THE BEST STEW EVER.....................

I wish that I was coming to you with a bevy of wit and sparkling humor; 

      But that's not the case. I have had a cold for about 6 days. The aches and general feeling of ick are gone, but I still sound like Kathleen Turner (if she had also been punched in the throat). But enough about my potentially fatal illness. 

      One of my favorite New Mexican delicacies is GREEN CHILE STEW. For those of you that know, in NM, you're generally a red chile or green chile fan. Any sane person knows that RED CHILE IS FAR SUPERIOR to green. That said, green chile stew is special. It truly highlights green chile's characteristics and allows the chile's depth of flavor truly sing and shine. My mother's recipe is by far the best I have ever had, but it can always be made better. Remember folks, Jake makes it better. So I says to myself, I says, "Self, what would make this recipe even better? Well, that's easy.......

BACON

      Here on the east coast, it's impossible to find fresh or even frozen green chile, so I have to settle for canned. Luckily, the Whole Foods on P Street carries Hatch Brand green chile, which is canned right in Albuquerque, NM. I used two cans of hot and two cans of mild chile for this recipe. 

Jake’s Amazing Green Chile Stew

Ingredients

-       1 ½ pounds of pork roast

-       6 strips of thick cut bacon

-       6 cups of Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock

-       2 large yellow onions

-       2 tbsp of butter

-       6 cloves of garlic

-       2 cups or 16 oz. of frozen, fresh or canned green chile

-       1 pound of Yukon Gold potatoes

-       1 tbsp of ground cumin

-       ½ tbsp of garlic powder

-       ½ tbsp of onion powder

-       Salt and pepper to taste

1-    Place a large stock pot and spray the bottom of the pot with non stick cooking spray. Dice bacon into small pieces. Place the bacon in the pot, and set the heat to medium.  (Bacon cooks best when placed on a cold cooking surface before the heat is turned on. REMEMBER THAT!) Stir occasionally, until bacon is browned.

2-    Dice the pork roast into small pieces. Add to the pot and brown the meat, then turn the heat off. Using a slatted spatula, remove the bacon and meat from the pot. Make sure to allow the to fat drip back into the pot!

3-    Dice the onions. Turn heat back on to medium and melt the butter in the reserved pork and bacon fat. Add the onion to the pot and sauté until translucent, about 6-8 minutes

4-    While onions are cooking, finely slice and chop the garlic. Once the onions are almost cooked, add the garlic to pan. Allow to sauté until fragrant, about 1 or two minutes.

5-    Add the green chile to the pot and stir well. Allow to cook for about a minute. Add the chicken stock to the pot and bring to a boil.

6-    While the stock comes to a boil, quarter and then dice the potatoes into ½” slivers. Once the pot is at a boil, add the potatoes (SLOWLY) to the pot and return the bacon and pork roast to the pot as well.

7-    Add in all spices. Use the salt sparingly at first. The flavor changes in the cooking process, so it’s best to add the salt at the end.

       

       

BOOOOOOOOOOO! The holidays are over.

          Merry belated Christmas, you turkeys! I hope most of you had a good holiday with your family, I know I did. We spent the first part of the week in New Mexico with my family, then we spent the rest of the week in the Phoenix area with Donnell's parents. I always look forward to Stewart Family Christmas and this year was no exception. It was Don's first Stewart Christmas and he was greeted warmly & enjoyed getting to know everyone. Likewise, this was my first holiday with his parents. They graciously opened their lovely home and it was good to have a chance to get to know them better. 
          But wouldn't you know it? All week, I was using the "mind over matter" school of thought to combat what I was pretty sure was a cold (and some bourbon too, if I am being totally honest). And after a relatively crapulent red eye flight from Sky Harbor to Thurgood Marshall BWI, the cold took full effect. The cold seemed to say "Hey guess what, a******, not only do you have to go to work tomorrow, but you'll also feel like you have a mild case of the Black Plague". What fun! 
          Griping aside, I am glad we are home and that we, along with our families, had a great holiday. AND MY SWEETHEART TURNED 39! Happy birthday, babe! We went to Seasons 52, one of our favorite restaurants and he picked up a lovely pair of soft, Italian leather loafers as his birthday present. 
           I have been meaning to get this recipe posted for ages and have not been on task. But, here it is! This halibut recipe is outstanding and one of our favorite recipes. It's filling and satisfying, no matter what time of the year. MAKE THIS! 

