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This Fascinating History of Chicken Stew

Published on March 4, 2009 in Family. 0 Comments
by KC Kudra

Chicken stew is a delicious, warming meal. It is simple to make and you can make a lot of different variations of this tasty dish. Chicken stew actually has a fascinating history and this dish has been enjoyed for many centuries.

A stew is a combination of two or more foods simmered in a liquid. Coq au vin, Hungarian goulash, beef bourguignon, and beef stroganoff are all examples of stews.

The oldest cookbook ever found, the "Apicius de re Coquinaria", contains stew recipes, although these are fish and lamb stews rather than chicken stews. The identity of the author is unknown although there were three Romans with that name between 1 BC and 2 AD and the book is believed to date from that era.

It is possible to go back even further. Primitive tribes boiled foods together, which is what a stew is. Amazonian tribes used turtle shells to cook in and boiled the turtle entrails with other ingredients. Clam shells and similar were used by other cultures as cooking pots. This kind of cookery is proved to go back seven or eight thousand years with the archeological evidence we have access to. Pottery was invented about ten thousand years ago and this would have made cooking easier, especially dishes like stew.

Chicken has been domesticated for thousands of years and chicken stew recipes have been enjoyed throughout history too. Different cultures have different types of chicken stews. Examples include spicy Indian curry chicken stew and the chicken in black bean sauce, which is favored in Cuba.

Different Types of Chicken Stew

One type of chicken stew, which is a couple of hundred years old, is chicken booyah. This is like a thick soup or a thin stew and is eaten in northeast Wisconsin. The first Belgian immigrants came to Wisconsin in 1853 and they spoke a language called Walloon, which is nothing like English or French. It is thought that the Belgian wrote down booyah because he did not know how to spell bouillon and the name stuck.

Southern Chicken Stew

You might have heard of southern chicken stew too and it is still a very popular dish in some states, especially North Carolina. To make this dish, a whole chicken is parboiled in a milk or cream based broth and butter, salt, and pepper are added as well as other ingredients. This stew varies from thin to thick in consistency and from white to yellow in color, depending on the amount of butter or margarine used. Saltine crackers are often served with this dish.

Southern chicken stew is often served in the coolest months of the year and the phrase "chicken stew" can refer to the gathering itself rather than the food. A chicken stew recipe is usually thought of as a comfort food because these recipes are cheap to make, enjoyed by nearly everybody and they are warming and flavorful. This is a common dish served at social gatherings such as church fellowships, family reunions, and community fundraisers.

The chicken stew at these events will often be made in a big cast iron or stainless steel cooking pot, maybe outdoors over an open fire. You might get coleslaw, a grilled cheese sandwich or rice served with the chicken stew.

About the Author:
Want to learn how to make a great bowl of chicken soup it starts with a great chicken soup recipe find tons at the site that is nothing but chicken soup and stew ChickenNoodleSoups.com.
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Tips for Making Delicious Stew Recipes

Published on February 28, 2009 in Family. 0 Comments
by KC Kudra

When the weather is cold and your family is craving something thick and warming, how about making a delicious stew? A stew is a mixture of solid foods such as meat or fish and vegetables, which have been cooked slowly or simmered in liquid to combine the flavors well. The liquid is served as well as the chunky bits.

Popular ingredients to use in stew recipes include chicken, seafood, meat, potatoes, fish, beans, fruit, and carrots. You can use bouillon, water, beer, or wine in the stew liquid and seasonings give the dish more flavor.

Is Stew the Same as Soup?

Stewing is often used for cheap, tough meat cuts because stewing is the only way to make them tender. A stew has larger pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables than a soup and there is more of those and less liquid than you would get in a soup.

Stew is served as a main dish rather than as an appetizer and always contains chunky ingredients. Soup can be served as pureed liquid only without any bits in and is always served in a bowl or deep dish. A chunky stew can be served on a plate.

How to Make Stew More Interesting

There is a limit to how flavorful a combination of meat, vegetables and water can be, which is why it is useful to know how to make your stew recipes flavorful.

Stew is a very versatile dish and can work well with many different combinations of meat, vegetables, liquids, herbs, and spices. It is a good idea to season your stew meat with plenty of salt and pepper before searing them in a hot pan.

