SHOPPING LIST:
To make this stew, I had to buy potatoes, carrots, onions, turkey meat, flour, and instant stuffing mix. I already had the other ingredients on hand. My grocery bill was $14.11(US). Not too shabby for a weeks worth of food, if I may say so.
INGREDIENTS:
6 russet potatoes
3-4 large carrots (or 5-8 smallish ones)
1 large onion (or 2 med, or 3 small)
3-4 large (or 6-8 small) cloves garlic
Two turkey thighs OR four turkey drumsticks
2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) flour
~2 Tbsp salt
~2 Tbsp pepper
2 large (or 3-4 small) bay leaves
3-4 Tbsp parsley flakes *
3 Tbsp worchestershire sauce *
~ 1/4 Teaspoon (tsp) allspice *
a dash of the following:
garlic salt *
onion salt *
celery salt *
instant stuffing mix
butter (or margarine, if you must)
3-4 Tbsp olive oil (extra virgin if you can afford it)
EQUIPMENT:
large stock pot
sauce pan
baking dish
HOW TO:
Wash and peel the carrots and potatoes
Cut into about 1" chunks
Put in a bowl of water to keep potatoes from turning brown
Peel, and coarsely chop onion(s) and garlic
Place stock pot over medium to medium-high heat
Add olive oil and a pat (about 1 Tbsp) butter
When hot, add turkey meat to pot and brown on both sides
Remove browned turkey
Add onions and garlic to pot along with a little salt and pepper, scraping up brown bits from the bottom as you stir
When onions are translucent, add potatoes and carrots (season again with salt and pepper)
Return turkey meat to the pot
Add water to cover **
Add salt, pepper, bay leaves, parsley, allspice, garlic/onion/celery salt, and worchestershire sauce
Turn heat to high, allow to come to a rolling boil
Once boiling, turn heat to low, cover pot, and let cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Taste for seasoning - add salt and pepper if needed
Remove turkey from pot, shred with a couple of forks, then return meat to pot (discard bones and skins)
Remove 1-2 cups of broth from the pot, add about 2 Tbsp flour and mix well
Add flour/broth mixture back to pot and stir well
Let cook for about 30 more minutes, stirring occasionally
In sauce pan, prepare instant stuffing according to directions on box
Spread stuffing into an even layer in a baking dish
Set oven to "Broil" and put the stuffing in the oven
This should crisp up in 5-7 minutes, but you'll want to keep an eye on it.
When crisp, remove from oven.
TO SERVE:
Ladle a bowl full of stew, cut out a chunk of stuffing and float it on top of the stew. Bon apetit!
Once the rest of the stew has cooled, transfer it to a large covered bowl for storage in your fridge. Cover the stuffing, and keep it in the fridge too.
REHEATING IDEAS:
Of course, you could just fill a bowl with the stew, add a hunk of the stuffing on top, then stick it in the microwave on high for about 3.5 minutes.
If you run out of stuffing before running out of stew, you could always just go get another box, since they're pretty cheap. Or you could place some bread in the bottom of the bowl before filling with stew and reheating... Kind of like an open faced (and really wet) sandwich.
Of course, you could also always freeze some of the stew for much later consumption.
Feel free to adjust the recipe to suit your own tastes. If I hadn't needed to buy flour, I probably would have picked up some celery and added it with the potatoes and carrots. I haven't tried it yet, but I imagine this would probably also be pretty tasty with chicken.
Thanks again, and we'll see you next time!
* Optional ingredients - if you have 'em, use 'em.
** If your budget allows, feel free to use half water and half chicken/vegetable/turkey stock.