Baked Halibut and Sautéed Vegetables

Ingredients

-       1 ½  to 2 pound of halibut filets

-       2 small zucchinis

-       2 small yellow squash

-       1 medium yellow onion

-       1 to 2 fresh tomatoes

-       3 to 5 cloves of garlic 

-       1 tablespoon Italian blend seasoning

-       salt and pepper to taste

-       ¾ cup crumbled feta

-       non-fat cooking spray

Fish marinade

-       1 bottle of Italian or Greek dressing

Preheat Oven to 450˚ F

1-    Using a large bowl, place the fish in the bowl and pour the entire bottle of dressing over the fish. Move the fish around using a spoon and make sure the fish is submerged. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

2-    Dice the onion into small pieces. Spray a large, non-stick pan with the non fat cooking spray. Over medium heat, add the onions to the pan and spray the onions with the cooking spray as well. Sauté for about 3 minutes.

3-    While the onion cooks, dice the squash and zucchini. Combine the two in a bowl and set aside. Next, dice the tomato and put in a separate bowl.

4-    Finely dice the garlic. Use as much or as little garlic as you like (I PREFER A LOT OF GARLIC).  Sauté for about one minute, or until fragrant.

5-    Add the squash and the zucchini to the pan and stir. Add the Italian seasoning. Sauté for about 4 minutes or until softened. Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir again. Cook until the tomatoes start to break down, about two minutes. Salt and pepper according to taste.

6-    Remove the fish from the marinade bowl, and allow the excess to drip off. Place the fish in a 9” x 13” Pyrex baking dish, and sprinkle the top of the fish with salt and pepper.

7-    Ladle the vegetable mixture over the top of the fish evenly.

8-    On a plate, using a fork, break the feta cheese up into tiny bits. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the vegetables.

9-    Place the dish in the preheated oven and allow to bake for 15 minutes. Allow the  fish to rest for about 3 minutes before serving.  Et voila!

Eating healthy AND LIKING IT. ( Said in a domineering tone )

         Recently, we started committing to cooking and eating healthier. Don is being very disciplined about it and I applaud him for his resolve. I myself, have not been as stringent. I have had moments of weakness.
         Yes, I ordered myself a cheese bagel with light chive cream cheese and bacon from Bagels, Ect. yesterday morning. I was immediately struck down by justice's swift sword. When I opened the bag, I did not find my custom ordered bagel, I found a vegetable bagel with too much cream cheese. It was really bothersome, but I didn't let it weigh me down. I had even more upsetting meal earlier in week that evoked two of the worst feelings, guilt coupled with buyer's remorse.

Devastation.

          It was a cold, glum day and I was feeling particularly sorry for myself for no particular reason. First thought: get somethin' real greasy for lunch and put some cheese on it. "That will cheer me up", I says to myself, I says. So I go to a chain fast food restaurant and ordered their new sandwich, which was purported to be delicious. In reality, it was disgusting and I took two bites and returned it to its box. I was left to eat my french fries and ponder my life choices. 

         The upside of this new diet we implemented is that we are both excellent cooks and have really been rocking the mall with all of the BS healthy recipes. I have been very pleasantly surprised by how awesome some of our new dishes have turned out. I made this recipe up before we started the regiment, but the only real oil is non fat cooking oil spray. So it's not 100% on the level, but it's a hell of a lot better than deep-frying. 

FIRST! BEFORE YOU START COOKING, WATCH THIS SAUCY MINX TEACH YOU HOW TO ROLL EGG ROLLS. 

If you aren't familiar, they're easy to mess up and then you'll miss out on the hot mess that posted this video to YouTube. Fast forward to 2 minutes in, that's where she starts rolling. 

Come on to my house, aaaaaaaa-my house, I'm gonna give you......... some stuffed peppers

Today kicked my posterior, so rather than grace you some of my glittering wit, just read my recipe and make it! Ya hear? Ok........... BREAK! 

