Cowboy Stew (inspired by Stephanie O'Dea)

I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but my life is CHAOS. As a result I rely on our slow cooker a lot during the week and have been very much inspired by the lovely Stephanie O'Dea at Crockpot 365, her fab blog which inspired her Make It Fast, Cook It Slow books. One of his favourites has been her Cowboy Stew, which I have had to adapt because of not being able to get all the ingredients here (for example, using regular Heinz baked beans and a package of spicy barbecue seasoning in place of ranch beans, and I still can't bring myself to use canned potatoes - it just freaks me out - so we use fresh ones which steam in the slow cooker).

Anyway this morning for once I've had chance to actually cook it from scratch, so here we go. It's a dish you've probably got MOST of the ingredientsfor in the cupboard or fridge, and it's very forgiving however you cook it. This is my recipe that I followed this morning, cooking it on the hob.

You need

Extra lean turkey breast mince
A couple of slices of smoked bacon, trimmed well
Onion
Garlic (just a bit)
1 green chili
2-3 sticks celery
1 can tomatoes
1 can baked beans
1 BIG can sweetcorn
1 package of barbecue seasoning (I admit it: I use Old El Paso, and it does the job FINE)
Courgettes, chopped
Red/orange bell peppers, chopped
Potatoes, cut into bite size pieced. The potatoes, if you are doing this on the hob, you could just boil separately and stir in, or parboil and add to finish them off. It's up to you.

Makes one pot-ful, which for us is enough for dinner x 2 and generous leftovers, so good for lunch the next day or the midnight meal on a night shift..

Very easy, this:

Frazzle the bacon (as much as is possible with no fat, ha ha) and then add the turkey breast, breaking it up as it cooks, and allowing everything to brown thoroughly.

Add the green chili, onion, garlic and celery, cover and allow to sweat down and soften.

Add the bell pepper and courgettes and allow to cook for a few minutes before finally adding the sweetcorn, baked beans, tomatoes and barbecue seasoning. Allow to cook slowly together for as long as you need them to.

Finally, add the potatoes - either cooked, or partially cooked, and allow them to finish in the pot. Serve and enjoy. I like some extra jalapenos or hot sauce on mine.



Look, a rubbish photo!! Ha. It looks very potato heavy but it's because I had cut them up into very small pieces and had just stirred it so they were all on top, so don't be afraid!