Curry stew with cashews (in crock-pot)

Curry - as in the yellow powder, not as in the Indian dishes - is one of the comforting spices of my childhood. Always mild, always combined with cream for the very best chicken dish... I love it. Nowadays, I don't use it a whole lot, but as I came across a recipe for a hot stew from Kenya in Sara Begnér's latest cookbook Glöd (means "glow") that has recipes from various places across the world, the curry powder intrigued me.

I decided to play down the heat completely, as spicy food isn't very popular in my family, and cook it all day in the crock-pot, to make dinner-time more effortless. It turned out really nice - flavorful and spiced, without being spicy. We ate it with bulgur, and plenty of toppings.

Curry stew with cashews (in crock-pot)
serves 4-6

1 kg stewing beef (I use "högrev" which I believe is chuck steak)
2 tbsp butter
salt, pepper
1-2 tbsp curry powder
2 beef stock cubes
700 ml water
2 yellow onions, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp smoked paprika (I used the sweet kind, without heat)
1/2 tbsp brown sugar

Toppings:
fresh coriander
dried apricots, chopped
toasted cashews
greek yogurt

Cut the meat into large dice. Heat half the butter on high heat, and brown the meat, a little at a time, on all sides. Transfer to crock-pot and toss with salt and pepper. Add the rest of the butter, the curry powder, the beef stock cubes and fry for a few seconds. Add a little of the water to deglaze the pan and pour all of the pan contents into the crock pot. Add the rest of the water, onions, garlic, and smoked paprika. Cook on low until the meat is tender - I had almost ten hours, but I'm sure a few hours less would have worked well too. Season with brown sugar, and taste to see that it's the way you want it. Serve with rice or bulgur, and toppings as you wish.

Pork Stew with Tarragon

I often buy pork shoulder to grill, in thin slices. However, that often leaves me with some leftover bits, that I can't slice thinly enough. I usually throw those in the freezer, and pull them out when I have enough to make a big pot of carnitas, or pulled pork, but for some reason I wanted to try something else. This is a quick and easy stew, and very tasty at that.

Pork Stew with Tarragon

serves 3
500 g pork, shoulder or tenderloin, in small dice
Pat of butter
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp cognac
1 tsp soy sauce

1 veg stock cube
300 ml cream
1 tsp tarragon

Salt
Black pepper
Cayenne

Brown the pork in a little bit of butter. Add the onion, and let it soften for a few minutes. Add the tomato purée, the cognac and the soy sauce, and stir well. Next, the stock cube, the cream and the tarragon. Let it cook on low heat, simmering, for about 20 minutes, Season with salt, pepper and a dash of cayenne.

Serve with rice, and whatever vegetables you like. We had some green beans with a little lemon and butter, and microwave-cooked carrots, with more butter, less lemon and a pinch of salt. The carrots are sliced, then cooked for 7 minutes on high, in a tightly lidded container. (that's made for the microwave, obviously - mine is by Tupperware.)

Chicken Chili

Chicken Chili
Serves 6

2 medium yellow onions
2 garlic cloves
1 kilo boneless chicken thighs
1 tbsp cooking oil
10 tomatoes
1 jalapeño chili pepper
300 ml water
1 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp ancho chili pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp chipotle sauce
1 tsp salt
1 can (400 g) small white beans

To serve:
sour cream
tortilla chips

Chop onions and garlic coarsely. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Halve the tomatoes and place with the cut side down in a roasting pan. Halve the jalapeño and remove the seeds. Place in the same roasting pan.

Heat the oven, as far as it'll go. Use a broiler if you have one! Bake the tomatoes for five minutes (or a little more) or until they're starting to blacken.

Place the tomatoes and jalapeño in a food processor and chop coarsely.

Heat the oil in a heavy pot. Brown the onion until golden. Add the chicken and garlic, and stir well. Add the chopped tomatoes/jalapeño, water, chicken stock and all the spices. Mix well and bring to a boil. Cover with a lid, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the beans, and cook for an additional ten minutes.

Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips.

Recipe in Swedish:
Kycklingchili