Hungarian Hot Sausage and Lentil Stoup

A stoup is between a stew and a soup. This was delicious and perfect for a chilly winter day. It has a little heat to it, but not too spicy.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 1/2 pounds bulk hot Italian sausage
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 portobello mushrooms, gills scraped out, chopped
1 cup pre-shredded carrots, available in sacks in produce department of the market
1 cup lentils
1 large starchy potato, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
2 teaspoons smoked paprika (or substitute a mix of 2 teaspoons cumin, 1 teaspoon sweet paprika and 2 pinches cayenne pepper)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, in tact on stems
1 (14-ounce) can fire roasted chopped tomatoes, such as Muir Glenn or, regular diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken stock
4 cups kale or chard, a small bunch, veins removed and chopped
Crusty bread, to pass at table
Butter, for bread

Heat a medium soup pot over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, then add sausage to pot and brown and crumble it, then add garlic, onions and mushrooms. Cook a few minutes, then add carrots, lentils, potato, salt and pepper, bay leaf, paprika or substitute mixture and rosemary (leaves will fall from stems as stoup cooks). Add tomatoes and broth and cover pot then raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Uncover pot and place heat back a bit but keep stoup at a good rolling boil. Cook 15 minutes until lentils and potatoes are tender. Wilt in greens in small bunches, remove rosemary stems and turn off heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve in shallow bowls with bread and butter to mop up stoup. Reheat leftovers thinning it with broth or water.

Hawaiian Curry Stew

This is one of my favorite plate lunches from L&L's Hawaiian BBQ. You can also use chicken thighs. It has a little bit of a bite to it, so if you don't like things a little spicy just cut back on the amount of curry powder. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Ingredients:
2-2.5 pounds of beef stew meat
2 Potatoes, cubed
1 Onion, quartered
2 Carrots, sliced
3 stalks of Celery, chopped
4 tablespoons of Curry powder
4 Cups of Water
2 cubes of Beef bouillon
2-3 teaspoons of salt
1/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup of very cold water

Instructions: Brown meat on all sides, cover with water, add bouillon cubes, and cook covered for 1.5 hours. Add vegetables and cook until potatoes and carrots are tender. Cook curry powder in a bit of sesame or peanut oil (to get rid of the raw taste). and add it to the mixture. After the stew is cooked, mix flour and cold water well, using a wire whisk to remove all the lumps, and stir it into the stew. Cook, stirring constantly, until the stew thickens. Serve over steamed rice.

CROCKPOT HAWAIIAN CURRY STEW: Mix all ingredients except flower and water paste in a large crockpot and mix well. Cook on high 4-6 ours or on low for 8-10 hours. After stew is cooked, mix flour and water paste as directed above, mix into stew, and cook on high heat, stirring constantly, for 5 or 10 minutes, or until thickened.