Chipotle Beef Stew -- Summer Version

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A few months ago I shared with you this yummy spicy beef stew recipe which we thoroughly enjoyed pretty much the way the recipe was written. But trying to serve this dish in the middle of the summer was not as easy. Winter squash is apparently only available in the winter around here. I made a snap decision at the grocery store, bought some very large sweet potatoes and then decided to prepare them on the grill -- making this a summer-friendly meal. The stew cooked on the stovetop, keeping the kitchen fairly cool (as opposed to heating the oven), and the potatoes and corn roasted on the grill.

My family enjoyed the flavor and texture of the sweet potato much more so than the squash (which is saying something because they really raved over this dish originally), and I really enjoyed preparing much of it outdoors.

I am re-posting the recipe with my summer changes. I altered the method of cooking the stew only slightly, braising the meat first and then cooking the stew on the stovetop, as well as using sweet potato halves instead of squash halves for the boats. If you would like to serve roasted corn with this dish, you can find the recipe here.

Chipotle Beef Stew and Sweet Potato Boats

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2 T. olive oil
1 1/2 lbs. beef for stew
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 chipotle pepper minced and 1 T. adobo sauce
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
3 large sweet potatoes, halved

1 medium tomato, chopped
1 small ripe avocado, cut into cubes, optional
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves

Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat and braise beef until browned. Season with salt and pepper as beef cooks. Add water, tomato paste, sugar, vinegar, chipotle pepper, cumin. Cook stew over medium low heat for 2 hours, or until beef is tender and sauce is slightly thickened. Add water if necessary to keep sauce from cooking up.

Halfway through stew's cooking time, cut sweet potatoes lengthwise in half. Brush cut sides with olive oil. Place sweet potatoes on a preheated grill over low heat and cook for 30 to 40 minutes until tender when poked with a fork.

Place each sweet potato half onto serving plate. Top with equal amounts of beef mixture. Top with tomato and avocado, and sour cream, if desired. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Source: modified from the Food Network

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Continental Beef and Noodles

This recipe is one I turn to often, and over the holidays when I was feeding my brothers' families, and often out-of-town guests, I turned to this one, that I could easily double and I knew would satisfy the crowds. The taste is homey, and because the meat cooks for a long time, the texture is comforting. Paired with some steamed green beans and homemade bread, it was a simple, but yummy dinner.

This is another recipe from Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer, and though I've never doubled it and frozen half, I think it is an awesome idea!

Continental Beef and Noodles
serves 6

6 T. butter
1 c. minced onion
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
2½ lbs. beef stew
8 oz. tomato sauce
2 t. Worchestershire sauce
1 T. sugar
2 t. paprika
2 t. salt
⅛ t. pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
buttered noodles

Melt 2 T. butter in Dutch oven over low heat.
Add onion and mushrooms and saute until tender. Remove from pan.
Add more butter to pan and melt; add beef in several batches, and brown.
Put all beef, mushrooms and onions back in Dutch oven.
Combine tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic. Pour sauce over meat. Cover and cook slowly over low heat for 2 1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Stir occasionally.

Serve with buttered noodles.

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Colorado White Chili

There are probably almost as many recipes for white chili as there are red, and, like its tomato cousin, I think most of them have the same basic ingredients. Mine uses white beans, white corn, green chilies, chicken breast, chicken broth and spices to make a nice, mildly spicy soup-ish type chili. There is no dairy in this recipe, so it's not as high in fat as recipes with cream or milk included, and since it calls for chicken breast meat, there is little meat fat, either.

Sometimes I top it with a spoonful of sour cream when I serve it, but when I made it last week I just spooned on some chopped avocado -- some good monounsaturated fat. We eat it with plain, warm tortillas or tortilla chips.

This dish is not very photogenic, but it makes up for its visual inadequacies in the taste department. My recipe comes from Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer.

Colorado White Chili

1 T. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4.5 oz can diced green chilies
1 T. cumin
2 t. oregano
½ t. ground cayenne pepper
pinch ground cloves
15.5 oz. great northern beans (do not drain)
15.5 oz. white corn (canned or frozen)
2 c. cooked, diced chicken
5 c. chicken broth


In a large pan, combine oil, onion, garlic, and green chilies. Saute until tender, but do not brown. Stir in spices, beans, corn, chopped chicken, and chicken broth. Cook and stir until heated through. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve in bowls with cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips. Garnish with jalapeño slices if desired.

(To freeze: cool completely. Freeze in a freezer bag. Thaw completely. Simmer until heated through.)

Belly-Warming (and Heart Healthy) Chicken Stew

This week I had Turkey Stew on my menu, a recipe I found at Simply Recipes. I intended to make it with a turkey tenderloin, which I thought were on sale at Giant Eagle. But, when I got to the store, I saw that the only tenderloins that were on sale were the flavored ones. Bleh. They are loaded with salt and sometimes sugar and I wouldn't take one if they were free. Honestly. So, I changed my plan and decided to make a Chicken Stew with the bone-in chicken breasts that were on sale.

