Beef Stew

It doesn't look like much, but trust me, it's darn tasty.



I had to post this recipe because it is one of my favorite winter meals (and I made it last night): hearty, hot, yummy, and easy! It's from my dear mother and it is delicious. I use a slow cooker, but I'm sure you could adjust it to use a dutch oven if you prefer that.

Here you go:
1 ½ to 2 lbs. boneless chuck beef – cut into 1” to 1 ½ “pieces (I've had great luck just using whatever kind of big chunk of beef is on sale at the grocery store)

4 medium sized red potatoes (I use whatever kind I have: russet, gold, etc..), peeled and cubed (12oz. small red potatoes, peeled & quartered, about 2 cups)

5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into ¾” pieces (2 ½ cups baby carrots cut in half)

2 yellow onions cut into chunks

5 celery stalks (2 cups approx.) Cut into ¾’ pieces

(If you have them, you can add Mushrooms, cut in half or quartered)

3 cans beef broth concentrate (Campbell’s 10 ½ oz, do not dilute)

Salt & Pepper (I like lots of pepper)

Put everything into slow cooker and cover: cook on low-heat setting 8 to 10 hours OR
high-heat setting 4 to 5 hours.

Just before serving…

Thicken stew with a roux made of …

½ cup butter
2/3 cup flour or less
3 ½ cup hot beef broth from the stew pot (if you are a little short on broth just add water
to the broth)
Kitchen Bouquet – browning & seasoning sauce
Salt & Pepper

In a 2 ½ quart sauce pan, melt butter and add flour. Cook and stir, mixing into a paste.
Slowly add hot beef stock. Stirring to mix well. Cook and stir until gravy comes to a
gentle boil. Add a little Kitchen bouquet for color. Salt & pepper to taste. Return gravy
to slow-cooker with the rest of the stew. Mix again.

Serve with crusty bread and a green tossed salad. Yum!

shepherd's pie

Zach and I decided to make this on St. Patrick's Day.  It is actually a traditionally English meal, but at least it was in the same realm and most good Irish Pubs have it on the menu.  In my opinion it is one of the few meals from that region that is actually good.  Zach loves it and when we make it we usually have leftovers for awhile.  It is sort of one of those easy things to put together in a casserole so you don't have to make anything else for dinner.  Jimmy also loves it.  We have tried a couple of different recipes, but this one was the easiest I found and they all tasted about the same.  I recommend just buying bags of frozen carrots, peas, and corn because you can buy them already all together (although I keep them on hand in seperate bags for Jimmy anyway).  You can mess with the seasonings (when I haven't had Worcestershire sauce, I made up other things) and  people can add their own salt and pepper to taste.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 lbs ground round beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)... I used 6 medium sized ones and it was just right.
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup beef broth (I used chicken though)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

METHOD

1. Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.

3. Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4. Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

5. Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6. Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.

7.Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.  Serves Four.

ej's simple ribs with emeril's rib sauce

this is on our menu for tonight. it is from the everyday food magazine (thus, it was a super simple posting since i grabbed the directions and pictures from over there...). it was in their july issue from last summer and all the recipes were so good. i think i will post a couple more of my favorites along with the tomato and goat cheese salad i am making to go with these ribs... (check out their dinner tonight site, also for great dinner suggestions... and if you make it to that page look to your left for the sites they suggest... more good ideas across the internet...)


Ingredients

Serves 4
2 1/2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
Coarse salt
2 slabs baby back ribs (about 2 pounds total)
Vegetable oil, for grates
Emeril's Rib Sauce
Directions

In a small bowl, combine mustard powder, paprika, celery salt, onion powder, red-pepper flakes, garlic powder, celery seed, and 1 teaspoon salt. Rub slabs on both sides with the spice mixture, and refrigerate, loosely covered, for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stack slabs on a double layer of aluminum foil; tightly wrap. Place on a rack on a baking sheet. Cook until meat pulls away from the bone and is easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Heat grill to medium-high; lightly oil grates. Carefully remove ribs from foil, pouring off any liquid. Brush generously on both sides with rib sauce; grill ribs until sauce begins to bubble and brown around the edges, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Serve ribs with any leftover sauce, if desired.


Ingredients

Makes 2 cups
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, such as safflower
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup ketchup
1 cup canned beef broth
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes.

Pork Roast - Pear Marinade (weekend get-together of 4/26)

Marinade:
Olive oil
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. onion powder
1 pear - diced/mashed
1 tsp. basil (I used dried, but I bet fresh would have ruled)
kosher salt

I actually ended up throwing out my first batch cuz I overdid the mustard and it became super bitter - so go slow with that.

So I cooked the sucker (about 3-4 lbs of loin) for about 2 hours on 325. Halfway through I poured about a half a cup of white cooking wine all over it, and basted several times.
Recipes online said to do 350 for like 3 hours, but I got nervous and turned it down, and pulled it out early.

Note: I should have kept it warm somehow while all of the parents in the room went to the kids table and cut their childrens' meat for about 5 minutes, cuz by that time, the pork had gotten a bit cold.

Turned out nice and juicy, though. Sorry - no pics.