Bonnies Chicken Red Pepper Stew Recipes

BONNIE'S ITALIAN STEW

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• For the meatballs:
• Pour the milk over bread and soak to soften.
• Place the meat in a mixing bowl and add the cheese, EVOO, fennel, crushed red pepper, garlic, egg, parsley, salt and pepper.
• Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and crumble into crumbs as you add it to the meat. Combine the meatball mix and roll into 2-inch balls. Place the meatballs on nonstick baking sheet sprayed with olive oil spray and roast until browned but not fully cooked, 10 to 12 minutes.
• For the stew:
• Meanwhile, heat the EVOO in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garlic, onions and bay, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until translucent, stirring occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes. Then add the tomato paste and stir until fragrant. Add the beef stock and tomatoes, then break up the tomatoes with a potato masher. Add the basil, potatoes and meatballs and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat back to medium, partially cover and cook 10 minutes. Add the green beans and cook 7 to 8 minutes more.
• Serve, or cool completely and store for make-ahead meal. Reheat over a medium-low flame, partially covered, stirring occasionally (or reheat in a 325 degree F oven) until sauce is bubbly.
• To serve, top shallow bowls of stew with cheese and an extra drizzle of EVOO.

BONNIE'S CHICKEN RED PEPPER STEW

Steps:

• 1. Wash chicken thighs, add to slow cooker. Prepare the vegetables and cut them into large chunks, except the onions: cut them into very thick rings. Add all the vegetables to the pot, including the canned vegetables. Add enough water to cover the vegetables and chicken about 3/4 of the pot. Now add all the seasonings. Cook in the slow cooker on high for 6 hours. Adjust temperature if needed.
• 2. Add the minute rice the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Serve with crunchy bread or biscuits! Enjoy!

CHICKEN AND PEPPER STEW

Steps:

• Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper. Heat the canola or vegetable oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, and brown the chicken pieces, in batches, on each side for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl or plate. Pour off the fat from the pan and discard.
• Turn the heat down to medium. Add the olive oil and the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze, until the onions begin to soften. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the hot and sweet peppers, a bit of salt and the garlic, and cook, stirring, until the peppers begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sugar and stir together until the tomatoes begin to bubble and smell fragrant, about 5 minutes.
• Return the chicken pieces to the pan. Cover and cook 25 to 30 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring at regular intervals and turning the chicken pieces over so that the ingredients don't scorch and the chicken cooks evenly. The peppers should be very soft and the chicken quite tender. Add freshly ground pepper, taste and adjust the salt, and serve with rice, other grains of your choice or noodles.

PRESSURE COOKER CHICKPEA, RED PEPPER AND TOMATO STEW

Steps:

• Turn on the sauté setting on a 6- to 8-quart electric pressure cooker. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, then add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and their oil, garlic and smoked paprika, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and their liquid, roasted red peppers and canned tomatoes. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing is sticking, until fragrant and combined, about 1 minute. Stir in the vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper.
• Turn off the sauté setting. Put the lid on the pressure cooker and turn the steam valve to sealed. Set to cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. After the cook time, turn off the heat and let the pressure reduce naturally for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually by twisting the steam valve to vent.
• Taste the stew, and add additional salt, pepper or vinegar, if you like. Serve the stew in bowls, topped with a drizzle of olive oil, red-pepper flakes and smoked almonds.

BONNIE'S PIONEER CHICKEN AND HERB DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• 1. Cook's Tip: You will need a large Dutch oven or pot with a tight fitting lid. I use a cast iron Dutch oven.
• 2. Select a young 4 to 5 pound chicken. You can use all parts of the chicken, but it is less bones if you use the legs, thighs and breast meat, which is what I do. I make stock for future use from the remaining parts of the chicken.
• 3. Remove the skin from the chicken. Cut the breast meat in half so all the pieces are about the same size. Place the chicken pieces in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat.
• 4. Add 8 cups of water. Add the bay leaves, rubbed sage, salt and pepper. Bring pot to a boil then turn down to a simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender.
• 5. Lift out the chicken to a platter and remove the bones and return the chicken to the pot. Add the stick of butter. Now, add the remaining vegetables and bring temperature back up and then when it comes to a boil, turn down to a simmer. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove bay leaves. Check seasoning for salt and pepper.
• 6. Thicken or not to thicken? We prefer our broth to be more like a stew and the addition of dumplings does thicken it somewhat. Optional: If you like a thicker stew, now is the time to thicken it by adding 2 tablespoons of flour to ½ cup cold water and whisk until smooth and then add to the broth. Stir.
• 7. Making Dumplings In a small bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, sage, garlic and onion powder, and parsley. Mix dry ingredients well, then add butter. Mash the butter into the flour with a fork, then using your fingers distribute it evenly throughout the flour, then add milk.
• 8. Stir mixture just until wet. The goal is to make a sticky, moist, spoonable dough. Dip your spoon in the hot broth, and then drop spoonfuls of the dough into the simmering broth until the bowl is empty. Turn the heat up and bring it to a boil and then immediately turn the heat to simmer (so it won't tear your dumplings) Put the lid on tight. Cook 20 minutes. NO PEEKING, PLEASE! You will lose your steam, because the heat and steam is what cooks your dumplings.
• 9. Serve this delicious chicken and dumplings in bowls. Enjoy!