Tag: Stew

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Featured Main Dishes Recipes

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo from www.jasonscooking.com

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundAbout this Recipe

As you’ve probably guessed, I’m a huge fan of cooking.  I’m also a huge fan of cold afternoons with nothing to do.  Put them together and (if you come over to my house on said afternoon) you get gumbo!  My gumbo just includes the stuff that I like (chicken and sausage) and excludes the things I don’t like (okra and shrimp in stews) so please feel free to use this as a base recipe and add or remove things that you like or don’t like.

People often shy away from making gumbo because the roux scares them.  When made on the stovetop, it takes a long time, you have to stir it constantly, and you can’t take a break.  It can also burn at the end and then you have to throw out the whole batch and start from scratch.  This problem is solved using Alton Brown’s oven technique for making the roux.  It takes longer to do, but you don’t have to babysit it.  Once you get past the roux, gumbo is pretty darn easy to make!

The RecipeRecipe
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
 
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Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Creole
Serves: 6 - 8
Ingredients
  • 4 oz All Purpose Flour
  • ½ Cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 Cup Onion, Diced
  • 3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
  • ½ Cup Green Bell Pepper, Diced
  • ½ Cup Celery, Diced
  • 14.5 oz Can Diced Tomatoes, Drained
  • 1 Tbs Salt
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper
  • ½ tsp Dried Thyme
  • ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs, Cut into 1” Cubes
  • 1 lb Andouille Sausage, Halved and then sliced into half moons
  • 4 Cups Chicken Broth
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 1 Tbs file powder
  • Cooked White Rice for Serving
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°
  2. Whisk the oil and flour together in a 5 ½ quart cast iron Dutch oven or other sufficiently large, oven proof pot. Cook for 1 ½ hours (or more if you want a darker roux), whisking every 30 minutes. As it cooks, the roux will get darker and darker and that’s good.
  3. When the roux is done, carefully transfer the pot to the stovetop over medium-high heat and carefully add the onions, garlic, bell peppers, and celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring the whole time. Your roux can still burn at this point so make sure you keep stirring.
  4. When the onions start to turn translucent, add in the tomatoes, salt, pepper, thyme, cayenne, chicken and sausage and stir to combine.
  5. Add in the chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pot to get any of the brown bits into your gumbo and toss in the bay leaves. Stir to combine, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.
  6. minutes before serving, add in the file powder, stir to get the lumps out, kill the heat, cover and let the gumbo to rest…you’d want to rest too if you were gumbo.
  7. Serve with rice!
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

If you like shrimp in your gumbo, add the raw shrimp in at the end when you kill the heat and add in the file powder 10 minutes before serving. That should keep them from overcooking and turning into rubber.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

Frozen Gumbo Kit from www.jasonscooking.comYou can freeze a roux! The best way to freeze this (in my opinion) is to cook, cool, and bag the roux in one bag quart-sized bag, prep and bag the veggies and spices in another quart-sized bag, and prep and bag the meats in a gallon-sized bag. Pop the quart sized bags in the gallon bag with the meats and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.

When you’re ready for gumbo: thaw the bags in the refrigerator overnight, heat the roux over medium heat until it’s hot and continue the recipe from there. These gumbo kits make a great gift for a new mother or as a get well gift for someone recovering from surgery.

Fun FactsFun Facts
Red Brick Roux from www.jasonscooking.com
Red Brick Roux

There are 4 stages of a roux that are described – and identified – by their color. They are white, blond, brown and dark brown. The “red brick” stage is somewhere between brown and dark brown. You can tell that you’re at red brick because the roux literally takes on the color of a red brick.*

*Obviously it doesn’t literally take the color of a red brick.  That would be remarkable – as in something that is able to be remarked upon.

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Featured Jason's Favorites Main Dishes Recipes

Dad’s Favorite Beef Stew

Beef Stew from www.jasonscooking.com
Dad's Favorite Beef Stew
TemperatureSimmerTime1 ½ – 2 Hours Total

Beef Stew from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

Today would be my dad’s 66th birthday. To celebrate, we’re making his favorite beef stew! This stew is one of the few things that he could cook, and he would often make a large pot of it on winter afternoons. Some of my fondest memories include cold evenings in his condo watching movies by the fire place with a warm bowl of stew. He loved to make this stew and I love birthdays so I’m sharing this with you today. I hope you enjoy it.

This recipe is the epitome of a family recipe. My mom, my sister, my dad and I all have slightly different versions and all of them are delicious. My version is below but here are some of the variations:

Mom – Thinner with chunkier veggies
Brooke – No onions and flour slurry added at the end
Dad – Painstakingly consistent cuts of meat and veggies and served with rice

As with all recipes, use this as a base and then add or remove things that you like or don’t like. The great part about cooking is that it is personal and most recipes can be adjusted to suit your taste.

