It is already WEEK 8! Before the league expanded to 17 games this would be the half-way point of the season. Given the Seahawks have played only 6 games, it still feels like we are just getting this party started!
The opposition for the Seahawks this week are the Cleveland … Browns. Really? “Browns”? Now Cleveland had one of the original franchises in what became the NFL and back in the day there wasn’t much creativity applied to team names. And when teams moved they usually kept their name… The Baltimore Colts became the Indianapolis Colts. But when Cleveland’s team was moved to Baltimore… they changed the name! To the Ravens—a nice, strong avian name! So what did Cleveland do when it was again granted a franchise? With the opportunity to start fresh and pick any name they could, they named the new team… the Browns.
Let’s consider for a second the alternatives for an Ohio team based on state symbols while noting the appalling lack of creativity in Ohio given the state architectual structure (yes, it has one) is The Barn. The state bird is the Cardinal, but the NFL has Cardinals already. The State Animal is a White-Tailed Deer, so “Bucks” could have worked. The State Snake is a Black Racer—could have done something with that! But I guess in a state where the “Gem Stone” signifying the state is “Flint” we shouldn’t expect much, and so it is that Cleveland has the Browns.
So it terms of food “Brown” doesn’t give much direction. Anything deep fried would qualify. Coffee. Chocolate. Rice. SO MANY options… but this is dinner so we need to make something filling, and it is getting cold outside so it should be hearty, too. A dish I make often that would qualify is Chicken Paprikash but since I have profiled it already I will switch it up and make an African-inspired dish I want to try instead (I was inspired to make this dish after my trip to the local food show last weekend).
Spicy Chicken Peanut and Sweet Potato Stew
Like the Paprikash recipe linked above, you can make this recipe with various chicken parts, or a whole cut-up chicken. I always lean towards thighs though because they tend to stay moist in a stew and just carry more flavor. Bone in, then shredded is the way to go here but you can leave the thighs as they are too. You can serve this dish on its own because the sweet potatoes have that starchy goodness you need but either some crusty sourdough bread or rice work well. Here I am recommending some rice that carries some flavor of its own.
Ingredients—Stew
2 Tablespoons of butter with 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3(ish) pounds of chicken thighs, bone-in/skin on
1 Large sweet onion (Wallawalla or similar), sliced thin.
3 Tablespoons of garlic, minced.
3 Tablespoons of ginger, grated
2 lbs sweet potatoes cut into bite-size pieces
1 Cup peanut butter
I 680 ml jar Passata (or sub large can of diced tomatoes)
4 Cups good chicken stock
1 Tablespoon ground Coriander
1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes (or whole jalapeno minced with seeds)
Salt and pepper to taste
Roasted peanuts, chopped—about a 1/2 C or more depending on how excited you are about them for garnish.
Method
Prep the vegetables and have everything ready to go. If you are making the stock out of bouillon, get that started as well.
Heat a large (6 Quart/6 Liter or larger) pot with the oil and butter over medium-high heat. When it is at temp, add the chicken thighs and brown. (If you are using skinless thighs… do dredge them in seasoned flour before adding to the pot to brown). Depending on the quantity of chicken you have, you may need to do this in batches. If you have the heat right, it will take about 3 minutes per side to brown the thighs.
Remove the thighs to a plate, and reduce heat to medium or a bit lower (don’t want to burn the onions and garlic). You may have to add a bit more butter to the pan as you add the onions and garlic, stir to coat then cover to let the onions ‘sweat’ for about 10 minutes. Uncover and stir—the onions should be starting to caramelize as you add the red pepper (or jalapeno), ginger, and coriander.
In less than a minute you will have quite a fragrant pot going! Add the Passata, stock, peanut butter, yams, and chicken, stir, and turn the heat up until it is bubbling, then turn the heat down just far enough to keep it on a strong simmer, cover, and let it go for at least 45 minutes to an hour.
At the hour mark, if you are having rice, start it while you remove the chicken, take out the bones, chop/shred the meat, and return the meat to the stew. Adjust seasonings by adding salt and pepper to taste.
Plate in bowls or on rice with chopped peanuts for garnish and crunch, and additional red pepper flakes on the table for those who like it HOT.
Ingredients—Rice
If you are making rice, figure that you will need about a cup of cooked rice per serving so 2 Cups gives you 6 servings of rice at 1:3.
For each cup of *raw* rice, add 1 clove of garlic (minced) and the same amount of fresh grated ginger, and use stock to cook the rice for added flavor. This will give the stew a good flavor platform without washing out the stew on a plain white canvas.
As always, pics after I make it on Sunday!
So, so good. #BoboGood!
I forgot to take a “plated” pic—his is the “after” lol.
Sounds delicious! What time should I be over?!