GROUND NUT STEW

We had a missionary dinner tonight at church with Chuck & Janet Wilson

from Oregon. They are missionaries to Botswana. They were very interesting

speakers, talking about the bible college they helped build and also about

their work with the bush people in Botswana. They are living here in the

states earning money to hopefully be back there by the end of December.

They cooked a wonderful meal of an African dish called Ground Nut Stew for

all of us. You can see it in the picture--it's the reddish stew in the large white

and black container. The name must come from the fact that there is peanut 

butter in it because I didn't see or taste any other nuts.

Peanut butter is used in cooking in west Africa because they raise peanuts

there. I loved the taste of this stew and they seasoned it just right even though

they made it about 1/4 as hot as the people eat it in Africa!

In any case, it was delicious and made a gob-I know I will be making this again.

GROUND NUT STEW (Serves 15-20)

2 ½ pounds of chopped & cooked chicken (Prefer boneless chicken breasts)
2 Onions
1 Green pepper
1 Red pepper
2 large cans of chopped stewed tomatoes (28 oz)
1 medium can of tomato paste (12 oz)
1 1/2 cup of peanut butter (smooth)
1 tsp of salt
Cayenne Pepper (to taste----about 1-2 tsp)
4 cups of uncooked long grain rice

Cooking Instructions:

1. Cook the chicken and save the broth

2. We like cooking the stew in a 18 or 25 quart Roaster.

3. Dice the vegetables.

4. Cook the vegetables until tender in the tomatoes. Add 

the chicken broth to get a consistency that won’t stick.

5. Add chicken and let simmer for at least an hour

6. You will need to add several cups of the chicken broth 

back into to the stew until the consistency is like a stew.

7. Add cayenne pepper to taste.

8. Add peanut butter and let simmer for about half an hour. 

(Be careful to keep it at low temperature, tends to stick or 

burn if you aren’t careful.

9. Cook Rice---often I add the remaining chicken broth when 

making the rice.

Serve over rice.

SALMON CHOWDER II

My younger brother was very generous on Monday and shared a fresh King Salmon
with us. There are a fair amount of people here that enjoy fishing, but either have so
much fish or don't like fish (gasp!) so they give their catch away to a few lucky people.
This salmon was from a friend of his that visits here for a few weeks of the year just 

to fish. 

Our neighbor did that for us last year during fishing season. He lives in another state
for most of the year and lives in the house next to us from May-September so he can
fish. Well when you fish almost everyday in SE Alaska you are bound to accumulate a
lot of fish in your freezer, even if you eat it everyday. He would call us up the driveway
when he got back from fishing and we would help him clean and package the fish, then

take most of it home. He was happy it wasn't going to waste and we were happy to help 

by eating it! I was also smiling last year when he showed up on my doorstep with 2 big

shopping bags of frozen vegetables from his chest freezer. He didn't want them sitting 

all year in the freezer, so gave them to us. It felt like Christmas to me!

I have no idea what salmon costs in the store. Everything I read says wild caught is
so much better for you than farmed salmon. Did you know the flesh of farmed salmon
isn't pink because they are eating domestic food, so dye is fed to the fish to make it
look better? Google this subject and I'll bet you never buy farmed salmon again-eew!

With all of this salmon filling my freezer I have been looking for recipes to make with 

it. I have another Salmon Chowder recipe on my blog here that is good, but I think 

this one is much better. It has excellent flavor from the dill and the cheese added at the
end finishes it off perfectly. I always double this recipe because it tastes even better
the next day. One crucial thing I have learned with soups that have a milk product
in them--never boil after the milk is added. Even a small boil will curdle the milk
and it still tastes good but isn't very appetizing to look at.

Try it--I think you'll like it!

SALMON CHOWDER II

3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups diced potatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
32 ounces cooked salmon (2 cans if you don't have fresh)
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1/2 pound shredded Cheddar Cheese ( I use medium)

Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and garlic powder
until onions are tender. Stir in potatoes, broth, salt, pepper and dill. Bring to boil and reduce
heat. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. **Remember--this is
where you cook the potatoes to the point that you want them. If you boil the soup to cook
the potatoes more after the milk is added it will curdle.

