Meat Stew

Ingredients:

2 TBSP olive oil 

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced. 

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced. 

1/2 cup carrots, sliced thinly. 

1/2 cup celery, sliced thinly. 

1 cup turkey broth. 

1/4 lb lean hamburger, cubed.

1 ea Italian sausage link, cubed. 

4 slices bacon, cubed. 

1/2 roasted chicken breaks, cubed. 

1/2 cup roasted tomatoes. 

2 tsp dried sage. 

1 TBSP Herbs de Provence. 

Salt, to taste.

Lemon drop pepper, to taste

Instructions

Fry hamburger, sausage and bacon until thoroughly cooked. 

At the same time, saute garlic and onions in olive oil in a separate pan until tender. Add carrots and celery to saute.

Blend tomatoes with 1/2 cup broth to create a tomato paste. Add to saute mix. 

When the carrots and celery begin soften, add the rest of the turkey broth and bring to a simmer. Add all the meat. Add the spices and simmer until flavors are well combined and the stew has thickened. 

Serves 2 or 3.

Baked Salmon and Herbs

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 portions salmon (I used Sockeye, 4oz portions), defrosted
1 slice whole grain bread. (Stale is fine.)
2 cloves garlic.
½ tsp roasted garlic powder.
2 TBSP Parmesan cheese.
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves.
1 TBSP fresh rosemary leaves.
¼ tsp salt.
Just a little hot pepper (I used Lemon Drop Lemon Pepper)

Directions:
• Line a baking tray with aluminum foil. Coat with olive oil spray.
• Combine all other ingredients in Bullet blender or small food processor. Blend until it’s not much more than powder.
• Next time: add 1 or 2 TBSP frozen butter patties late in blending.
• Place salmon on the tray. Coat with olive oil spray. Spread bread crumb mixture over the salmon, making sure to cover it all.
• Bake at 350° for 30 minutes until the fish flakes pretty easily. I added a little butter on top, since I didn’t have butter in the bread crumbs.

○ Serve with steamed veggies or roast squash.

McBert Chili

(Prep time 20 minutes cook time 6+ hours)

Ingredients 

-veggie stock box or equal Better-than-Boullion 

-1 can embasa chipotle peppers in adobo sauce 

-dried peppers (Anaheim, jalepeno, pasilla, habenero)

-1 white onion

-2 cans of black beans

-2 cans of kidney beans

-2 small cans of green hatch chilis 

-½ T anchovy paste

-steak chunks 

-soy chorizo

In a large sauce pan start heating the stock, add dried chilies. Our preference is 2 pasilla, 3 jalapeno, 1 habanero. 

Open the tin of adobo sauce and chipotle remove stems, and blend the contents. Add to stock.

Let simmer down until you are happy with the density of flavour. Remove the hotter peppers when happy with heat level. Remember it will get a little hotter. 

While it is simmering, coarsely chop the onion. In a large pot or crock pot, put the beans, the green chilis and the onion in the pot. Stir in anchovy paste. Turn on low.  

Remove the last of the dried peppers, and pour stock into the pot. Let cook on low for at least 6 hours.

When satisfied with flavour and thickness, chop steak into 1" cubes, and sear in a hot pan. Remove chorizo from casing, stir in with steak and add to chili. Let cook on low for an hour or until steak is cooked and very tender. 

I love this chili. Really flavorful. Really dense flavors. 

We served it for dinner with a small dollop of sour cream, and I had it for leftovers with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese.