# Lil help identifying meaty-chili-like-stew I had in the past?



## sherifffruitfly (Nov 1, 2005)

Hi all!

A few years back I went to a party, and there was a crock pot there full of the world's most wonderful substance (ie it had a lot of meat). Description - as best as I can recall - follows. Can anyone help identify and/or throw out recipe idea along these lines?

(1) It had meat. A lot of meat. A whole lot of meat. It had beef, meatballs, sausage, lil weenies, and probably a few others that I can't remember.

(2) It was red - and mebbe a lil orange-ish. Kinda like chili. The kind of red that you would *never* be able to get out of a white shirt. (Didn't matter tho, because it was sooooo yummy that your white shirt was the last thing on your mind.)

(3) It was spicy - but not deathly so.

(4) There were no vegetables visible within it. (So don't even go there!) 

(5) Chances are there was garlic in it. If there wasn't, there shoulda been, imho.

Does something of this sort ring a bell with any of yous? Please lemme know!

Thanks!

cdj


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## Alix (Nov 1, 2005)

Wow. Sounds a bit like "clean out the fridge night" stew. I don't know that I have heard of anything that would be what you are looking for. Sorry!


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## Michael in FtW (Nov 1, 2005)

Alix said:
			
		

> Wow. Sounds a bit like "clean out the fridge night" stew.


 
That's what it sounds like to me, too Alix  ... when I was young, married, and going to college. Before that, in my single days - we called it "Frat House Stew".

Get a pot, put a little oil in it, sweat some chopped onions and some garlic (if you have any) ... toss in a can or two of diced tomatoes ... salt, pepper, chili powder if you want ... bring it to a boil and toss in any edible (or only slightly green) cooked meat in the 'fridge - simmer 'till heated through or until one of your frat bros smells it and you are in peril of having nothing left to eat if you don't scarf it down ASAP! 

If you wanted to "extend" the recipe to feed more people ... add more canned tomatoes, some pasta and/or rice, and more cans of other vegetables or beans.

My roommate and I actually raided the fridge one night - after a long night of study - and we made "Frat House Stew" out of leftover bits of hamburgers and fries. Well, we did sub a few dozen individual serving packages of katchup for tomato sauce in the recipe ...


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## Brooksy (Nov 1, 2005)

Don't forget the red wine - half the bottle in the pot & drink the other half.

IMHO - the base of all good beef stews is red wine, garlic, onion, paprika, chilli, ground coriander & tomato - sauce, ketchup, paste, pasta sauce, fresh whatever you have.

The meatballs & weeners should be added after the required stewing time & only warmed in the gravy.

Red wine & paprika will give a rich deep red, tomato gives a "shallow red", none of which will come out in the wash


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## Michael in FtW (Nov 1, 2005)

Now, Brooksy - this was Frat House Stew. The only time a bottle of wine crossed the threshold it was reserved for "other" purposes. The best we could have mustered in "un consumed" alcoholic beverages would have been if we had strained the contents of partially filled beer cans we found on the coffee table (or in other locations around the house) to remove the cig butts. But, I do think the cig ash probably DID add a distinctive but unidentfiable flavor ......


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## Brooksy (Nov 1, 2005)

Michael in FtW said:
			
		

> ........ strained the contents of partially filled beer cans we found on the coffee table (or in other locations around the house) to remove the cig butts. But, I do think the cig ash probably DID add a distinctive but unidentfiable flavor ......



Wasn't the ash the thickening agent? 

Did you remember to issue a health warning with every serve?

  

This doesn't help the Sheriff out though.   

Beef, meatballs, weeners - definitely a Mulligan Stew.

The Frat house stew was beer based by the sounds of it...


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## Constance (Nov 2, 2005)

Michael, that brings back memories of my college days at North Texas State...you must have been a Sigma Nu.    

Actually, I think they called that "killer stew", because you never knew....


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## urmaniac13 (Nov 3, 2005)

sherifffruitfly said:
			
		

> Hi all!
> 
> A few years back I went to a party, and there was a crock pot there full of the world's most wonderful substance (ie it had a lot of meat). Description - as best as I can recall - follows. Can anyone help identify and/or throw out recipe idea along these lines?
> 
> ...


 
This sounds a lot like (a little modified version of) Hungarian goulash, Sheriff.  It is just that the original version wouldn't have weenies...  check out these links...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulash
http://www.recipezaar.com/98120


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## jkath (Nov 3, 2005)

Michael in FtW said:
			
		

> ......  if we had strained the contents of partially filled beer cans we found on the coffee table (or in other locations around the house) to remove the cig butts. But, I do think the cig ash probably DID add a distinctive but unidentfiable flavor ......


 
   
So THAT'S what my friends used to serve....I was wondering what it was......


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## buckytom (Nov 3, 2005)

Constance said:
			
		

> Michael, that brings back memories of my college days at North Texas State...you must have been a Sigma Nu.
> 
> Actually, I think they called that "killer stew", because you never knew....


 
this reminds me of the line from the movie "meatballs" when bill murray anounces the winner of last night's "guess what you had for dinner last night" contest over the camp intercom.
"some kind of meat" was the answer....


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## QSis (Nov 3, 2005)

Well, it sounds to me like the horrible-sounding, but great-tasting recipe that uses grape jelly and chili sauce, with cocktail-sized meats in a crockpot.  

After my Blueberry-Swirled Cheesecake lost a  cooking contest to this dish (the winner used sliced kielbasa), I made it and everyone LOVED it!  So easy, so good.  This sauce breaks down into a burgundy-like sauce, and you can add lemon juice, oj, Worcestershire, garlic powder ... but I didn't.  I just used grape jelly and store-bought chili sauce (next to the ketchup in the supermarket) and it was wonderful.

You can use any and all of the meats sherifffruitfly posted. Store-bought frozen meatballs are an easy choice.

Lee

Crockpot L'il Smokies

*INGREDIENTS:*

2 packages Cocktail wieners, little smokies
1 bottle (12 ounces) chili sauce
1 cup grape jelly
*PREPARATION:*
Combine cocktail wieners or little smokies in Crockpot with chili sauce and grape jelly; cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.


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