Jambolicious!

At our farmer's market over the weekend we picked up a pack of chorizo sausages from our local vendor. So far all of their products have been really good, but I hadn't had the chorizo yet. I wasn't sure what I would make and just tossed them in the freezer for the time being. As I planned out what to make for the next few days I had two things in mind. Use the chorizo and make something I could have leftovers for lunch. As the weather continued to cool down, I was craving something spicy, warm and filling. Jambalaya! Now, traditionally, jambalaya used Andouille sausage, not chorizo. There are also a million ways to direct your jambalaya from there. I wasn't concerned. Chorizo was gonna work for me! Oh, and forgive me Cajun spirits. My trinity didn't include celery--I forgot to get some! I subbed in some ground celery seed, crossed myself and said a prayer instead.

Jambalaya

I sort of made my jambalaya up as I went along. I started by cooking the sausages. I choose to keep them in their casing and cook them whole. I thought about removing the casing and crumbling the meat up, but I wanted bigger chunks of meat. I'm pleased with the direction I went. Cooking the sausages first renders out some of their fat, which I then used to cook the rest of the ingredients.

After remove the sausages from the pot, I sauted chunks of diced chicken. When that was cooked through, I removed it and moved on to the onions and garlic. I had to cross myself again here, as I didn't follow the true trinity! The peppers. I'll tell you more in a minute. While the onions were cooking, I moved on to spices. I used about a TB of cajun seasoning and 1 tsp of ground celery seed, 1/4 tsp of chipotle chile and chimayo chile for some heat. I also added a TB of Beau Monde seasoning. I dropped in a full bay leaf as well. I returned the chicken and sausages to the pot and poured in a 14 oz can of petite diced tomatoes and 4 cups of chicken stock. Carefully stir in 1 cup of uncooked rice. Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to barely a bubble. At this point I added the peppers-diced green and red. I do this so the peppers don't cook too far and become mushy. I like them to still have some texture and be "just soft." In the past, if I saute them with the onions and celery (when I have it), they almost become too mushy for me.

Cook slowly until the rice is just cooked through. If you want to use shrimp or other seafood in your jambalaya, now is the time to add it. The residual heat will cook the tender morsels, without over cooking them.

Turn the heat off. I let my jambalaya sit for a few minutes before serving. The rice continues to absorb liquid and flavor.

Serve hot, in large bowls with large spoons! Enjoy.

Slowly but surely...

...Slowly but surely...I expect that life shall resume to something of an equalized state. I'm not promising a post a day, but I'll try more than once per month! It's embarrassing actually.

Yesterday was the first time in a long time when I actually "made" something for dinner. Not just something frozen. Granted, it was a Crock-pot meal, but it was something. I love a good pot roast/beef stew combo. I dropped the beef roast into the pot, dumped some red wine, beef stock and frozen pearl onion on top. Seasoned with various herbs & spices, covered and returned a few hours later to dump in some carrots and potatoes. Cover and return a few hours later. I scooped out all the goodies, strained the cooking liquid and made a quick gravy with it. Pulled the beef apart, dumped it in a bowl and poured on the gravy. Tasty!

Tonight...Bratwurst, sauerkraut and potatoes. I hope to be back tomorrow with another post!

More Green!

I've recently made potato salad with salsa verde. Then there is my pollo verde. And now more verde. Chili Verde! I love this dish. A unique, for me, approach to chili! This is no tomato/beef based chili that I grew up with. And it all starts with a tomatillo base!

Get a few pounds of tomatillos from your market. You want a firm fruit with limited blemishes on the papery skin. I give mine a good rinse in the sink, which in turn helps the papers peel off.

Here's a close up of the green tomatillo. When wet, the skin peels right off.

Cut the tomatillos into quarters, roughly, then put under the broiler until they begin to blister and burn.

The main flavor component and heat for the chili. A variety of peppers. There's ancho (dark green). Jalapeno (small and dark green). And the two pale green & yellow peppers...no idea what they are! Rinse and put under the broiler until well charred. Also include some garlic with the peppers. The garlic will sweeten when roasted.

Peel off the charred parts and remove most of the seeds.

Now the peppers and the tomatillos go into the food processor or blender for quick whiz to break everything up. You don't have to whiz the tomatillos, but I like the texture better. I don't go too smooth, but mostly.

Simmer for while with some broth and add some diced pork (I use porkchops I dice up.)

Yum! Serve with rice. But something's missing...

That's better looking. You might want a dab of sour cream to help tame the heat, depending on how hot the chiles are. And some diced tomato for a cool color burst. Finish with a little salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Julia Child's Beouf Bourguignon

Here's some more of Thanksgiving 2009 prep. Julie Child's Beouf Bourguignon. So Good! I followed the recipe, almost exactly. Per one of my guests dietary restrictions, I used beef bacon instead of pork bacon...a fine substitute.

Start with the beef. I bought two large roasts and cut them into smaller pieces and cut some of the fat off as I went.


