (or mix of baby spinach, kale and chard)
3.5 oz feta cheese
1 T fresh oregano leaves

Directions:

In a dutch oven, brown and drain the lamb.  Add the onion, bulgur and pepper flakes and brown for about five minutes.  Add the tomatoes and water.  Cover the pan and simmer for about 25 minutes.  Add the beans, greens, oregano and about half of the feta cheese.  Stir in well until the greens wilt a bit.  Serve with the rest of the feta crumbled over the top. 

adapted from Martha Stewart Living