I'm glad I changed my plan because this stew was delicious, low in fat, and I don't think I'd make it any different. I altered the recipe a little bit because I had bread baking in the oven at 400 degrees F and the stew was supposed to cook at 300 degrees. I normally make stew on top of the stove, however, so I just left it on the stovetop. The recipe below reflects my changes both in ingredients and technique. The original recipe can be found here.

I couldn't have picked a better day to prepare this meal. The snow was whipping by my kitchen window, but inside I was warm and toasty and totally enjoying the smell of my bubbly Chicken Stew.

PS All my kids ate this stew and my teenager came back for thirds.

We all ended up eating it like little kids -- mashing all the vegetables in the broth in the bottom of the bowl.

Belly-Warming Chicken Stew
Serves 6 to 8

2 T. olive oil
3 bone-in chicken breasts, skin intact
1 medium-large yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 quart vegetable stock
2 medium carrots, peeled, 1/4 inch slices
2-3 medium turnips, peeled, 1/2 inch cubes
3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered (I used Idaho)
1/4 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. dried basil
1/4 t. dried tarragon
salt and black pepper
Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a Dutch oven on the stove top.
Wash and pat dry chicken breasts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides.
Place chicken pieces, skin side down, in oil and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.



If your pot is not large enough for pieces to lie flat, you may need to brown in batches. In the last 3 minutes of browning of the last batch, add the onions and celery.





Add the stock. Bring to a simmer, lower heat, cover and simmer gently for about 45 minutes, until chicken is done.

When chicken is done, add the rest of the vegetables, and the herbs. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes until vegetables are almost fork tender.
Remove chicken pieces and pull meat from the bones. Break meat into large pieces -- not bite-size.



Return meat to pot and cook, uncovered, until vegetables are very tender, but not mushy (no al dente in this recipe -- you want them nice and soft).



Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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Chicken and Dumplings

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Sometimes it's not until I try to link to something on my menu that I realize that one of my regular go-to recipes has never been posted here. Last week we had one our family favorites, especially in the winter -- Chicken and Dumplings. I have the recipe on my other blog, Praying for Grace, but it was not accessible in my archives here. So, I am reposting it with a new picture.

This is basically the recipe I grew up with except my mom always used Bisquick to make dumplings. I would rather just use pantry basics to make mine, and Bisquick is not usually found in my pantry. You can make good dumplings (better dumplings) for a lot less by using flour, shortening, baking powder, salt and milk. This recipe is very kid-friendly. I cook my chicken with onion and celery for flavor, but I remove all the vegetables except the carrots before it gets to the table. So all the kids see are fluffy dumplings, carrot bites and tender pieces of tasty chicken.

In the ingredients, I have 2 or 3 chicken breasts listed. If you like a lot of chicken use 3, but I prefer more dumpling than chicken, so I use 2.

served with steamed green beans


Chicken and Dumplings
serves 6

2-3 large bone-in chicken breast halves
5 cups water
1 onion, peeled and quartered
3 peeled, smashed garlic cloves (smash them with the side of a large knife - don't chop them)
2 stalks celery, halved

6 carrots, peeled and cut in 1-inch pieces

6 T. shortening
3 c. all-purpose flour
4 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 1/2 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven or soup pot, place chicken and water, onions, garlic and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer gently for 30 - 40 minutes until chicken is completely cooked through and tender. Remove chicken from water and set aside. Remove and discard onion, garlic and celery. Strain broth. Return broth to pot. After chicken has cooled, remove skin and bones and break chicken into large pieces (larger than bite-size). Place chicken back in broth with carrot pieces. Cook over medium heat until carrots are tender, but not soft, about 15 minutes. Add more water to broth if necessary -- when dumplings are added you should have about 2 inches of water in the pot around the chicken and carrots. If you have too much water still, you can thicken it with a little flour water, if desired (not necessary).

In a large mixing bowl, cut shortening into flour, baking powder, and salt, until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in milk. Drop dough by large spoonfuls onto simmering liquid (liquid should not be boiling hard, just simmering). Season tops of dough with salt and pepper. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Cover and cook for 10 minutes longer.

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Creole Shrimp and Sausage Stew

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One of my favorite lines in Julie & Julia was when Julie says she read somewhere that it's a show of poor manners to say "Yum" while you're eating. And then she bites into a pork chop and says, "Yum." I laughed because I do that all the time -- such a boor I am.

I'm afraid we had a show of really poor manners the night I made this stew dish, because there were many "yums" all around the table. It was a five thumbs-up meal -- absolutely no complaints. This is a mildly spicy dish, (but not too spicy for any of us, including the kids) with the spice coming mostly from the canned tomatoes and chilies, and the Tony Chachere's I added. I found the recipe at myrecipes.com, and followed it pretty closely, but with a few changes. I am posting it as I made it. I served mine over white rice, but brown would be nice if your gang will eat it.

