what's for dinner?

january 98

When the weather outside our kitchen window is frightful -- Old Man Winter unleashing cold drizzle, sleet, and snow (yes it snows in Oklahoma and Texas where we live) -- we fill out kitchen with the restorative aromas of substantial stews bubbling on the stove. These are full-meal stews, needing only a salad and a light dessert (check out our recipes for Winter Salads and Winter Desserts). These stews have the intense flavors that we crave when the days are dreary. Goulash, known as gulyás or shepherd's stew, is the national dish of Hungary. It calls for the best-quality sweet paprika that you can find or afford. If your paprika is more than 6 months old, you'd better invest in a new jar or tin as it will have lost its "punch." Poppy red paprika adds the color, aroma, and flavor to the stew. Adding the noodles at the end, make it the perfect one-pot meal. Sometimes it's garnished with dollops of sour cream or plain yogurt. Hungarian Goulash In our second stew, chicken slowly simmers with sweet potatoes and pungent sweet spices, characteristic of the flavors of food of the countries of North Africa that border the Mediterranean. You might want to serve this stew in shallow soup bowls so you won't miss a drop of the delicious sauce. Mediterranean Chicken Stew For our final stew, we've combined monkfish with vegetables, spices, and other special ingredients for a magical flavor. The stew contains a substantial amount of curry powder, a spice that needs to be added to or reduced according to your family's taste. As we call for it, the result is splendid! But, If you are really into "hot food," you can add more, and even add a seeded and minced fresh jalapeño or serrano (even hotter) chile pepper when you add the zucchini. The additional curry powder or the chile pepper won't affect the exchanges and will have a minimum affect on the calories. We highly recommend this stew for lovers of Indian food. If you're not acquainted with monkfish, you be glad to discover this versatile fish for its wonderful, firm, and tasty white flesh. You can also use grouper (another all-purpose fish with a pleasing meaty texture and mild flavor) or red snapper (a great firm, white-fleshed fish with a lovely flavor) with equally excellent results. Curried Fish Stew, Indian Style (for the recipes, click on The Recipes or click on the individual recipe above)