Carrots and Onions.


After the beef has been browned, you add some flour. This will help thicken the sauce as the stew cooks.


Because I needed my pans for multiple dishes, I seared the meat in a large skillet, then poured the liquid in to deglaze the pan, then I poured the whole mess into a foil baking pan.


Ready to go in the oven. You can tell in this photo how "lite" the sauce is, having not thickened at all.


After several hours. The sauce changes colors, the red dissipates, and becomes a dark brown. The meat was super tender. Remove the meat and strain the sauce. Discard the veggies.


I made the Beouf on Monday night, so serve on Thursday. Here we go, all ready for the fridge. I waited to do the onions and mushrooms the day of. Once they were braised and sauted, I added them to the beef and sauce and placed in a warm oven for about an hour or so while we enjoyed the first few courses of dinner.


Beouf Bourguignon served with creamy mashed potatoes. Amazing. But so rich and I was already so full from the first three course, I didn't really enjoy it!!! I still hate mushrooms. But I DID cook with them. In the future, will probably serve this with buttered noodles or boiled potatoes.

Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon:

• 6 ounces bacon
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil
• 3 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 sliced carrot
• 1 sliced onion
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti
• 2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• Crumbled bay leaf
• Blanched bacon rind
• 18 to 24 small white onions , brown-braised in stock
• 1 pound quartered fresh mushrooms , sautéed in butter
• Parsley sprigs

Remove rind from bacon, and cut bacon into lardons (sticks, 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Stir in the wine, and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers
very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms. Set them aside until needed.

When the melt is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.

For immediate serving: Covet the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice, and decorated with parsley.

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

Beef Stew

This recipe for Oven Beef Stew is adapted from one shared with readers in a recent Penzey's catalogue.

The key to this adaptation is to find a very tender cut of beef. The original recipe has this cook for 5 hours...I cooked it for an hour. Long enough to make most beef pretty tough and chewy. But having a tender cut that slow cooks, for only an hour, in a wet environment, is key.

That being said...I didn't read what type of beef this was and was surprised how tender it was after an hour of cooking! Trial and error my friends. Sorry.

Oven Beef Stew
adapted from Penzey's

1 1/2 lb beef, cubed and trimmed.
2-3 large potatoes, peeled, cubed
1 onion, large diced
4-5 carrots, peeled and cubed
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
Salt/Pepper
2 tsp Oregano, dried
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 TB vegetable oil
Broth-chicken or beef or combo

Preheat oven to 350.

Coat the beef with the vegetable oil and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Sear the beef in a large pot, over medium high heat. You are trying to get a browned crust, not cook the meat through. Remove the beef to a bowl.

Add the onions to the pot and stir. Add the oregano. Stir. Add the tomatoes. Cover with broth and add the beef. Stir. Cover and place in the oven for 1/2 hour.

At the 1/2 hour mark, stir and add the potatoes and carrots. Cover and cook for another 1/2 hour, or until the vegetables are tender.

Serve hot!


Notes: If you want the broth to be thicker, you can stir in a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cornstarch and cold liquid) to thicken it, or bring to a simmer over the stove, uncovered to allow the broth to reduce.

Quick Chili

In continuing my anti-grocery shopping spree...at least until Friday. Last night I had some work stuff, same for tonight. So it's all worked out!

But...on Monday night, I was cold. The heat wasn't working at the office and it was rainy and dreary, so something warm and comforting was necessary.

A quick, fast chili would work wonders. I had no intention of stretching the few ingredients I had in the fridge into a fairly large pot of chili, but it worked, was tasty and filling and even left some for lunch the next day.

To start I did something a little naughty. I chopped and browned up three strips of bacon. When the fat was rendered out and the pieces were crisp, I removed the bacon and poured out the fat. Then I added about a 1/4 pound of ground beef, and browned that up. Add some onions. Spices...use your favorite chili spices. I had some fresh tomatoes, so I used those up, plus a can of diced tomatoes. Some left over bell pepper and frozen corn. Simmer a bit. Added some broth and pasta to cook up. Taste and adjust for seasoning and spice. I stirred the bacon pieces in at the very end. They brought a nice flavor profile to the party and made this simple chili a little special.

YUM!

Pork or Beef?

Mahogany Stew with Pork

This was last night's dinner. The original recipe is Mahogany Beef Stew. It comes together quickly, then cooks in the oven until tender. Served here with couscous. Rich and tasty.

The change was instead of beef, I used some boneless pork spareribs that I cleaned of excess fat and cut into large chunks. They worked very well with the sauce. The rich meat held up to the rich gravy. In looking back at the recipe I missed a few things. I used less hoisin sauce, only 1/4 of a cup. I forgot the tomato paste and oregano. Didn't notice either missing. The tomato paste might have added a little acidity, which could balance the sweetness a little, but over all no noticeable difference.

A nice variation.

Irish Spirits

So meaty...easy and rich...all you need is about three hours to let dinner do it's own thing!


