Recipe: Filipino BBQ Marinade

The Memorial Day holiday weekend is coming up and Americans will be grilling and barbequing as part of the annual celebration.
Here is a nice change from the store bought BBQ sauces and marinades that you may be used to. I first tasted this at a friend's rooftop BBQ cook out and was intrigued watching her making the marinade especially with the use of 7 Up. She said that it helps tenderize the meat and adds sweetness and that lemon-lime flavor. Traditionally in the Philippines, the juice of calamansi is used but here in the United States, a lemon will have to suffice.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup 7 Up or Sprite
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and taste for flavor balance, you may need to add a pinch of salt or more lemon juice depending on the soy sauce you use and sourness of the lemon.
2. Pour the marinade over the meat of your choice and marinate (chicken: about an hour, pork or beef: over night or longer).
3. Grill and enjoy!  

Recipe: Squid Adobo (Adobong Pusit)

It's the new year and I'm sure we all made the resolution to lose weight by eating less fat and more vegetables (and perhaps seafood!)
Here is a Filipino seafood dish that has very little fat in it and is quick and simple to make.
I first tasted this dish years back when a dear friend made it for me to try in her tiny kitchen in Queens.

I was lucky to receive a pound of fresh squid this year as a Christmas present!

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh squid (cartilage quill and beak removed)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
•  6 whole peppercorns
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 plum tomato sliced thinly
• 1 small onion sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar

 Directions

1. Rinse and clean the squid making sure that the hard quill is removed and the hard beak.
2. Put the squid, water, vinegar, and peppercorns into a large saute pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low and simmer for about a minute.
3. Remove squid and cooking liquid to a medium bowl. Set aside.
4. Rinse out saute pan and put back on the heat. Allow pan to get hot (you'll notice the pan start to get dry)
5. Add the oil and saute the onion, tomato, and garlic until it is all soft.
6. Add the squid back to the pan and saute together with the vegetables for a minute then add the reserved cooking liquid, soy sauce, and sugar.
7. Stir until everything is all combined.
8. Remove from heat and serve with white rice.

Recipe: Orange Fennel Salad

In this week's Pathmark circular, Anise (Fennel) and Navel Oranges are on sale for $1.50 and $1 respectively. With the addition of arugula and a red onion, you can make this salad that I first posted last year.


http://itscommoncents.blogspot.com/2010/12/window-garden-and-orange-fennel-salad.html

Video: How To Chop An Onion

A person who doesn't have proper knife skills and doesn't know how to prep vegetables for cooking will most likely be turned off by the whole idea and decide to order out instead.

Here's a video courtesy of Good Housekeeping on chopping an onion, one of the most basic and most used skill in cooking. Learn how to chop and cut and you can save money eating in instead of ordering out.

Recipe: 7 Bean and Barley Soup

Here in the big city we have Whole Foods that are starting to spring up around town to give competition to the other large supermarket chains already established here.

I recently visited one and liked how they sell their dried grains and beans in bulk which often times is cheaper than pre-packaged name brands. There is a scale in the department so you can weigh and print out the price tag for your purchase. I bought their 7 Bean and Barley mix for $2.69/lb.

The soup mix bin has a miniscule little blip of a recipe stating that you need 1 chopped onion, 1 pound of soup mix, and 8 cups of water but that sounded too bland. Searching the internet came up with a couple of recipes but they utilized bacon, smoked ham hock, or smoked turkey and I wanted to make it simple, healthier (after all it's a bean soup) and not needing expensive ingredients.

That being said, I created this simple, economically friendly recipe.

You can also use vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock if you wish to make it purely vegetarian.

Makes about 4 hearty servings.

Ingredients

• 1 pound 7 Bean and Barley soup mix
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 tablespoons oil (corn, canola, olive oil... it's your choice)
• 2 cans low sodium chicken stock (14.5 oz cans)
• water (2 cans worth)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse the bean mix and soak in a large bowl of water for 8 hours or overnight to plump the dried beans back up again.
2. Drain the bean mix and set aside.
3. In a large 4 quart pot, saute the garlic and onion in the oil for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.
4. Add the drained bean mix
5. Add the 2 cans of chicken stock
6. Add 2 cans worth of water (great way to rinse out the chicken stock cans for recycling!)
7. Cover pot and bring to a boil.
8. Once it starts to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe: Arroz Caldo : Filipino Chicken Rice Soup

I made White Cut Chicken (Bak Chit Gai) the night before (recipe here) and have this lovely chicken stock left over. It's quite chilly and sleeting outside and I started craving Arroz Caldo, a thick Filipino rice soup that is inspired by the Chinese rice congee. Arroz Caldo means "Hot Rice" in Spanish and was probably given that name by the Spanish settlers in the Philippines when they discovered Chinese congee.