Creole Shrimp and Sausage Stew
serves 6 to 8

2 T. olive oil
1 c. chopped bell pepper (I used half red/half green)
2 c. sliced turkey smoked sausage (I used Butterball and I used the entire package -- just a little over 2 cups)
2 large cloves garlic, crushed or minced
small can chicken broth
1 t. Tony Chachere's
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained (I used Rotel)
1 lb. peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained


Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan. Add bell pepper, sausage, and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until bell pepper is tender, stirring occasionally. Add broth, spices, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Stir in shrimp and beans; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until shrimp are done. Serve over rice.

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Source: Adapted from myrecipes.com

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Beef Stew

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Now that this election is over, I am ready for some good comfort meals, especially the kind that don't break the budget. That may require planning around what I can buy on sale, or waiting for a certain cut of meat to go on sale before I can plan it, but that's o.k.

This dish is one that sounded good to me, and it really was. I have several good recipes for beef stew, and almost went back to one of my standbys at the last minute, but I'm glad I didn't. You can almost always get stew beef at a good price, or cut up a sale beef roast instead, so having several good beef stew recipes to turn to is a good thing.

My family loved this stew. Even my kids went back for seconds and I had to stop them from spooning all the mushrooms out (I made a double batch and wanted some mushrooms left for other half). I didn't end up cooking it in the crock pot, as planned, and I'm glad. Even though the crock pot is great for offering a hot meal at the end of a busy day, I don't think this stew would have been quite as good.

The only major adjustment I made to this recipe from Cooking Light (found at myrecipes.com) was to skip the ripe olives. Doug and the boys would have immediately decided that they didn't like it and it wasn't worth that for a little extra flavor. Without the olives it was so tasty I can't imagine it being better. As suggested at My Recipes, I served the stew in pasta bowls with a big spoon of mashed potatoes. I just did a quick, buttery mash with the hand masher and the rustic texture and buttery, salty potatoes were a perfect companion to this hot comforting stew. This recipe was simple to make, and nice enough to serve company.

Beef Stew

1 T. olive oil
1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 1/2 cups cleaned, halved mushrooms (about 8 ounces)
2 cups peeled and diagonally cut carrot
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 cup sliced celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry red wine
1/2 t. dried thyme
1 1/4 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. coarsely ground black pepper
2 (14.5-ounce) cans no-salt-added stewed tomatoes, undrained
2 bay leaves
2 T. red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley


Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
Add beef and cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides
(cook in two batches if necessary so that meat browns instead of boils in juices).
Remove from pan.
Add mushrooms, carrots, celery and garlic to pan;
cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Return beef to pan.
Stir in water, wine, seasonings, tomatoes and bay leaves;
bring to a boil.
Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 to 2 hours, until beef is tender.
Discard bay leaves. Stir in vinegar. Sprinkle with parsley.
Serve with hot mashed potatoes if desired.


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Hearty Beef Stew

I've been trying quite a few new recipes lately to create a collection of lower fat recipes I can turn to more frequently, especially now that we're dealing with reflux in the family. I recently finished reading a book on reflux, which not only explained the disease, but also offered a lot of really good recipes.

Many of the recipes in the book (Eating for Acid Reflux) are not kid friendly, but one I tried on Sunday was very family friendly. And regardless of the fact that it's lower in fat, it is a keeper recipe -- it kicked the pants off my old recipe.

I used 2 lbs of stew meat, and trimmed the fat even more than the butcher. I probably ended up with a little more than a pound and a half. I cooked this recipe longer than the book recommended, because I like my stew meat to be very tender, and the vegetables soft (but not mushy). We omitted the turnips, but only because I'm the only one who eats them and I could only find a bag of them at the grocer. The only gripe I had about the recipe was that the liquid was too much (the recipe called for 8 cups). I thickened it with cornstarch and water and made boatloads of gravy, but it was just too much to begin with. I will reduce it to 6 cups in the future and probably still thicken it (I've written that in the recipe below).

I served it with Spoon Bread from "Cooking Light." The recipe is here -- it was wonderful.

Hearty Beef Stew
8 servings

1 1/2 to 2 pounds stew meat, cut in 1-inch pieces
1/2 c. flour
3 T. olive oil
1 t. garlic minced
2 T. tomato paste
2 t. dried thyme
2 t. salt (or less to taste)
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. dried parsley
6 c. low-sodium beef broth
1 c. chopped celery
2 cups 1-inch carrot chunks
2 cups 1-inch turnip chunks
2 bay leaves
6 cups 2-inch russet potato chunks, peeled
1 T. cornstarch (to thicken if necessary)

Dredge meat in flour and pat to remove extra flour.
Heat half the oil in large pot 0ver medium-high heat.
Add half the meat and cook to brown lightly.
Remove the meat, add the remaining oil,
and cook remaining meat until lightly browned.
Put all meat back in pot.

Add garlic, tomato paste, thyme, salt, Worcestershire,
parsley and broth to the pot; stir well.
Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
Cook, covered, stirring occasionally,
for one hour.

After one hour, add vegetables and simmer until
vegetables are very tender, about an hour.

If stew is too juicy, stir 1 T. cornstarch into 3 T. cold water and stir.
Bring stew to a bubble and add half of cornstarch liquid to stew.
Stir until thickened and if stew is still too juicy,
add the remaining cornstarch mixture.

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