Sunday Dinner

   My mouth is still sore from the extractions I had a couple of weeks ago so I can only eat meat that is cooked until it is really soft so this weekend it was all about stews and soups.

I made our favorite Hawaiian style beef stew.   It is similar to what they make here on the mainland but we like the sauce thicker and we add tomato sauce to it.   Here is the way we make it.

 Ingredients:  Potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder.  My mother in law made it with cabbage which I love but my family doesn't.  So now I leave the cabbage out but I have to admit I miss it so I recommend that if you like cabbage you put it in.

   Cut the celery in nice pieces about 1 inch thick.  I peeled the potatoes and then cut them in half and cut each half into about 3 pieces.  I took a picture but for some reason it didn't turn out.  We like lots of  potatoes so I used about 8.

  

       If the carrots are fresh I don't peel them if  the exterior looks dry I peel them and cut them in about 1 inch chunks for the thin ones and 1/2 inch for the fat ones.   The top picture shows the carrots I used.  the ones in the front I didn't peel but the ones in the back I did.    If you ever have a garden you will notice that there is no skin on the carrot when you pull it out.  It is just the dried out exterior.  I wash the and just use them like that

        I cut the 2 onions in chunks.  I will add those to cook with the meat at the beginning so they get really soft.

       Soak the potatoes carrots and celery in a bowl of water until ready to cook.

            And now add the meat I used about 3#.  I always buy what is on sale.  This time there was stew meat on special but most of the time I buy some type of beef roast.   My favorite is chuck but I have used other cuts too.  I just cut it into 1" squares.    Heat your pot and add a few Tablespoons of oil to the bottom.  This time I used some bacon grease left from cooking a few pieces of bacon on Saturday.   Brown the meat in the oil add 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder.  After browning the meat I added about a cup of flour and then mixed it in well.

 Add water to cover the meat,  Stir well and add onions.  I used about a gallon.   Bring the pot to the
boil then cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the meat is tender

Drain the vegetables and add to the pot.  Add  the tomato sauce so it is the above color.   Bring back to a boil, cover and then simmer about 30 minutes until vegetables are tender.  Taste the sauce and add more seasonings to taste.  I added another tsp of garlic powder, 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper to mine.   When the vegetables are done  You thicken the stew with flour and water slurry.  I like it about the same thickness as KFC gravy.  

And here is the finished product served over sticky rice.  It was delicious.  I like mine with a little bit of tabasco on it and a piece of french dressing to sop up the extra gravy.  Yuuuum.  My family like to put Best Foods on the rice before they add the stew.   That was Howard's favorite and she passed it down to them.

We have  grown tomatoes this year and they are really good.  I have beautiful red beefsteak tomatoes and an heirloom tomato that has yellow and red flesh.   To go with the Stew I made marinated Tomato and Onion salad. If you look closely you can see the red swirl in the center of the tomatoes.

Simply slice the tomatoes and onions and I won't lie I don't make my own vinaigrette.  I use Kraft Zesty Italian dressing.  I poured about 1/4 cup over the salted and peppered tomatoes and mixed them.   Delicious.

We had a great Sunday Meal and there is enough stew to have for dinner tonight too.  I taught Malia to make homemade chicken noodle soup yesterday but didn't take any pictures.   Next time I will remember the camera.

Today I am making our favorite crockpot version of a Chile Verde.   About 15 years ago I discovered a product called Herdez Chile Verde Sauce.   I bought some and they sat in my pantry for a long time.  One day I needed to use up some meat in that I had and I pulled them out and our favorite dish was born.   I make it with chicken,  or beef, or pork and it is great with all of them.  So let me Share.  

Today I made Pork.  There are 8 living in my home and being polynesian they are hearty eaters.  I used about 5# of meat so we would have a bit for planned overs.   It would probably feed 12 normal eaters.

 Here are the ingredients.

5# of boneless pork roast or 7# of bone in pork roast
1 medium onion  chopped
2 cans Herdez Chile Verde
1 can diced green Chiles
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon garlic Powder
1 Tsp salt
1/2 tsp black Pepper
1 tsp Adobo Seasoning.
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water.


 Method

                      I do not claim to be a great chef but am a good home cook.  When I chop the onion the pieces are not all the same size but you get the idea and it seems to work for me.  I then put them in the bottom of a 5 qt.  Slow Cooker.

                    Trim any extra fat from the pork and cut it into chunks.   Add to the Slow Cooker

                 I used bone in pork sirloin roasts and I kept the bones with what Meat is still attached.     add the salt, garlic, adobo, pepper and stir it into the meat and onions.  Place the bones on top of the meat.  (This is mild because my grandchildren prefer it like this.  To make it spicier use diced tomato with Chipotle Chile and an additional can of green chiles)

                Pour the tomatoes, Salsa Verde and green chiles over the meat.  Cover and cook on Low for about 10 hours.

                After it is cooked this is what it will look like.   Remove meat from the bones and discard
  the bones.  Using a wooden spoon break up the meat.   Turn slow cooker to high.

              stir 1/2 cup of flour into an equal amount of water.   stir into meat and let cook for about 1/2 hour.   If you want it thicker then add more flour.   Shred 1# cheddar cheese while it cooks.  I like Sharp.

 
           This is the way we like it best.  On a flour tortilla with sour cream and salsa.   The smaller kids prefer it on top of Sticky rice with the cheese and no salsa or cream...However you serve it it is delicious.