Since the stock is already flavored with ginger and garlic, I found it perfect for this comforting dish. I used some left-over cooked chicken to make this and sped up the process.

Ingredients

• 1 small onion (chopped)
• 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 2 inch piece of ginger (thinly sliced)
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 cup rice (either sweet rice or long grain or a combo of each)
• 1 pound boneless chicken meat (chopped: your choice of chicken breast or thigh)
• 6 cups water or chicken stock
• 2 tbs fish sauce (you can use salt or chicken bouillon if you don't have)
• 2 scallions (white and green part finely sliced for garnish)

Directions

1. In a medium sized pot, heat oil and cook the onion, garlic, and ginger for a minute until fragrant.
2. Add fish sauce and the chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the rice and stir until coated with the flavored oil.
4. Add the water or stock and cover.
5. Bring to a boil over high heat and then lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
6. When done, turn off heat. You may need to add a little water to adjust thickness to your preference.
7. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with the sliced scallions.

Recipe: Aloo Saag or Saag Aloo (Indian Spinach and Potatoes)

I bought a 5 pound bag of onions and a 10 pound bag of potatoes at $1.99 each when they were on sale at Pathmark. These are the staples of many a dish and the price was so good I couldn't pass it up.
Aside from making latkes with them or hash, I had a craving for Indian and found this recipe courtesy of Food.com

I didn't have whole cumin seeds so I used ground. I had a box of frozen chopped spinach which I had bought on sale for 80¢ so I used it defrosted. Results came out fabulously! My notes are in parenthesis.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large potatoes, cubed (the smaller the cube, the faster it cooks)
• 400 g spinach or 400 g chard leaves, stalks removed, roughly chopped (could substitute a box of frozen chopped spinach)
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated (I used a microplane to make it easier on my knuckles)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic cloves, coarsely chopped (I find 1 clove does it)
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garam masala (a mix of spices available in spice markets)
• olive oil
• butter
• salt

Directions

1. Fry the cumin seeds in a heavy bottomed pan in a bit of oil and butter until just starting to brown.
2. Add the onion and fry until it too starts to brown.
3. Add the potato, garlic, turmeric, ginger and garam masala and fry until the potato starts to soften.
4. Unless you are using a non-stick pan, you may need to add water and cover to keep the potato from sticking and to help it cook. The first time I did this 1/2 cup of water at a time and it took about 20-30 minutes but I now prefer to parboil the potatoes, which means you add less water and it only takes about 10 minutes to finish off from this point.
5. Add the spinach or chard and cook until it collapses over the potato.
6. Salt to taste.

Recipe: Tricolore Pasta with Zucchini, Onion, Tomato Sauce

I grew a huge zucchini this summer and was trying to figure what to do with it. The reason it was so huge was because I plucked most of the flowers to fry leaving a few left to mature into fruit.

I have this fascination with different pastas and shapes and spied Barilla's Tri Color Fiori (flower) on sale for 99¢ at Pathmark recently. A box of pasta. A huge zucchini. A large bottle of tomato sauce in the pantry that I also bought on sale and a basket of onions. I decided to make a vegetarian dish for dinner tonight and interestingly enough, the color of the vegetables is echoed in the pasta.

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic crushed (I used a garlic press but if you don't have one, mince it fine)
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 zucchini diced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• few grinds of fresh cracked black pepper

• 12 oz box of tri colored pasta (any shape you like)

• Extra virgin olive oil
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil (this is for the pasta).

2. In a large skillet over medium flame, heat the olive oil for a few seconds and add the crushed garlic. Saute for a few seconds to perfume the oil and then add the chopped onion.

3. Saute until onion is soft (about 5 minutes) then add the diced zucchini. Saute for about another 5 minutes (I like my veggies to maintain their integrity and not be over cooked mush) and then add 1 cup tomato sauce.