Stir in salmon, evaporated milk and cheese. Cook on low just until heated through.

Yield: 8 small or 4 large servings.

CABBAGE PATCH SOUP

I love hot soup when the weather's cold! I ate this soup years and years ago in
the Cabbage Patch Inn, located in Snohomish, Washington. Snohomish is known
for their antique stores and the lady that owned the Cabbage Patch Inn was a
friend of a friend, so she gave me the recipe.

I used ground moose meat instead of beef and was it ever good. This soup is
loaded with nutrition and it is very simple to put together. The recipe is set up
for the soup to be made in a crockpot, but you can also make it in a regular
soup pot on the stove top; you just need to give it sufficient time over low heat
to cook the cabbage well. One way to save some time is if you shred the cabbage
instead of chopping it.

The chili and garlic powders are what makes it tasty--I add lots!



1 small head of cabbage, chopped
1 onion, chopped.
1 lb. ground beef, browned
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes ( I chop them so the pieces are smaller)
1 large can kidney beans
2 stems celery, chopped
salt, garlic powder, chili powder to taste.

Brown ground beef with onion and drain. Place in crockpot with all other ingredients
and cook all day on low. Delicious served with freshly made french bread for dipping.

SALMON CHOWDER

Whenever I cook salmon I always make extra so that I have left overs to make this delicious chowder. The recipe came from Alaska Magazine's cabin cookbook and is nutritious, easy and very, very tasty! I have always used salmon, but I would imagine any kind of fish you had on hand would work in this chowder. For an extra bit of flavor you can substitute sharp cheddar for the American cheese.





Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter in a large soup pot. Add 1 cup finely chopped onion and 1 cup diced celery, stirring constantly until the vegetables are just translucent.

Add 3 cups diced raw potatoes and 3 cups water--cook until the potatoes are just tender.

Add 2 cups cooked, flaked salmon. Simmer gently for 5 minutes or until the salmon is heated through.

Add 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, a couple of dashes of fresh pepper, a smidgen of cayenne pepper, 1 quart fresh milk and 1 cup grated American cheese. Heat again, slowly on low heat just until the cheese melts. If you boil chowder too much the potatoes will dissolve and the milk wants to separate, so simmering on lower heat settings is best.

Serve in large soup bowls with chopped parsley sprinkled over each serving for extra taste and color. We had homemade bran muffins with ours and they were perfect with butter and homemade jelly.

CROCKPOT OLIVE GARDEN SOUP

This is a flavorful, healthy soup that is perfect for the crockpot. I call it Olive Garden because it tastes a lot like the soup they serve in their restaurants (for about 1/4 the cost!) Dinner can be started in the morning (or the night before and refrigerated if you have a crockpot with a removeable insert) and simmers on low all day so you come home to a perfectly cooked meal and a great smelling kitchen. This makes a huge amount of soup that fills a large crockpot, so there is bound to be enough leftover to share or freeze for a quick dinner another time. I served it with homemade French bread, but rolls would be just as good to dip in the delicious broth.

1 pound lean, organic ground beef (I used venison)
1 small onion, diced
2 cups carrot, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 15 ounce can red kidney beans (w/liquid)
1 15 ounce can great northern beans (w/liquid)
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
12 ounces V-8 Juice (I like the bottled)
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 pound short tube pasta

Brown the beef in a large saucepan and drain any fat once cooked.

Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the saucepan and saute for 10 minutes.

While vegetables are cooking, place remaining ingredients in crockpot except pasta. Add beef/vegetable mixture to crockpot and place on low heat for up to 8 hours.

Before serving the soup, cook the pasta in 1 1/2 quarts boiling water until al dente, or slightly chewy. Drain pasta and rinse under hot water in a colander then add to soup. Simmer for 10 minutes to heat through, then serve.

This serves approx. 8 people 1 1/2 cups of soup each.