Incredible Chicken Stew

This stew is really good but ya gotta start with roasting some chicken pieces. Here is my recipe for awesome roasted chicken:

Tim’s Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

3 chicken quarters – bone in, skin on
Olive oil to coat

1 Tablespoon granulated garlic powder

1 Tablespoon onion powder

2 Teaspoon salt

1 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ Teaspoon ground thyme

Instructions:
Pre Heat oven to 475° F
Rub chicken with olive oil on both sides. Mix all spices together and sprinkle liberally onto both sides of chicken.
Roast for 1 hour and check for doneness. If juices run clear remove from oven and let rest, If not cook an additional 20 minutes. For bone in, skin on thighs cook for 20 to 30 minutes then check them.

After the chicken cools, debone it using your God-given tools: Your hands! then once all the chicken is off the bone your ready to make this stew. It is SO good I am telling you. This stew could also be used as Chicken pot pie filling by just adding some frozen peas at the end. Or you could add a bit more stock and drop in rolled dumplings and make it into Chicken and dumplings! It is really versatile. 

OK now let's make some stew! 

Tim’s Chicken Stew

INgredients:

3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 tbsp. olive oil 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced into coins 1 small onion, large chop 1 stalk celery, chopped Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour 1 1/2 lb. Roasted Chicken, deboned and shredded.

1 bay leaf 3/4 lb. baby potatoes, quartered 3 c. low-sodium chicken broth ¼ Cup freshly chopped parsley, divided

DIRECTIONS

1.  In a large pot heat olive oil to medium high heat. Add carrots, celery, onions and half the parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2.  Add flour and stir until the vegetables are coated, then add thyme, bay leaf, potatoes, and broth. Season with salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, 15 min.

3.  Add chicken and simmer for 5 minutes 

4.  Garnish with parsley before serving.

A good dinner to be sure. Have a great day and remember to thank God for His provision. :) 

Steak Soup

I often search the WWW for good recipes and when I find a good one I often make it and then I modify it to my liking. But sometimes I just come up with a good recipe using my own pea brain and it comes out pretty darn good. That is the case with this recipe, I wanted a good steak soup recipe with everything that I love about getting a good steak dinner at a nice steak house. So I created this steak soup. I did a little research on the web and found that most steak soup recipes used stew meat. I did not have time to let the stew meat marinade nor did I want to cook it in the crockpot all day. So I used a good New York Steak. I cut it up into cubes and then dredged it in seasoned flour and my own steak rub (My steak rub is 1 tablespoons thyme, 1 tablespoons garlic powder, 2 tablespoons parsley flakes 1/4 tablespoon paprika, 1/4 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper and 1/2 tablespoon salt, grind all together in a coffee grinder). Then I seared it all together in two tablespoons of oil in a hot skillet until they were nicely browned on the outside then added them to the pot..

Then I diced 1 half of a large yellow onion and about 1 cup of mushrooms and sautéed those until the onions were soft. I put a pot on the stove and put in 1 can of beef broth and 1/2 can of water into it. Then I added some veggies; a half bag of California blend which is carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. To that I added 1 can of green beans, drained and a cup and a half of chopped frozen spinach and 2 cloves of garlic minced. Next I diced up a medium potato and added that to the pan. Then I added the meat in

and added about a tablespoon of my Steak rub. I let the whole thing cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes were fork tender.  The soup was so good! Hope you try it and tell me what you think.

Tim’s Steak Soup:
1 Can beef broth
1 New York Steak chopped Into cubes
Half bag California Blend vegetables (Carrots, Broccoli and Cauliflower)
1 1/2 cup chopped frozen spinach
I medium potato cubed
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced
Tim’s Steak Rub (See recipe above)
1 Large clove garlic, minced
*Note, the broth was a bit green from the spinach so next time I am going to rinse and drain the spinach first.

Home made Spanakopita

Today I made Spanakopita which are little Greek appetizers, if you have never heard of them before check out this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanakopita

To make them I drained 1 pound of frozen spinach and squeezed out as much of the water as I could. Then I chopped 1 bunch of green onions, and sauted those in 1 tablespoon olive oil.

To the spinach I added salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, 1 large pinch garlic powder and 1 pinch of nutmeg. When the onions were soft I added the spinach and cooked for about 3 minutes. Then set the spinach aside to cool.

Next I whisked two eggs and measured out 16 oz. of Feta Cheese. After the spinach cooled I added the feta and just enough of the eggs to moisten the mixture.

Then came the fun part; I have never worked with phyllo dough before and was a bit apprehensive. When working with frozen phyllo you have to let it defrost in the refrigerator the day before, then when you unroll the phyllo out it has to have a damp towel kept on top of it or it dries out and gets brittle. Well I did all that and had no problems, it is not as hard to work with as I first thought.

I cut the sheet into 3 by 11 inch strips, then working carefully I laid out one strip at a time and brushed with melted butter. Then put in about 1/2 teaspoon of the spinach filling and folded up each one like a flag (Or for those of you who remember playing table top football with the piece of paper folded into a triangle you will know what I am talking about) put the filling 1 inch from the end and fold over then keep folding until you have a nice looking triangle, simple.

Then they bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely browned. Here is the recipe that I followed with my modifications:

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds spinach, (or 1 package frozen) washed and drained
1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1Tablespoon dried parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Large pinch garlic powder
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1 to 2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
½ box phyllo pastry sheets
Directions:
Drain 1 package frozen spinach, set aside. Add olive oil to a large skillet, add scallions and sauté until soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the spinach to the scallions, along with the parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder and nutmeg. Cook over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, and then remove from heat to cool. (This part can be done ahead and kept refrigerated).
Stir the feta and as much beaten egg to moisten the cooled spinach mixture.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a baking sheet with some of the melted butter.
Unroll the phyllo dough on a flat surface and keep it covered with waxed paper and a damp towel so it doesn't dry out and become brittle. Using a sharp knife, cut the phyllo into 3 by 11 inch strips, and re-cover with the towel. Use a pastry brush to brush a strip of phyllo with melted butter. Place a small spoonful of spinach filling 1 inch from the end of the pastry. Fold the end over the filling to form a triangle, and then continue to fold up the strip in triangles, like folding up a flag. Continue with remaining strips of dough, placing filled triangles on the baking sheet and keeping them covered with a towel until all are ready to bake.
Brush the triangles lightly with butter, and then bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Serve hot. (These may be frozen before baking, layering waxed paper between layers of triangles to keep them from sticking. Bake frozen triangles an extra 10 minutes.)
Variation: Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking pan, and spread 6 sheets of phyllo, brushing each with butter, on the bottom. Spoon the spinach filling over the phyllo, then cover with 6 more sheets of phyllo, buttering each sheet. Score the top 3 sheets with a sharp knife. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until top is golden, let stand 15 minutes, then cut into squares and serve warm.
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It is neat how food is so comforting, but I have learned that the Holy Spirit is way more comforting than food but I sure am having fun cooking!