4. Stir to incorporate everything together.

5. Finish with sprinkling of salt and pepper and set aside off heat covered. The vegetables will continue to cook slowly steaming under the cover.

This can be served by itself as a vegetable side dish.














By this time, the water has hopefully boiled and you can follow manufacturer's direction on cooking your pasta. When the pasta is done, drain and toss with the vegetable mixture.


Garnish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese.

This dish serves 4.

Recipe: Campbell's Kitchen: Autumn Cabbage Rolls

This hearty and filling dish is an easy to make recipe that I found courtesy of Campbell's Soup.
Cabbage tends to be inexpensive usually going to a few cents per pound. When ground turkey is on sale, I buy it to make this or keep it in the freezer until I have everything ready to make this dish.

10 large cabbage leaves

1 pound ground turkey

1 small onion, minced (about 1/4 cup)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup

1 slice stale or toasted Pepperidge Farm® Whole Grain 100% Whole Wheat Bread, crumbled

1 1/4 cups water

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 small onion, sliced (about 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1 medium carrot, sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

• Place the cabbage leaves into a 4-quart saucepan and add water to cover. Heat over medium-high heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes or until the cabbage is tender. Drain the cabbage leaves on paper towels.
  
• Cook the turkey and minced onion in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the turkey is well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat.
• Stir the turkey mixture, soup, bread crumbs, 1/4 cup water and black pepper in a large bowl.
• Spoon 1/4 cup turkey mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Fold the cabbage leaves around the filling. Place the cabbage rolls, seam-side down, into a 12-inch skillet.
  
• Add the sliced onion, shredded cabbage, carrot and remaining water in the skillet and heat over medium-high heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 1 hour or until the filling is cooked through, basting the cabbage rolls occasionally with the pan liquid.
  
• Remove the cabbage rolls from the skillet and keep warm.
  
• Stir the lemon juice, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir the lemon juice mixture in the skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens. Serve the sauce with the cabbage rolls.

How to Chop an Onion

Recipe: Quiche Lorraine/ Quiche Alsatian

Bacon and eggs seem like the typical American breakfast. It can become mundane if you have it all the time so if you feel a little adventurous, you can take those ingredients and turn them into a classic French dish!
Quiche Lorraine is actually name for the Lorraine region in France (not for someone named Lorraine). The quiche itself was created around the 16th century. If you add onions to the quiche, it becomes Quiche Alsatian. The addition of onions is nice to get some vegetables into your diet otherwise...LOL!




Ingredients

• 6 slices of bacon sliced into small strips crosswise the length
  
• 2 medium onions sliced thinly (if you want to make it Alsatian)
  
• 4 eggs beaten
• 2 cups half & half
• 4 ounces Swiss cheese shredded
• 1 frozen deep dish pie crust
• pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• salt & pepper
  

Directions

1. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add onions into the pan with the bacon fat until onions are tender (about 6 minutes). Spread onions and bacon evenly on the bottom of the crust.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, half & half, nutmeg, salt & pepper.

3. Pour into the frozen pie crust just to the top (you might have some quiche mixture left over which you can make into an omelet to preview the taste). Top with the shredded Swiss cheese.

4. Bake in the oven at 350° for 30- 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out dry. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. You can also eat this at room temperature.

I like to serve this with a small salad for lunch or a light supper.

Serves 6-8 people.

Recipe: Brown Cabbage

Don't know what to do with that extra head of cabbage you bought for making Corned Beef and Cabbage for St. Patrick's Day? Here's a recipe that I tried courtesy of Chef Tina Nordström and it is both inexpensive and delicious! The sweet & sour taste is both lovely and refreshing!

In Scandinavia, she says they call it "Brown Cabbage" and it is always served during the holiday season.

Cabbage is almost always selling at an inexpensive price usually a couple of cents per pound and other than turning it into fresh coleslaw or stuffing it with ground meat and simmering it in tomato sauce (that's a recipe I'll save for another time for you all), try this recipe as a side dish with a roast meat. Most of the ingredients you should have already in your well stocked pantry.

Ingredients for serving 8 persons

• 1 head green cabbage
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 1 cup apple juice
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup or honey
• Butter and oil
• Salt and pepper

This is how you do it...

