Beef Stew

Ingredients:

2 lbs cubed stew meat
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 TBS salted butter
5 sprigs of Rosemary
1 1/2 cups of Red Wine (I use Merlot)
1 large yellow onion, chopped in large pieces
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
5 ribs of celery, sliced
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups of beef stock
1 1/2 TBS of tomato paste, divided use.

Directions:

Cover the bottom of a large dutch oven with olive oil. Heat on high. In a ziplock baggie, combine 1/4 cup flour, salt and pepper. Add stew meat to baggie and shake, to coat minimally, with flour mixture. You are not trying to completely coat all meat, just to get a little bit of them covered. Don't be alarmed if you are left with extra flour.

When oil starts to smoke, working in batches, layer the bottom of your dutch oven with beef. Slightly brown beef on two sides. You don't want to cook the meat, so do this quickly. You also don't want to over crowd your pan, as that will cause less browning and more cooking. Remove browned beef to sit in a large plate or glass pan. (You want something that will allow you to catch all the juices that run out.

Pre-heat oven to 300. Once beef is browned and removed from the pan, lower heat to medium. Melt butter in the pan. Add in rosemary and red wine. Whisk to bring up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring wine to boil, then reduce heat.  Allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Add onion, tomatoes, carrots, celery, potatoes and garlic. When onions start to soften, add browned beef and any juices that have accumulated. Pour in beef stock, and stir. Add in 1/2 TBS of tomato paste, and stir until incorporated. Place pan into the oven.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Add in the rest of the tomato paste, stirring, and taste for salt and pepper. Add as necessary.   Return to the oven and bake for an additional 1 1/2 hours.

I served mine in bowls with biscuits the first night, and on the second reheated in a 350 oven for 25 minutes in bread bowls. Simply scoop out the top and inside of bread, butter and salt the inside of the bread, and fill with stew. Place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet on a middle rack.

Roasted Chicken Soup with Rice

If you, like me, have young kids, knowing how to make your own chicken soup is a must. I make a traditional chicken noodle from scratch (which I'll share at a later date), but I also make a roasted version, with rice, anytime I roast chickens this way.  This recipe starts, when you pull your chicken out of the oven, and have removed it from the roasting pan to sit.

Ingredients:

1 chicken, roasted and meat removed in small pieces.

Pan drippings from roasting

3 large sprigs of thyme

6 rosemary sprigs

5 ribs of celery diced in small pieces

1 large yellow onion, diced

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 cup of long grain white rice

7 cups of chicken stock.

Juice of one lemon.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

Strain the liquid from your roasting pan, into a large dutch oven. 

Add in herbs and turn heat to medium. You don't need to remove the leaves, as they will fall off the stems during cooking. When your soup is done, simply remove them before serving.

Add in chopped vegetables, salt and pepper, and stir. Cook until softened. 

Add 6 cups of chicken stock, and bring liquid to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to simmer, and add the cup of rinsed rice. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Add in chicken meat, torn into bite sized pieces. Add lemon juice, and continue to simmer for 20 more minutes. Remove herb stems and serve.

Basic Roast Chicken

We have roast chicken almost every week. It's easy, you can make it a variety of ways, and it's a family favorite. But what I love most about roasting chicken is how it lends itself greatly to many other great recipes. Broth, gravy, tetrazini, enchiladas, chicken noodle soup, and many other great foods all start with roast chicken... All that changes is how you season it. When I roast chicken, I know we'll be enjoying it in at least two different ways throughout the week.

The recipe that follows is the most simple of flavor profiles. I roast it this way when I want to serve it with gravy over mashed potatoes, make chicken soup for sickies, or keep on hand for sandwiches.

