Slow and inexpensive can equal tasty
While wars rage and a brewery finally buys the Habs, I’ve got more important things to do. Like making chicken stew.
The ideas for meals are often the result of something that comes to mind. Earlier this week, I had seen a recipe for making stew in a slow cooker. Good recipe, but I don’t own a crockpot. The amount of food that comes out is too quickly served and digested with the crew we have around here. Making a pre-meal isn’t terribly productive or kind to a budget.
I happened to spot some cheap (one of the more important qualities of food, often neglected by the dietary professionals) chicken backs, and at $1.50/lb the urge to try something new was strong. Home with my protein, as well as a bag of carrots and a tray of green snap beans, I was ready for action. In passing, preparing carrots and beans takes much longer when you do them for real. I better understand the market penetration of canned foods after spending an hour at the chopping block.
It made sense that the chicken would serve for a tasty stock if I put the bones to boil. Sure enough, after an hour I had some wellcooked meat and some bones that were ready for composting. Back to work on my stew. All the meat went back to a slow boil, along with a mess of potatoes and my veggies. Some odd spices from the cabinet and an afternoon of low temperature boil left us with a tasty (and economical) supper. Not so hard when you have a few hours before mealtime.