Tonight's dinner was from page 51 of...

The Irish Spirit
Recipes inspired by the Legendary Drinks of Ireland by Margaret M. Johnson

Medieval Stew with Stout
Serves 6 as a main course

2 TB canola oil
2 lbs, lean beef, 1 inch cubes
3 large onions, sliced
1/4 cup flour
4 stalks celery, thickly sliced
8 cups beef stock or broth
1 cup stout (Guinness)
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 TB tomato puree
Salt and pepper
8 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
2 TB minced flat leaf parsley
Boiled potatoes for serving

In a stockpot of dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the meat and cook, stirring constantly, for 5-6 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Work in batches until all the beef is browned. (Don't crowd the pot or the meat will steam instead of brown).

Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until soft but not browned. Add the flour and stir to coat the onions. Return the meat to the pot and add the celery, stock/broth, stout, caraway seeds, tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours, or until the meat is nearly tender. Add the carrots and cook for 30-40 minutes longer, or until the meat and carrots are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve hot!

Slow Stewed Beef

In October 2005 I was really busy with work (major fundraising dinner) and had no time to put up recipes on the blog. Because I didn't want you, gentle readers, to go without tasty treats, I put call out for recipe contributions. I received several!

For the Valentine's dinner, I made one contributed by Brunette. And OMG I shouldn't have waited this long to make the recipe! I can't wait to make it again!

Brunette submitted a recipe from Bon Appetit magazine called Mahogany Beef Stew with Red Wine and Hoisin Sauce. What I ultimately made is basically the same recipe with changes.

Mahogany Beef Stew
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup flour
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
1 7 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup hot water
1 TB paprika
1 TB oregano
1/2 TB thyme
2 bay leaves

*Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over high heat.
*Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Lightly coat with flour.
*Working in batches, add the meat to the pot; sauté until brown on all sides, remove to a bowl.
*Reduce heat to medium; add 2 tablespoons oil to pot.
*Add onions; sauté until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant.
*Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Stir in the tomato sauce, hoisin sauce and return the meat to the pot.
*Bring to a low simmer. Add the paprika, oregano, thyme and bay leaves.
*Cover pot and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
*The stew is done when the beef is "spoon" tender and the sauce has reduced to a thick, rich gravy.
*Discard bay leaves.
*Season stew with salt and pepper.

Make sure to taste and adjust the flavor as you go. I started with lower quantities of some of the herbs and spices and after a few taste tests, found the perfect blend. I do find the paprika necessary! The hoisin is really rich and a wee bit sweet. The paprika brings that sweetness in balance and enhances the richness.

I served the stew with basic risotto. Thank you Brunette for making our V-Day dinner so delish! And BTW: I just realized that this was the second V-Day you've influenced...last year we had the funny fondue that didn't quite turn out! FUN!

Onions and wine becoming best friends.

Everything's in the pot. Time to simmer and taste test along the way.

Super tender beef in the rich gravy!

Heaven. Really just wonderful.

I was chatting a bit today with Ms. Terri in WI and she's not a beef person. We discussed and thought that a nice pork roast would enjoy this treatment. Mmmm?!?!!!!!

Our wine was a Cab and it's called...Red Knot...an Australian red. Very good! Worked well in this recipe and drank nicely.

Contributed Recipe: Mahogany Beef Stew With Red Wine and Hoisin Sauce

Contributed by: MCB

I have another recipe referral for you. This one is cribbed from Bon Appetit magazine, which really should be the bible for every foodie. It's one of my favorite cold- weather dinners - when served over horseradish mashed potatoes with a glass of Cabernet or Shiraz, it truly is paradise.

Some recommendations: I highly recommend serving it with a tart or spicy starch, since that helps cut the hoisin-induced sweetness of the stew itself. I usually skip the packaged stew meat and purchase a better cut of beef, then chop the meat a bit smaller than is called for in the recipe (I like my stew meat to be nice and tender when it's done cooking). I also add more carrots- but I really, really like carrots.

Mahogany Beef Stew With Red Wine and Hoisin Sauce
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed, cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 cups chopped onions
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs,undrained
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 bay leaves
1 pound slender carrots, peeled, cut diagonally into1-inch lengths
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

*Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over high heat.
*Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.
*Add meat to pot; sauté until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.
*Push meat to sides of pot.
*Reduce heat to medium; add 2 tablespoons oil to pot.
*Add onions; sauté until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
*Mix meat into onions.
*Add 1 cup wine, tomatoes with juices, hoisin sauce, and bay leaves.
*Bring to boil.
*Reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
*Add carrots and 1 cup wine.
*Cover; simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
*Uncover, increase heat to high; boil until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes longer.
*Reduce heat to medium, add corn starch mixture and simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
*Discard bay leaves.
*Season stew with salt and pepper.

(Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before serving, stirring occasionally.) Transfer stew to large bowl. Sprinkle with parsley; serve.

Bon cuisine!

UPDATE: Photo post here.