Stews
I love stews and soups. The funny thing is, I never thought Ryan was a fan, because he wouldn’t want to eat them when we go out. Little did I know that he was actually just quite particular. He made me 2 stews last week, both of which were delicious. The first batch he made, was a lentils soup, “like the one I grew up eating,” he said. The little twist is that he put some goat cheese in it. Yeah. I was a little surprised, but he’s such a big fan of cooking with goat cheese. And it made the whole thing creamy and a little tangy, and it played off the heartiness of it.
All it involved was a little bit of these ingredients all put together:
- Sauteed onions, garlic, and olives
- Boiled lentils and the lentil broth (saved)
- goat cheese (ours was garlic favored)
The flavor was surprisingly subtle, creamy, and hearty. It definitely fills you up.
This dish is a complete 180 for the gentle flavor of the lentils dish. This one is just as easy, and is tomato-y, VERY HOT, and vinegary (which is apparently how Ryan loves his chili – and I will attest that every time we go to Fette Sau, he pours vinegar into his beans).
This chilli lasts forever and tastes better after you let it sit in your fridge for a night and you reheat it. It’s a little too hot initially, and I told Ryan he over did it. However, later on, the endorphins came rushing in and it was kind of a drugged up experience. Seriously. That. Hot. The heat calms down after the second reheat. It’s hotter if you eat it as cold leftovers, which is still delicious (and I was LAZY and HUNGRY after a gym trip).
Originally, he was looking for ground pork, but in the absence of it, he got pork cuts for STEW! And really, I prefer this to grounded up pork and I recommend it over ground meat. (Our apt is a strictly no ground beef, except for burgers or meatballs, home. Not for any other reason other than it digusts Ry. I, on the other hand, will eat almost anything… tripe, etc, you name it. At least once. I also have no shame in eating “mystery meat.”)
- A can of crush tomatoes (large)
- A can of Sofrito
- A can of red kidney beans
- A can of roasted chipotle
- Sauteed onion (2 small ones/1 large one) & chopped cloves of garlic
- Dressed pork tenderloins cut into bite size pieces
Uh… and dump it all in together. (Yeah, we’ve kind of stopped searing the meat ahead of time, as long as you cook them in there slowly, they are neither undercooked or too dry) Ok, if you want to be meticulous, saute the chopped onions and garlic in olive oil or grape seed oil, put them in a large sauce pan and pour crushed tomato paste. Stir in red kidney beans and desired amount of chipotle peppers (he put… 1/4 of a large can and it was HOT!). Boil the contents under high heat and then add the pork tenderloins. Stir for a bit and then simmer on low heat until the pork is done. I would say, we simmered for at least 40 minutes to an hour.
