Thursdays Are For Cooking
I am herewith posting Sea Dragon’s Lentil Stew recipe, which he loaned to us last week. I like good, hearty food in the winter, and this fills the bill. The cost of materials for the stew is modest, and in this sluggish economy. anything that stretches the dollar is welcome.
It is huge in flavor, very filling and hearty, and the perfect thing to serve on a cold winter day. If your kids don’t like this, they are space aliens. I strongly recommend it for a good meal, and add some cornbread or biscuits, plus finger food like carrots and celery on the side, as well. And for afters, pie with ice cream and hot drinks.
SEA DRAGON’S LENTIL STEW WITH SAUSAGE
Ingredients:
1 lb dried lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 lb kielbasa, sliced quartered lengthwise then into 1/4 inch chunks
1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup red wine
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
6 cups chicken stock
14 oz can diced tomatoes
10 oz package frozen chopped spinach (optional)
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar (optional)
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
- In a 6 quart pot, heat olive oil and lightly brown kielbasa and remove. In the pot, sauté onions, celery, carrots and bell peppers in sausage drippings until translucent. Deglaze with the wine. Add garlic, oregano and thyme, and cook an additional 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add broth, lentils, sausage, tomatoes, spinach (if using), bay leaves, vinegar (if using), and salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Add more broth or water if it gets too thick.
Welp, we were anxiously awaiting this. Keyed in on it when Sea Dragon made mention last week. Now if we could just get a little bit of that cold weather everybody is crying about. Gonna hit 70 some odd today, misty rain, and only going down to the 50s for the next week, with a goodly amount of rain over the weekend. I do have concerns for all of the adorable deplorables that are being caught up in that Polar Vortex. Make up a big pot of this, throw another log on the fire and mix up a batch of them Chocolate thingies ‘Ed posted about on Monday past. You gonna need something to put the ice cream on top of. They can bake at the same time as that cast iron skillet of butteredmilk cornbread.
No mention was made of the amount of wine to put in the cook during the prep.
Tanks Matey. I diced up some taters into a baking dish, put a tad of milk, a pinch of salt, a generous sprinkling of black pepper, a double handful of grated cheese, and some chopped up bacon earlier. Made a real nice little dinner.
Sunday, high of 27, low of 8, snow. I’m making a big pot of chili! SD
For those who like to cook under pressure….
Instant Pot Lentil Soup with Sausage & Kale
Ingredients
▢ 1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage
▢ 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
▢ 2 celery stalks (thinly sliced, with leafy tops)
▢ 2 cloves garlic (minced)
▢ 4 cups bone broth (or chicken stock)
▢ 2 cups dried lentils
▢ 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
▢ 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
▢ 5 cups baby kale leaves (loosely packed )
▢ 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
▢ Salt and pepper to taste
▢ ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
Hit “saute” button on Instant Pot. Add sausage and cook until meat crumbles and begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add onion, celery and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add stock, lentils, red pepper flakes, tomatoes and stir.
Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure the release valve is in the “sealing” position. Press “manual” button and set timer for 12 minutes.
The Instant Pot will warm up for about 10 minutes and then start cooking. After 12 minutes, quick-release by flipping the release valve to “venting.”
Add kale and vinegar. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.
You had me at kielbasa.
*grin*
For those who like to have a little leavening in their life:
Fantastic Italian wheat bread.
1 pkg active dry yeast
¼ c water 110º-115º F
1 c buttermilk 110º-115º F
½ c honey
1 egg
3-3 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2-3 tbs olive or canola oil
powdered garlic
Italian seasonings
In large bowl dissolve yeast in warm water
add buttermilk, honey, egg and mix well
add about 2 c whole wheat flour
add salt
add oil
mix well
add flour until it makes a soft dough
Turn dough onto a floured board and kneed well.
Place kneeded dough into a bowl and cover
(I oil the bowl and use an oiled paper towel to cover)
Let rise in warm place until double.
Punch down, remove from bowl and flatten by hand until about 1/4”
Sprinkle powdered garlic and Italian seasoning over dough until covered.
Roll up dough and kneed it thoroughly again, then form into a loaf, pinching sides and folding them under, and place in a greased/oiled loaf-pan seam side down. Cover and let rise to about double.
Preheat oven to 400ºF while loaf rises.
Bake for 10 minutes at 400ºF for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350ºF and bake for 25-30 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when thumped.
Remove from pan and cool on rack.
Serve fresh with butter or olive oil and any Italian dish.
Saving that one for future posts, Graybeard. Hope you don’t mind.
You can put a good fruit preserve on that, can’t you?
I don’t mind at all, Ex!
I suppose you could use a fruit preserve on it.
It is such a strongly flavored bread that I found myself eating it like the appetizers at an Italian restaurant. That much garlic and Italian seasonings combined with the richness of buttermilk and oils makes it hard for me to resist. (I ate then entire loaf in 2 days.)
Okay, now I’m starving.
Lentils. Yum. Never tried kielbasa with lentils, but it sure sounds good.
Must try.