LanceHughes
Posts: 4737
Joined: 2/12/2004
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I like to spend time cooking..... Calgon, take me away..... Following is outta neccesity. If you can buy the stuff, great!
Food Bank Pork and Bell Pepper Stew:
Dump about 2 cans (15 oz. each) of whatever diced tomato product you've got - if lucky, you got "Diced - Mexican style" which has some nice flavor to it. Rinse cans with about 1/2 can water each. Flavored water into crock pot. Cans and lids to re-cycle bin. If you've got tomato paste ONLY, well, make up 4 cups of water with whatever.....(maybe you got pureed) ... really doesn't matter. Into the crock pot. Turn it on HIGH (for now.) Got some tomatoes going bad? Cut around the bad parts.... rough chop the good. Into the crock pot. Not ripe? same thing... they'll color as they stew or whatever. Won't kill you - actually a good use for what's left of those tomatoes that you got so many of but they need to be used...... LOL!
Large can of tomatillos - or buy 1-1/2 pound fresh, twist off outer husk using stem. Rinse sticky off the outside. Add water to cover. Bring to boil and then reduce heat until tomatillos (little tomatoes) turn olive color. Carefully drain off most water (Do not break fruits.) Put tomatillos and as little cooking water as possible into flat soup bowl and rough chop - FUN! Be sure to cut interal "stems" into 3rds or 4ths - kinda tough, but nutritious, so use 'em. Seeds and all (inc. the small amout of cooking water) into crook pot.
Using 2 or 3 tablespoons Olive Oil, Brown about 2 #'s "Pork for stew" or dice "chops on sale" after defrosting them from freezing them when you got a great deal on them. WOW! Last week, food bank had "Pick one frozen meat product." Got thin, thin pork chops, so it was time to crank up this recipe.... Oh, yeah. That defrost and chop reminds me.... one time I got a loin (at store, on sale for like $1.79 a pound - and then it was reduced in "dead meat" section, er..... "Manager's specials," I mean.) Took it home and sliced and diced and put it in 1 lb zip-loc freezer bags..... cheap and easy. One can of "Gov't Pork" can be substitued for 1 pound meat - but not both pounds. Just pick out the big lumps of fat (not too many in there, you'll note)and dump the meat and juices into the crock pot. Use the fat to stretch olive oil to brown the other 1# of "twue"pork. All meat into crock pot.
Anyway...... cut 2 medium onions into vertical strips 1/2" at widest point... easy to peel if you just cut vertically first. Finely dice 2 or 3 cloves of fresh garlic. Brown onion and garlic in renderings from browning pork. Onion needs to be translucent, slightly browned. What a great aroma (so far.) All cooked aromatics into crock pot. Have parsley? Yeah, chop finely, stems and all...... do NOT brown.
Two medium Aniheim (sp?) chiles - roasted and minced. What fun to "make" your own! They are expensive: $2.75 a lb. Yikes - cheaper (and more convient) to get the little cans for $1.29 (on sale? stock 3 or 4 at 99 cents.) But if you got 'em frsh and free.... well, sweat equity is the name of the game. AND - roasting turned out to be great fun - high broil (500 degrees Farenheit) on a backing sheet (way high in oven - as far as possible w/o touching anything above) until the skins are brown and just cracked - watch very carefully so you get NO black. Turn once and brown that side. Peel - caution, do NOT touch eyes, nose, or any other mucus membrances - ESPECIALLY not those membranes, you f**king perverts..... oh, BTW, that last sentence is brought to by the "been, there, done that, have the T-shirt" dept. of L. Hughes Enterprises! LOL! Cut 3/8" off top, cut same off tip. Split down side. Open flat. Remove some membrane, some seeds. The first time take 'em all out - spicyest parts. Mince this flat piece, making 1/8" inch strips, then same across the other way. Wash hands twice after mincing. Put minced peppers into pot.
You got a boiling mixture yet? I thought not...... let 'er rip until you do, then lower heat. In any instance, take about 1 or 2 cups of stock and use to deglaze the pork pan.... Bring stock to a boil in pork pan, and scape the HELL outta the bottom. Good job for sub to get ALL the yummy bits (hard to get sides, so ... up to you to decide if xhe needs punishment) Might need more liquid..... Put scrappings and flavored stock back into pot. Crock pot can be left on while you correct xhir behavior. LOL!
("xhe" = he/she, pronounced "key" but more "chey" with a hard "c" . "xhir" = his/her pronounced "kur" but more "chur" with a hard "c" - think chinese pronounciations.) xhim = him/her = "kim" / "chim"; "xhem" = them, pronounced kem / chem. etc.
Anyway, having been distracted by that wonderful break with sub, we're back to cooking..... Bell peppers: Yes, yes. I know that food bank ones are often damaged, but guess what? That means others will leave them..... You'll need about 4 or 5 whole ones. Last time, I started with 7 each of which about 1/2 of each was bad. Red? Green? Yellow? Mixture is okay - like beggars can be choosers.... Cut vertically around top/stem, cut off bottom horizontally..... chop bottom - 3 or 4 pieces if good. Split side vertically.... Open flat and make 3/8" vertical strips, watching carefully for greyish tone on inside = bad. I like to cut the internal membranes off any strip that has one. BUT most people discard that - I add membranes to stew. Seeds - let em go in the stew, but not as many as are on top that you cut out. Bell pepper strips into crock pot.
Spice it up! I once received a box of Chipolte <sp?> cubes - like chicken/beef broth cubes but spicy.... Enough salt in ANY single cube to salt this crock pot. Use one cube of any flavor. Then add garlic powder (not garlic salt, unless you didn't have a cube), onion powder (ditto re garlic salt), black pepper, chile powder, whatever you have, whatever you want. Cumin "works" evry well. Maybe some oregano - but not basil, thyme, etc.. This is "Mexican," not Italian. LOL! - - - I'll bet your paprika is so dried out you can't smell it.... put some in and hope the stew hydrates it.... LOL! All else missing, those little red pepper flake packages can be used..... I'm not in your dungeon, so I don't know what toys you have. Sorry!
Should have about 6 quarts at this time.... top of crock pot. (Your milage might vary - if less, more water, more tomato canned items.... again, be creative!)
After it comes to boil and bell peppers have changed color slightly - it's done!
Holds well in fridge for a week. Can be frozen in lunch-size containers, but it has NEVER lasted that long in my extended family.
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"Train 'em the right way - my way." Lance Hughes
"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer, but wish we didn't." Erica Jong
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