Jake's Stuffed Peppers with Chicken

Stuffed Peppers 

Ingredients 
4 green bell peppers
1 pound ground chicken 
1 yellow onion 
3 strips turkey or pork bacon 
4 cloves of garlic 
1 medium zucchini 
1 roma tomato 
1/2 cup green or kalamata olives 
1/4 cup of chicken stock 
1 tablespoon of cornstarch 
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of onion powder 
2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil 
salt and pepper to taste 
1 cup good quality store bought marinara sauce 

Preheat oven to 375˚ F 

1- Dice the onions. Over medium heat in a large frying pan, sauté the onions with non fat cooking spray. 
2- Dice bacon into small pieces, and add to the onions. 
3- Finely chop the garlic. Once the onions are tender, add the garlic to the pan. 
4- Dice the zucchini, add to the pan. 
5- Add the ground chicken to the pan. As it cooks, continue to break up the chicken into small bits with a spatula. 
6- As the chicken browns, dice the tomato. Once the chicken is nearly done, add the tomato to the pan. 
7- Dice the olives and add them to the pan. 
8- Heat the chicken stock in the microwave. Once warmed, add the cornstarch to the chicken stock and mix well. 
9- Turn heat off, pour the chicken stock/cornstarch to the pan and stir well. Allow to rest so the stock will thicken up. 
10- Cut tops off the bell peppers and remove the cores, seeds and veins. 
11- Fill the peppers with 1/4 of the meat mixture. Top the peppers with 1/4 cup of marinara. 
12- Bake for 45 minutes until peppers are visibly cooked through and the top edges are starting to brown. 

Enjoy! PS, adding chicken sausage to the meat mixture is not a bad idea. Also, adding grated parmesan cheese to the top of the peppers isn’t a bad idea either. 

PSS- Also, adding some tomato paste and tomato sauce to the meat would really primo too! 

Can we still be friends and you'll start reading my blog again?

Hey, you turkeys. It's been a long time since I have posted to my blog, but why deprive the world of my amazing recipes, glittering humor and awkward life situations? THERE ISN'T a good reason! Miss you, love you, bye. That's all the attention you get for today. 

Jake’s Famous Lamb Shepherds Pie

Adapted from Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Shepherds pie. Made righteous by Jake Stewart.

2 lbs Ground Lamb

1 yellow onion

4 large cloves of garlic 

1 teaspoon, ground mustard 

1/2 teaspoon, ground cinnamon 

1 or 2 teaspoons, dried oregano

1 or 2 teaspoons, dried basil 

1 or 2 teaspoons, season salt

2 teaspoons, fresh ground black pepper 

1 cup of frozen peas and carrots 

2 tablespoons of butter 

2 tablespoons of all purpose flour

2 cups beef stock (Kitchen Basics)

2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire  sauce

3/4th a tablespoon of corn starch (If necessary)

3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes 

1 cup of sour cream 

1/3 cup of whole milk 

Salt and pepper to taste (For mashed potatoes) 

Dried Parsley 

Paprika

Bring about 3-4 quarts of water in a large stock pot. Rinse the potatoes well, cut them into quarters, add to pot and salt the water generously. Allow to boil until fork tender, about 10-15 minutes. Watch closely, or the starch will cook down too much. Drain potatoes and place them back in the stock pot to cool. 

1- Dice the yellow onion. In a large sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté onions until translucent (5-8 minutes). In the meantime, thinly slice the garlic. (DON’T CRUSH THE GARLIC!!!)

2- Add Garlic to pan with onions and stir well. Allow to sauté about 60 seconds, or until fragrant. 

3- Add the ground lamb meat to the pan. Allow to brown, but make sure you’re properly separating the meat evenly so this browns well (make sure you’re incorporating the onions and garlic). While the meat sautés, add the six spices and stir well.

Note- I like to over season meat, feel free to play with the spices. The amounts listed here are less that what I generally make shepherd’s pie with. 

4- Once meat is cooked, turn off heat and allow to rest and cool for a minute or two. Place your colander in the sink and place the meat in the colander. Using the backside a spoon or spatula and press the fat out of the lamb. It’s very fatty and needs to be drained.Allow meat to sit and drain, about 5 minutes. 

5- In a smaller sauce pan, heat the butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and stir vigorously with a wisk. Allow to bubble for about 10 seconds, stir again, but be careful not to burn. Slowly start to add the beef stock to the butter/flour mixtue. Continue to stir in the beef stock, still using a wisk. Add the Worcesterhire. Allow the sauce to simmer (If the gravy isnt had think as it should be, in a separate bowl, add 3/4th's a tablespoon of cornstarch to an extra 1/2 cup of beef stock and mix well. Add to the sauce, should help thicken nicely. Salt and pepper to taste. 

6- Return the drained lamb meat to the large sauce pan. Over medium heat, add the gravy and the peas and carrots to the meat and mix well, and heat everything through, about 4 minutes. Turn off heat. 

7- Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes well. Then add the sour cream, milk and salt and pepper to taste. Mash well again until smooth. 

8- In a 8” x 11” casserole pan, ladle out the meat mixture and smooth it out. Then top with the mashed potatoes and distribute evenly. Evenly dust the top of the potatoes with the parsley and paprika. 