Heat a large sauté pan and add 2 tablespoons butter and 1/4 cup oil. Slice the cabbage thinly and sauté over medium heat together with the onion for a couple of minutes. Mix in the apple juice, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon sticks and syrup. Cover and let simmer until the cabbage softens. This will take about 15 minutes.

Remove the lid and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe: Corned Beef & Cabbage

You'll notice that supermarkets have all the ingredients on sale for a major holiday so what perfect time to make this American "New England Boiled Dinner" that many people mistake for as a traditional Irish dish!

Ingredients

• 1 2- to 2-1/2-pound corned beef brisket*
• 1 teaspoon whole black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise
• 2 medium parsnips or 1 medium rutabaga, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 medium red onions, cut into wedges
• 10 to 12 new potatoes (1 pound)
• 1 small cabbage, cut into 6 wedges (1 pound)

Directions

1. Trim fat from meat. Place in a 4- to 6-quart pot; add juices and spices from package of beef. Add enough water to cover meat. Add pepper and bay leaves. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 2 hours or until meat is almost tender.

2. Add carrots, parsnips or rutabaga, and onions to meat. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Scrub potatoes; halve or quarter. Add potatoes and cabbage to pot. Cover and cook about 20 minutes more or until vegetables and meat are tender. Discard bay leaves. Remove meat from pot. Thinly slice meat across the grain. Transfer meat and vegetables to a serving platter. Makes 6 servings.

*Note: If your brisket comes with an additional packet of spices, add it instead of the pepper and bay leaves called for in the ingredient list.

I like to serve this dish with horseradish cream.

Horseradish cream:

• 1 cup sour cream
• Up to 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Combine ingredients and serve with meat and/or vegetables.

The stock that is left over from making this boiled dinner makes a great soup (think about it, 2 dishes from one!)

Recipe: Chicken Livers with Onions

Ever wonder what to do with the livers that come in that bag sometimes found in the cavity of the chicken? You can save them all in a small plastic container freezing them until you have about 1 pound and make this dish. If you are lucky to buy a chicken that has a lot of livers in the bag, you can immediately make this dish as you are roasting the chicken (Check out my lemon roast chicken recipe) and serve this as an appetizer!

• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1 c. finely sliced onions
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb. chicken livers
• 3/4 c. flour
• 4 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. ground sage
• 2 tbsp. red wine or cider vinegar
• 3 tbsp. finely chopped parsley

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a non-stick skillet and add the onions, salt, and pepper. Saute (toss and stir) over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the onions are browned and soft. Remove onions from pan and put on a plate.

Pick over the chicken livers and remove any tough veins/sinew attached to the livers. Cut the livers in half. Put them on a new plate and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour on both sides of livers to coat well. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the non-stick skillet over high heat.

Cook the livers, turning the livers as they brown (about 2-3 minutes each side). You may have to do this in a couple of batches depending on the size of your skillet. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, cooked onions, sage, salt, and pepper. Cook, shaking the skillet and tossing the livers so they will heat throughout. Add the vinegar; stir and blend well for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Recipe: Corn and Black Bean Quesadillas

Use a light hand when seasoning with kosher salt, as the cheese itself is rather salty. Cooling the quesadillas before cutting and serving is important; straight from the skillet, the cheese is molten and will ooze out. Serve the quesadillas with salsa, guacamole, or sour cream. Finished quesadillas can be held on a baking sheet in a 200-degree oven for up to 20 minutes.

Makes 2 folded 8-inch Quesadillas

1/3	cup frozen corn kernels , thawed
2	teaspoons vegetable oil , plus more for brushing tortillas
1/3	cup minced red onion
1	teaspoon minced garlic
1/2	teaspoon chili powder
1/3	cup black beans (canned)
2	teaspoons lime juice
	kosher salt
2	plain flour tortillas , eight-inch
2/3	cup Pepper Jack cheese (3 ounces)
1	tablespoon minced pickled jalapeños (optional)

1. Heat 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Add corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until kernels begin to brown and pop, 3 to 5 minutes; transfer corn to medium bowl. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering; add red onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and chili powder and cook until fragrant, about 1 minutes; stir in beans and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Return corn to skillet and toss to combine; gently press mixture with spatula to lightly crush black beans. Transfer mixture to now-empty bowl, stir in lime juice, and season to taste with salt.

2. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and return pan to medium heat until hot, about 2 minutes. Place 1 tortilla in skillet and toast until soft and puffed slightly at edges, about 2 minutes. Flip tortilla and toast until puffed and slightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Slip tortilla onto cutting board. Repeat to toast second tortilla while assembling first quesadilla. Sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese, half the corn and bean mixture, and half of jalapeños, if using, over half of tortilla, leaving 1/2-inch border around edge. Fold tortilla in half and press to flatten. Brush surface generously with oil, sprinkle lightly with salt, and set aside. Repeat to form second quesadilla.

3. Place both quesadillas in skillet, oiled sides down; cook over medium heat until crisp and well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Brush surfaces with oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Flip quesadillas and cook until second sides are crisp and browned, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer quesadillas to cutting board; cool about 3 minutes, halve each quesadilla, and serve.

(I serve these with a dollop of sour cream and a side salad for a nice lunch or light supper.)

Recipe: Lemon Roasted Chicken with Potatoes

Here's a personal recipe of mine that I make every chance I can when whole chicken, lemon, onions, and potatoes are on sale. When a whole chicken is 79 cents/pound, lemons (4 /$1), 2 pound bag of yellow onions (79 cents), 5 pound bag Russet potatoes (99 cents) at my local supermarket, this dish that serves 4-6 will cost about $6.23 and you only have 1 pan to clean!

*TIP- save the carcass and bones as this will be great for making homemade chicken stock!



1 (4 to 5-pound) roasting chicken
1 large yellow onion (or 2 medium), sliced
Good olive oil (it's for flavor but ordinary vegetable oil will do)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons, quartered
3 baking potatoes quartered
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Take the giblets out of the chicken and rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat from the cavity opening (put the fat aside). Toss the onion and potatoes with a little oil in a small roasting pan. Place the chicken on top and sprinkle the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper. Place the lemons inside the chicken. Pat the outside of the chicken dry with paper towels so that the skin will crisp up nicely), rub it with a little oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tuck the chicken fat between the skin and breast to help the white meat not dry out pushing it in with your fingers (I use the chicken fat rather than butter since it gives more chicken flavor but it can be omitted). Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Cover with foil and allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. (The onions may burn, if cut too thin but the flavor is sweet and smoky and perfumes the chicken with the lemon)

Slice the chicken and place it, plus all the pan juices, over the onions and potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and serve warm.

Recipe: Chicken and Dumplings

Here is a recipe that I make when it is really cold outside and you want something that is satisfying, comforting, and warms you up. It serves two.

You can use whole chicken legs for this recipe since it is going to be more of a soup/stew and breast meat tends to get overcooked but use any type of chicken you can get at a great price (usually 89 cents a pound or less)
I always have a bag of white all purpose flour and a bag of corn meal handy and keep them stored in a zip-lock bag (they store practically dry for months/years that way).

*Tip: if you don't want to buy whole bags of carrots, celery, and onions (they may not be always on sale at your supermarket/grocer) you can find all three aromatics already chopped for you in a package found in the produce aisle marked as "meal starter" or something to that effect.

Chicken Stew
1 pound chicken pieces
3 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 medium rib celery sliced crosswise
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, peeled and rough chopped
2 springs of fresh thyme
1 cup packed coarse-chopped kale leaves
salt & fresh ground black pepper

Cornmeal Dumplings
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1tablespoon cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
1/3 cup milk

1. Prepare the stew: In a large saucepan combine chicken pieces, stock, bay leaf and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to moderate, turn the chicken pieces over, and simmer for 10 minutes more. Take out the cooked chicken and place on a plate or cutting board to allow to cool so that you can safely remove the skin without burning yourself. With a fork, pull the meat off the bones and put shredded chicken back into the pot. Discard skin and bones.
   



2. Skim the broth of any fat and stir in the celery, carrots, onion, and thyme springs. Continue to simmer partially covered until the carrots and onions are just tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the kale and season to taste with salt & pepper.



3. Prepare the dumplings: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. With your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the mixture is crumbly. Using a fork, stir in the milk until blended.



4. Drop tablespoons of the dumpling batter in 8 clumps over the top of the stew. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
   Discard the bay leaf and thyme springs and serve in bowls.