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Recipes from my kitchen

Spanish Style Stew

3/18/2015

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Picture
Arroz Con Pollo


(It’s a great base for Arroz con Pollo and/or Chicken Empanadas)

Ingredients
  • 1 red bell pepper; small dice
  • 1 green bell pepper; small dice
  • 2-3 carrots, depending upon size; small dice
  •  1 large or two small yellow onions; small dice
  •  2 red chilies, or more if you like a lot of heat; small dice
  •  5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice
  •  8 chicken thighs, skin on – if you can find them boneless, it will save a step, if not, it’s okay. 
  • ¼ cup green olives stuffed with pimentos, sliced
  • ½ cup capers
  • 1 small can or jar of tomato paste
  • 32 oz chicken stock (low sodium or homemade)
  •  ½ cup of white wine
  • 1 cup AP flour
  • 2 Tbsp Hungarian Paprika
  •  2 Tbsp sea salt
  • 1 Tsp cracked black pepper
  • several sprigs of thyme
  • several sprigs of rosemary
  • nonstick cooking spray



Picture
Spanish Style Chicken Stew
Method

  •  Before I make this dish, I usually assemble everything I need.  I first spray the inside of the crockpot with a non-stick cooking spray.  I like to use Spectrum organic canola oil spray. 
  •  I take large glass bowl and combine my flour, paprika, salt and black pepper. I mix it with a fork and set it aside. 
  •  I cut up my peppers, onions, carrots and garlic and put them into the bottom of the crockpot. 
  •  I tie the thyme and rosemary together with kitchen twine and put it into the crockpot.
  •  Now, I will zest the lemon directly over the vegetables, and then juice it and add the juice to the pot.
  • At this point, I add my capers and my sliced olives to the crockpot. 
  • Now, I wash and thoroughly dry the chicken thighs, patting them down with a paper towel.  I roll them in my flour mixture, making sure that all exposed meat is covered, and add each piece to the crockpot.   
  •  I sometimes heat a skillet and sear the chicken first on high heat before adding them to the crockpot.  This helps to add and build the flavor of the dish, but if I am in a hurry, or just don’t feel like washing more dishes, I will skip this step.
  •  Once the chicken is sitting on top of the vegetables, I paint the tomato paste on top of the chicken with a spatula.
  •  Finally, I add all my liquids to the crockpot (wine and stock) and set it on Low for 10 hours. 

I can tell it’s done when the chicken completely falls apart by touching it with a wooden spoon.   At this point I put it into storage containers and refrigerate it for a day.  You can eat it right from the crockpot, but I find it needs that extra 24 hours in the fridge to really develop it’s flavors.

If you choose to use it as a filling for empanadas - be forewarned - 1/2 the batch will be gone before you walk away from the stove.  They are super yummy. 
 
Picture
Empanadas in the making
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Chocolate Stout Sourdough Bread

3/1/2015

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Picture
Chocolate Stout Sourdough Bread
PictureChocolate Stout Sourdough bread
This winter, I decided to experiment with creating my own chocolate stout sourdough beer bread.  This process began because my boyfriend bought a six pack of a craft beer he did not like.  After the first sip he was about to throw away the rest.  I couldn't let that happen.  There were too many fun things to do with beer, besides drink it... beer batter fish fry (I'll post that blog separately), beer bread, steamed clams in a beer and garlic sauce... 

My first experiment was to try the bread.  Most of the beer bread recipes that I played around with gave me a dense, chewy, overly sweet bread.  I decided to use a lean sourdough formula, increase the hydration, and work with a fed starter.  After a couple of tweaks here and there, I came to this recipe. 

The results are amazing.  It gave me a truly complex flavor that distinctly called out the chocolate, the beer, and the sourdough.  


Ingredients:
  • 1 bottle of Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate Stout at room temp or a 12 oz bottle of beer + 4 oz of water
  • 1 cup of fed sourdough starter 
  •  5 Cups of bread flour
  • 2 Tbsp  brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp of sea salt



Method:

Pour the beer and the starter into the bottom of a mixing bowl.  Using the dough hook, mix the beer and starter together for 1 minute to break up the starter. Let it rest 5 minutes.

Add the sugar and the flour and mix for 2 minutes on slow speed.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and flip the dough over.  At this point it should be very sticky and a little shaggy.   Mix again for two minutes on low speed.  Scrape the dough off the sides and flip it over in the bowl again.  Then cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Add the salt to the dough and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Scrape down the sides, flip the dough over in the bowl and then mix again for another 2 minutes on medium speed. 

Lightly oil a large bowl.  Pour the (still sticky but you should have decent gluten development now) dough into the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.  Let it sit on the counter (at approx. 70 degrees F) for about an hour. 

Pour the dough onto a floured work surface.  Using a bench scraper, fold the dough four times (top over bottom, left over right, bottom over top, right over left). Then brush off excess flour and cover with a damp towel (I use a wet, but rung out paper towel and then loosely cover with the leftover plastic wrap).  Let it sit on the work surface for another hour.

Heavily flour two round brotforms (wooden spiral baskets).   Cut the dough in half (you can weigh it to make sure each loaf weighs the same amount), and shape each half into a ball.  Place each ball into the brotform— seam side up— and cover with a damp towel.  Leave them on the counter for about 30 minutes, then place each brotform into the fridge overnight.

Take the loaves out about 90 minutes before you are ready to bake.  Preheat the oven to 500F.  Make sure you preheat your baking stone along with your oven on the center rack.   About 20 minutes before you are ready to bake, fill a metal bowl with water and place it at the bottom of your oven. 

Carefully arrange your two loaves onto a parchment paper that’s been dusted with flour.  Score the top of your loaves and then spray them with water (using a plant mister).   Put the loaves onto the baking stone.  I then pour about a cup of water onto the bottom of the oven – creating a burst of steam, then close the door and turn the heat down to 450F.

After about 12 minutes, remove the bowl of water from the bottom of the oven and rotate your loaves.   Continue baking until bread reaches an internal temp of 202F. 


Picture
Crumb from a Chocolate Stout Sourdough Bread
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    Deb 

    I'm a home cook with a lifelong passion for learning, exploring and experimenting in my kitchen. You can find me at @Debs1 on Twitter and  @Debs121212 on Instagram.

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