Friday, January 27, 2012

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.   

1 comment:

  1. Oh my how delicious looking, and of course the cabbage would be the surprise bang!!! I love chili and eat it everyday almost...or a version of it. I am now going to add some cabbage!

    Thank you so much!!!

    Have a wonderful weekend!
    Jennifer

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