Campfire Stew (or Whose Ingredient Is It Anyway?)

So, I got a little cocky and probably should have expected that at some point one of these recipes would utterly blow up in my face as a result. The Campfire Stew is the humble maker.

I mixed apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, paprika, and some dried herbs (oregano, cumin, and ground rosemary), and then tossed three chicken thighs in this. While they braised in a 250(F) oven for 2-3 hours, I enjoyed a Hammer revenge flick.



Then, I began to brown the chorizo. I tossed in a chopped sweet onion and a large sweet green pepper with two finely diced garlic cloves and cooked these vegetables tender.



The chicken was de-boned and added. Following the chicken, I added a tomato paste concoction, a cup of chicken stock, and a splash of red wine.

And this was where everything really hit the fan.

Already, I had my misgivings about the food. I braised the chicken for too long - dry. The chorizo's consistency was not to my liking either. The vegetables were delicious, especially that sweet pepper. The flavors were blending rather nicely, and the wine totally tipped the scale.


Seen, here, tipping the scale.

Here is where I went wrong with making a stew like this.

1) The meat.
Chicken and chorizo. I should have picked one or the other, and in retrospect if I only had these two I would have gone with chicken. Unless you are cooking it in the casing, the chorizo gave me more of a chili consistency. Not what I wanted, I already have a chili recipe. In the future though, I will probably go with a red meat like lamb, venison or beef.


That's right, I'm coming for you!

2) The wine.
I never thought I would see the day that I would curse the name of alcohol so vehemently. A dry red would probably not have been such murder on any other stew if that stew were made with dark meat, or if that meat had been braised in the wine instead. Instead, I should have gone with a dry sherry. It's a bit more sweet, but despite this much more subtle than say... the dry red.

3) The pool.
Too many liquids. The chicken stock, the paste, the fat from the chorizo, and wine was drowning my stew, which is generally thicker than a soup.

So really, this has become a post about improvising in the kitchen, which is very similar to -


And Ming Na was not much of a help in my kitchen either. Boo, Mulan.

Okay, so, maybe it's not exactly like that? But sometimes a cooking project can be devastating when it bottoms out, and it becomes a whirlwind of activity to save it. I made this great batch of tomato sauce once and thought it was cool enough to jar. The second I put that jar down, the bottom shattered, and I really wanted to salvage it, despite the more rational side kicking in, saying: Rae, you can't serve glass with stuffed shells. The people just aren't ready.


Not ready.

The image I had of this homage to Dragon Age was facing total meltdown, and at this point I just wanted it to taste good.

The Fix.

To thin the stew pool out, I sliced up a Russet potato. I would totally not recommend Russet potato for a stew in any other situation. They are really great for mashed potatoes because if you heat them up enough they'll fall apart which is awesome for mashing. For stews though? You'll get potato slush. However, since this potato was being added late to the party, there was not much time or opportunity for it to fall apart. The starch in the potatoes seeped into the stew and began to thicken it up.

To fix the wine dilemma, I wound up adding about 1 1/2 tablespoons of honey and a can of diced tomatoes. The sweetness of the honey mellowed that harsh dry red wine taste, and the acidity of the tomatoes cut the rest of it.

So, was the dish saved? Yeah, it really was. It was delicious. I served it with quinoa and the red wine - we're cool now, obviously - and it was really yummy. I got to eat this meal on my BRAND NEW TABLE that my mom and her husband picked up for us.

In the end though... maybe I should have stuck with the Mabari crunch and a tall order of Lyrium. Those will definitely pop up on here eventually. I'm thinking in March when the expansion for Dragon Age Origins rolls around. I'm just too tickled by the idea to truly let it go.



I really want to try this stew again as well. I'm thinking venison, shallots, red potato, carrots, and fresh out of the pod peas. Anyone have any other suggestions? Believe me, after this big bowl of humble, I'm open to any tips, and ready to tackle the next dish which will be inspired by next week's game - Assassin's Creed II.


"Campfire Stew" made with chorizo and chicken, served on a bed of quinoa and a side of culprit red wine.