The RecipeRecipe
Dad's Favorite Beef Stew
 
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Serves: 6 - 8
Ingredients
  • 3 Tbs Vegetable Oil, Divided
  • 2 lb Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, Cut into 1-inch Cubes
  • ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt*
  • 1 tsp Pepper*
  • 1 Large Onion, Chopped
  • 4 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
  • 4 Cups (32 fl oz) Beef Stock
  • 2 ½ lb White Potatoes, Peeled and Cut into 1” Chunks
  • 8 oz Carrots, Cut into 1” Chunks
  • 1 Packet of Beef Stew Seasoning Mix

*You’ll need more pinches of salt and grinds of pepper to season the onions and at the end.
Instructions
  1. Heat half of the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
  2. Place meat, flour, salt and pepper in a large zip-top bag, seal and shake to coat all of the meat.
  3. Once the oil has heated up, add half of the beef to the pot to brown, stir after about 3 minutes to get the other sides. Remove the beef to a large bowl with a slotted spoon and repeat with the remaining oil and beef.
  4. After removing the second batch of beef, add all of the onion to the pan (add more oil if needed) and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper and stir everything around. After about a minute, add the garlic and cook until the onions are translucent (about 4 or 5 minutes).
  5. Add some of the beef stock and scrape the bottom of the pot to get the browned bits into the stew. Be very thorough and you’ll be rewarded with more flavor in your stew and a pot that is easier to clean.
  6. Add the remainder of the beef stock, the reserved meat, potatoes, carrots and seasoning mix to the pot and stir to combine. Bring the stew to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 – 1 ½ hours.
  7. If needed, adjust seasoning and serve.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

If you want to simmer this stew for more than an hour and a half, go for it. Just add the potatoes and carrots in 1 ½ hours before service to ensure they don’t disintegrate. I wouldn’t stew it for more than 3 hours though…your meat might start to break up.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

This stew freezes really well so feel free to make a large batch and put some in the freezer for a rainy day. Reheat on the stovetop, adding water if needed to thin it out.

Fun FactsFun Facts

My dad’s name was Charles so his nickname was Chuck. My mom once told me that she used his nickname to remember what kind of beef to buy for stew and now that’s how I remember it too!

Categories
Featured Main Dishes Recipes

Jason’s Guinness Stew

TemperatureVarious Stove Top TemperaturesTimeAbout 3 Hours

Jason's Guinness Stew from www.jasonscooking.com

BackgroundBackground

My friends Lisa and Melissa went to Ireland with me to celebrate my 30th birthday! If you ever get the chance to go to Ireland – take it. We rented a car and did a tour of the southern part of the Emerald Isle. That trip included 10 of the most memorable days of my life and I would absolutely go back in a heartbeat.

One of the greatest things about Ireland was the food – specifically the brown bread, Kerry Gold Butter, and Irish Stew. The most surprising thing about it was that most of the bars in Ireland serve brown bread and Guinness Stew and it’s delicious in all of them! Being an avid cook, I decided to try my hand about both the stew and the brown bread.

I started with this recipe from Cooking Light but decided that I wasn’t a fan of turnips and parsnips. They’re fine – kind of cinnamoney – but not my cup of tea. I substituted those veggies for potatoes and came up with this version of Guinness Stew that will keep you warm on a winter evening. Give it a shot and let me know what you think in the comments!

The RecipeRecipe
Jason's Guinness Stew
 
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Recipe type: Stew
Serves: 6 - 8 Servings
Ingredients
  • 3 Tbs Vegetable Oil
  • 2 lb Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, Cut into 1” Cubes
  • ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt*
  • 1 tsp Pepper*
  • 2 Large Onions, Chopped
  • 4 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped
  • 1 Tbs Tomato Paste
  • 4 Cups (32 fl oz) Beef Stock
  • 1 Bottle Guinness Stout
  • 2 ½ lb White Potatoes, Peeled and Cut into 1” Chunks
  • 8 oz Carrots, Cut into 1” Chunks
  • Dried Parsley for Serving

You’ll need more pinches of salt and grinds of pepper to season the onions and at the end.
Instructions
  1. Heat half of the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the flour, salt, pepper and cubed beef together so that all of chunks get some flour and some seasoning.
  3. Once the oil has heated up, add half of the beef to the pot and cook for about 2 ½ minutes, stir the beef and cook for an additional 2 ½ minutes to brown all sides. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and repeat with the remaining oil and beef.
  4. After removing the second batch of beef, add all of the onion to the pan (add more oil if needed) and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper and stir everything around. After about a minute, add the garlic and cook until the onions are translucent (about 4 or 5 minutes).
  5. Add the tomato paste, beef stock and beer, scraping the bottom of the pot to get the browned bits into the stew.
  6. Return the meat to the pot and bring to a boil. Once the stew is boiling, cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
  7. After an hour of simmering, uncover the pot, increase the heat to medium high and bring it back to a boil. Let your stew boil uncovered for about 45 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by ⅓.
  8. Add the potatoes and carrots, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook until the potatoes and carrots have softened, about 30 minutes.
  9. Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed (you probably will) and serve with a sprinkling of parsley.
Tips and TricksTips and Tricks

If you’d like to make this the day before, check out the freezer tip below. Instead of cooling and freezing, before the veggie step, cool and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Feed the FreezerFeed the Freezer

If you’d like to freeze the stew, stop cooking before you add the carrots and potatoes, cool completely, and freeze. When you’re ready to enjoy some stew, bring it to a boil, add the carrots and potatoes, and cook on medium for about 30 minutes until the veggies have softened.

Fun FactsFun Facts

You can get Irish Butter at the grocery store. Look for Kerrygold Butter on the top shelf of the butter section for your bread-topping needs. That’s right…there’s a top-shelf butter!