Cabbage Patch Stew

This might look like chili, but I think it's the cabbage that adds so much!

While some cooks make this on top the stove, I prefer the slow-oven method because it gives me a couple of hours before the meal to have fun doing something else. This would also be a good crock pot (slow cooker) recipe.

Honestly, I could eat this for three meals a day until it's gone... yep, that's me!!!!

If you do a recipe search for Cabbage Patch Stew, you might bring up more recipes than you'll ever be able to look through!  I don't think the ingredients have to be exact in any way-- mine sometimes vary.  This time, I made it like this:

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound lean ground beef (could use turkey, or venison if you like that)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 and 1/2 cups chopped cabbage (coarsely chopped)

3/4 cup chopped celery

1 16-oz. petite diced tomatoes (can use stewed tomatoes)

1 15-oz can kidney beans, UNdrained (When doubling recipe like I did today, I use one can of light red, and another of dark red to make it 'purty'-- could add black beans, too!)

1 and 1/2 cup water

1 to 1and 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 to 2 teaspoon chili powder (For my hubby's sake, I used just one, then added more to mine later.)

Bisquick 'droppings' for at the end, very optional. (Check recipe option at the bottom of this posting.)

DIRECTIONS:

• Cook and stir ground meat in Dutch oven until browned.  Drain. 
• Put olive oil in bottom of Dutch oven.  To the drained meat, add onions, cabbage and celery.    
• Cook together over medium heat for maybe five minutes, stirring, until vegetables are just a bit tender. 
• Stir in tomatoes, kidney beans (with liquid), water, salt, pepper and chili powder. 

• This is where I do things 'more differenter' than most other recipes describe.  Instead of making this on top of the stove start-to-finish and putting drops of 'dumpling dough' on the hot liquid just before serving,  I covered the Dutch oven, put it into a 300-degree oven and let it go for two hours.   When it came out of the oven, it looked like this:

• At this point, if you wish, you can add 'droplets' of biscuit dough and put into a 350-375 oven for maybe ten minutes, or so, until the 'biscuit droplets' show a tinge of brown...

EN-JOY!

 

  

* If you don't use brand-name Bisquick, you can make you own 'biscuit droplets' or dumplings by GENTLY mixing together this combination:

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/3 tsp. salt

1 and 1/2  tbsp. shortening

Little less than 1/2 cup milk

Combine first three ingredients, cut in the shortening; add the milk and gently stir only until incorporated.