You might want to roll the meat in flour to thicken up the stew. Meat chunks should be browned all over before you add them to the liquid. This means they will not dry out. This applies whichever type of meat you are using - chicken, beef, pork, or something else.

The next thing to do is saut your vegetables before adding wine, water, broth, juice, or another liquid. You need to scrape the bottom of the pan to get any stuck on bits off and mix them into the liquid. This adds lots of flavor. Put the meat back into the pan with the vegetables and liquid and cook it slowly until the flavors are well combined and everything is tender.

You should check the stew now and then to see if it needs more liquid, more seasoning, or a stir. When it is cooked, you can add some parsley, crumbled bacon, cider, or lemon juice to liven up the flavor. You can serve it with some warm bread on the side for mopping up the tasty juices.

It is fun to make stew and extremely simple too. Whether you want to make a traditional Irish stew or a Moroccan chicken stew, as long as you follow the above tips your stew should be very nice.

About the Author:
Want to learn how to make a great bowl of chicken soup it starts with a great chicken soup recipe find tons at the site that is nothing but chicken soup and stew ChickenNoodleSoups.com.
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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Mexican food

Published on January 10, 2009 in Family. 0 Comments
by KC Kudra

Mexican food is gaining popularity all over the globe for many reasons. There is a wide range of Mexican food and you can taste combinations you might not have tried before. It smells wonderful, tastes great, and is also very healthy. Mexican food differs through the ages, depending on the ingredients available but the sheer volume of Mexican restaurants appearing all over the world prove what an exciting and enjoyable cuisine it is. Authentic Mexican recipes are easy to find but if you want to make your own Mexican food, you can be as creative as you like.

A lot of the Mexican food available to day is based on traditional Mexican recipes, which the Aztecs and Mayas invented. There are also some exotic recipes featuring iguana, rattlesnake, and spider monkeys, which are not unheard of ingredients but are seldom used in modern Mexican cuisine. We have plenty more ingredients from all over the world to use in our recipes these days and Mexican food has evolved as a result of that.

In addition, Mexican food evolved more when the Spanish colonists arrived, bringing new cookery ideas, methods, and different ingredients to incorporate in existing Mexican food dishes. Chili pepper has been a staple ingredient in Mexican recipes for thousands of years and is still very popular. Some Mexican dishes, especially those originating from the Yucatan and Vera Cruz, have a Caribbean influence. Other Mexican dishes, such as bolillo, have a French influence. Bolillo is a popular Mexican bread.

There are many health benefits when it comes to Mexican foods. They are rich in vitamins and minerals, with low fat and calories. You are not eating authentic Mexican food if you eat at Taco Bell. America has added many fats to the foods, which does not contain all the nutrients you would eat if you ate in Mexico. Mexican dishes contain many fresh ingredients that you may not be able to find in other types of cuisine. Tomatoes, peppers, onions, and others are very healthy for your body.

Each Mexican region offers different Mexican food. A lot of this depends on the geography and climate of the region and its ethnic differences. In the north of Mexico, meat dishes are very popular. In the south, vegetables and chicken are widely used. The Mexican state of Vera Cruz produces a lot of seafood dishes because this state is long and tropical and there are lowlands running up and down the Gulf of Mexico. Fish such as grouper, red snapper, mojarra, and snook are easy to find. Mojarra is an especially delicious local fish. Lobsters, crab, and oysters are plentiful.

Besides the ocean, the state has more than 40 rivers that run through it. It has an endless supply of freshwater fish and shellfish. The food is prepared in a way that reflects unique dishes of the state. Seafood is very healthy for your body and can add a different taste to regular classic Mexican food dishes.

You can learn a lot of history and facts about Mexican food by the different regions. Trying new recipes will give you a taste as to why they differ. With Mexican culture rich in history, it is always nice to learn about how the foods came about and how they are nowadays. Once you are knowledgeable about the dishes, it makes it even more enjoyable when cooking and eating.

About the Author:
South of the border doesn't just mean beans discover Mexican food recipes full of flavor. Authentic Mexican recipes that your family will love to eat all the time.
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