9- Turn broiler on to 450˚ F, bake for 5-10 minutes, until top of the potatoes is browned. WATCH CAREFULLY! Don’t burn them. 

Now go eat your heart out! 

GET SOME SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS, SON.

Everyone needs this recipe..... 

Delicious, rich, flavorful, and leaves you feeling virtually guilt free.

Turkey Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Turkey Sausage (Mild or Hot)\
• Olive Oil
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 2 small yellow onions
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 14.5 oz can of salt free diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1/2 can of (or 3 oz) tomato paste
• 1 cup sodium free chicken stock
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp italian blend seasoning
• salt 
• pepper 

1- In a large sauté pan, heat three table spoons of olive oil over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, lay down all the sausages. Sauté until well browned on either side. Place on a plate and set aside. Turn off heat. 

2- Dice the onion and pepper into long thin strips. Turn heat back on to medium. Add the onion and pepper to the pan, saute until tender

3- While onions and peppers are cooking, chop the garlic finely. Add to pan with peppers and onion, stir and allow to cook about 60 seconds. 

4- Add 1/4 cup of red wine to deglaze the pan. Open all three cans of tomato product. Add to pan and stir, bring to slight boil. Add the other 1/4 cup of wine and the chicken stock 

5- Add spices to pan, salt and pepper to taste.

6- Return sausages to pan and push them down to the bottom of the pan. Allow to cook for about 15 more minutes. Turn off heat, and allow to stand about 5 minutes. Serve as you like, over noodle or by itself. Enjoy!

La dee da dee, let's have a PARTY!

Jake likes a party.

It’s no secret that I like a good time. Moreover, I like throwing parties at our house. There is much joy to be found in planning what hors d'oeuvres you’ll serve, what kind of drinks will be offered, what (if any) decorations will be needed, and of course a guest list. An added bonus, you get to complain to others about the  rigors of party planning. 

For myself, my favorite part of getting ready for a party is preparing the food. Don’t get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with laying out charcuterie plates, or hummus with crudités or even big bowls of popcorn, chips and assorted nuts. I like to go the extra mile and put a little love into the party experience. And lets face it, after everyone’s had their third cocktail, the cook instantly becomes everyone’s hero. Here are a few of my favorite recipes. 

Oven Fried Ravioli

Ingredients 

• One package of Butoni 4 Cheese Ravioli (20 oz, any brand of refrigerated or frozen ravioli is just fine) 
• 3 Eggs 
• 3 cups of italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 Jar of marinara sauce (Newman’s Own Sockarooni is my favorite) 
• Salt and pepper

If you buy frozen ravioli, make sure you lay it out to thaw completely. 

Preheat oven to 375˚, line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. 

1- Using a pie tin or shallow bowl, place breadcrumbs. In another pie tin or shallow bowl, crack all three eggs and beat thoroughly, sprinkle salt and pepper in eggs. 

2- Start dredging the ravioli. First dip the ravioli into the eggs, allow the excess egg to drip off. Then dip the ravioli into the breadcrumbs and coat well. 

3- Line the ravioli on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle the tops of the ravioli with salt and pepper. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. 

Serve on a platter with the marinara sauce. If you are hosting a large group, just double the ingredients. 

Phyllo Triangles

Ingredients 

• 1 box of store bought phyllo dough (in the refrigerator cases) 
• 1, 16 oz package of Jimmy Dean Hot sausage 
• 1, 8 oz package of cream cheese
• 1 jar of marinara sauce 
• cooking spray
• 4 tbsp of melted butter

Pull out the phyllo dough about an hour before to thaw. 

Preheat oven to 350˚

Watch the video below about how to fold phyllo triangles. Use only one thin sheet of phyllo at a time. 

1- In a large pan, sauté the sausage until evenly browned (no pink left). In a colander, drain the fat away from the sausage. Return the sausage to pan lower the heat all the way to the lowest level. Add cream cheese and mix it well into the sausage. Turn off heat. 

2- Lay out the two strips of phyllo dough. Spray the length of the dough with cooking spray. MAKE SURE YOU’RE ONLY USING 1 SHEET! Place about 1 tbsp of the sausage cheese mixture at one end and fold like the video shows, sort of like how you fold a flag. 

Brush the last end of the phyllo dough with the butter and to help seal the triangle. 

3- Place on a cookie sheet, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until brown. Serve on a platter with the marinara in a bowl. Enjoy!