Ingredients:

2 large whole chickens for roasting
2 large white onions, halved and quartered
8 cloves of garlic, peeled
8 ribs of celery, cut into four pieces each
8 carrots, peeled and cut into four pieces each
Handful of Italian parsley
8 sprigs of rosemary
10 sprigs of thyme
Olive oil
Salt 
Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Remove any giblets from the inside of your chickens. Generously coat the inside of each bird with olive oil, salt and pepper. Stuff each cavity with a few sprigs of parsley, rosemary, thyme, four pieces each of onion, carrots, celery, and 2 garlic cloves. Spread the remaining herbs and vegetables on the bottom of a large heavy bottomed roasting pan. Place chickens in the pan, breast side down. Coat chicken with olive oil, salt and pepper. Flip chickens over and repeat on breast side. Place a leave-in-thermometer behind the thigh, and roast to 170. (About 1 1/2 hours). Remove chicken from the pan and place on a cutting board to rest for 20-30 minutes. Carve and serve. Or, remove chicken from bone and use elsewhere.

Avocado Aioli

Ingredients:

Avocado
1/2 cup mayo
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions:
Scoop out the avocado flesh into a metal bowl. Add mayo, lemon, salt, and garlic. Mash together using the back of a fork, until ingredients completely combined.

Sugared Strawberries

Sugaring fruit, and letting it sit, helps it to release it's natural juices. (It's similar to salting eggplant or cucumbers to  release excess water). I use this recipe for strawberries, over everything. Shortcake, vanilla ice cream, vanilla pudding, and tonight? Over Pancakes for dinner.

Ingredients

1 basket of fresh strawberries
1 1/2 TBS granulated sugar
1 tsp almond extract

Directions:

Stem and slice your strawberries. Sprinkle sugar over them, and add almond extract. Gently mix to coat all strawberries. Set in the refrigerator to chill and juice, at least 1 hour before serving, no more than 4. Serve.

Au Jus

This is a basic Au Jus that can be adapted after cooking any type of roast, utilizing the brown bits and flavor that accumulate at the bottom of your roasting dish. After cooking, remove the roast from the baking dish, and set aside to rest.

Ingredients:

4TBS of butter
1 TBS of flour
1 cup of red wine
3 cups of beef stock

Directions:

Melt 4 TBS of butter in the roasting pan. Whisk in 1 TBS of flour on high heat for at least 3 minutes. You want to do this at a relatively high heat, whisking the entire time, to make sure you cook out the taste of flour. Add in the red wine, whisking to bring up all the brown bits stuck to the bottom from the roasting process. Add in beef broth. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low. Whisking frequently, allow liquid to reduce, about 30 minutes. The au jus should be thick, but still more liquid than gravy.

Simple Prime Rib

Ingredients:

3-4 bone prime rib
2 TBS fresh Thyme leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 clove of garlic

Directions:

When ordering your prime rib from the butcher, have them remove the bones, and then tie them back to the roast. The bones act as a natural roasting rack, and provide extra flavor to the roast and for Yorkshire Pudding, or Au Ju, should you choose to make them at the same time. By having them removed before cooking, you make the carving process easier without losing the flavor.

When cooking any type of meat, it is best to cook using a meat thermometer. You want to cook to the correct temperature  v/s a specific time. It's the only way to ensure the meat reaches the level of doneness you prefer. For a rare roast you are looking for an internal temp of 125, 135 for medium rare, and 140 for medium. Because a roast will continue to cook once removed from the oven, and you want to let it sit for 30 minutes, it's done when it reaches 5 degrees BEFORE your desired temp. Remove it at 120, 130, or 135 respectively.

Preheat Oven to 450. Peel the garlic clove, and rub over entire roast. Let sit for 15-20 minutes. Rub olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme leaves over the roast. Be generous, this is a large piece of meat and keep in mind you are seasoning the entire piece. Place in an oven safe roasting pan. Roast for 15 minutes at 450, to sear in the flavor. Turn the heat down to 350. If you don't have a meat thermometer, or you want a basic time guideline, figure 15 minutes per pound for medium-rare (the typical Prime Rib is served at this temp).