This one looks absolutely vominous but the dogs went nuts for it! It is a new offering here on the farm. It makes a nice rich broth that goes well over kibble.
Edited to add, since I got a lot of comments on the humorous name for this recipe: No frogs were harmed in the making of this stew. It's chicken or other meat, with blueberries, and ends up looking sort of grey-green.
As always, this is for supplemental feeding only.
Frog Leg Stew
- 2 lb chicken quarters (I divide these in half so they fit more conveniently in the pot)
- 2 cups water or broth of choice
- 1/2 cup dry green peas
- 1/2 cup dry lentils
- 1/2 pound carrot, diced
- 1/2 pound zucchini, peeled, one inch chunks (I quartered and then sliced thickly)
- 2 stalks celery, chopped finely
- 1 cup blueberries, mashed
Put all but the blueberries in a crockpot. Cook on low for about 24 hours, or high for about 16 hours, or until largest bones in chicken can be mashed easily (be sure you check the middle of the bone). Give it a stir a couple times while cooking, and check liquid levels, but as the veggies cook down there should be plenty of liquid. Once bones are mashable, allow to cool to room temp. At this point, I take a potato masher and smoosh everything up so that the bits of stuff are evenly distributed, since I feed a large crew and no one gets more than a 1/4 cup at any one time. Minimally though, it's best to tear apart the meat so that it's possible to serve a smaller portion than a 1/4 pound of meat! Now, once it's cool, add the mashed blueberries. At this point you should see why I've named this one "Frog Leg Stew." Ewwwwww.
Allergy alternative: boneless lamb or pork, or beef ribs (remove the bones once the meat falls off). If you are patient, you could also use small pork ribs as these will eventually reach the mashable state also - but it takes about three days!
Becca Shouse
Maggie and Zhi (queen bees), Ben, Gus, Cord, Rocky, Ted (BCs), Lu and Tully (Maremma flock guardians)
Irena Farm, Semora, NC
