Different cooking styles

Just so you know, most recipes for stews can be made either in a crock pot, cassarole dish, or large pot. You can even use a large frying pan. The effects will vary, and each method has pros and cons.

Crock pots are easy to use -- you need to have plenty of time (3-6 hours) to let things simmer, but once it's set up to go, you can pretty much leave it alone all day (although occasional stirring will help prevent stuff from sticking, but it's not strictly necessary). You can get an inexpensive crock pot if you just want to experiment with it, but the more expensive models have all kinds of bells and whistles - timers, several different temperatures, etc. To my experience, crock pots start at around 40 or 50 dollars.

A large cassarole dish should probably be lightly coated w/ oil before adding ingredients, and you'll want to make sure things are spread around evenly (more or less). A large cassarole dish with a lid might start at around 10 bucks, although those fancy ones can easily run a lot more (think 80-90 dollars). Things cook a lot faster in a large cassarole dish, and you can just leave it in the oven. If you wanted to go to an event of some sort and needed to just leave it to bake for a couple of hours, you can bake on a lower heat (around 300), but normally, I bake cassaroles at 350 and it takes about an hour.

A large cooking pot that stands about 9 inches tall and 9 to 10 inches in diameter, cooks on the stovetop, and comparatively fast (typically about 30-40 minutes). You should definitely start with some oil (or butter, yum!) in the bottom to prevent sticking and scorching. And you should pay closer attention with a stew made in a pot, than in the crock pot or cassarole - stirring to keep the bottom from scorching, unless there is a fair amount of fluid in there. You add ingredients according to how fast they cook, and you can sautee ingredients first (this is nice to help open up the flavor of spices, or to take the sharp flavor out of onions or garlic). Then add the rest of the ingredients: Meats generally need longest, then root veggies, then any other softer ingredients. A large cooking pot with a lid, like this will probably start at around 10 dollars, too.

And if you want to get even fancier, you can cook some ingredients separately, in a second pot, and add them to the stew just before serving. If you would like things to have more individual flavors, anyway. It's up to you! I'm just the messenger, here. Enjoy!

By popular demand!

It's come to my attention that some readers need easy recipes; here you go!

Vicki's Wicked Chicken
Easy, filling - best teamed up with a salad or steamed broccoli to punch up the nutrition, but still - it's easy and filling! Inspired by a night when I wanted a home-cooked meal, but I was too tired to do anything fancy.

You will need a large cassarole dish with a lid, and a knife and cutting board.

Grease or oil the cassarole dish - smear it around so that the bottom is covered and the sides are oiled/greased about half-way up the sides. You could use one of those oil sprays if you want to cut calories.

Add:

• About one pound of frozen potatos -the type that you bake and eat. I like Alexia Foods' ones, but you could use any brand. You could even buy potatoes in the produce section and just slice them up. About one pound. No need to thaw them first - just dump them into the pan and arrange them in a more-or-less even layer in the bottom.
• About 1-2 cups of cleaned, sliced carrots and onion. Spread over the top of the potatos more or less evenly. You could use any veggies you might want - mushrooms, turnips, etc -- root veggies are best. I would avoid using strong tasting veggies like broccoli in this dish.
• About 1 pound of skinless, boneless chicken, cut up into chunks about 1" squarish in size, and added evenly over the top of the veggies.
• Sprinkle over the top -- about 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning salt, or any mix of herbs and salt you want. I like steak seasoning salt, but there are blends out there specific to poultry.

Put the lid on the cassarole, and put it in a 350 oven to bake until it smells right and the chicken is done - about an hour.

An hour is about right for a salad, no? Take a large bowl, add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, about half that amount of vinegar (less if it's balsamic vinegar), a couple of pinches of salt. Add seasoning, about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon. If you like garlic, you can add some finely finely minced garlic, but dill, thyme, basil, sage, oregano -- all these are good, too. You can even mix them up! I like minced garlic and oregano, but whoever you hang out with over the evening is gonna have to like garlic, too, if that's what you use.

Anyway, next you can add the denser veggies - grated carrot, halved cherry tomatos, whatever you want. Toss in the olive oil mix and let them sit. Next, if you are lazy, add a package of that pre-washed spinach or lettuce (baby romaine is nice) -- if you are less lazy, you can start with a head of lettuce and wash it yourself first with a salad spinner, then cut it up into pieces. Add to the large bowl. Toss to mix the whole thing just before serving, then divide up into serving bowls. You can sprinkle the top with some cheese before serving if you want (I like a few chunks of feta on mine). This salad doesn't keep well - make only what you plan to eat right away, as the lettuce turns dark and wilts from the dressing.

Have fun! You can serve up the chicken with ketchup, salsa, or whatever you want. Next up: Salsa chicken -- also super-easy and tasty.