Beef Stew

I tend to attribute my meal selection to the weather.  I don’t know if this is accurate, but it sure feels like it some days!  We had a pretty stormy day a week or so ago, and I made this yummy beef stew in my crock pot.  The smell that hit me when I finally got home around 5:45 was AMAZING.  Even if you have all the time in the world to spend cooking, you should still own a slow cooker just for the amazing aroma that will fill your house every time you cook with it.  Seriously.

This is pretty much your basic beef stew, but it is addictively delicious, I may or may not have eaten 3 bowls that night…don’t judge.  Feel free to adjust the vegetables as you see fit.  I wouldn’t have put a parsnip in here, for instance, if I didn’t have one in the fridge.  Not that it isn’t delicious, of course, but don’t go out and buy one just for this stew, you know?  Play it by ear.  You can also add veggies in here too that you might have.  Now not all veggies will really “go” with a classic beef stew, but mushrooms, for instance, would probably  be a pretty good addition here.

Ingredients (serves 6):

1.5 lbs stew meat, cut into chunks

1/3 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 tsp paprika

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

2 c beef broth

1/2 c red wine

3 potatoes, diced

4 carrots, sliced

1 parsnip, diced

1 stalk celery, chopped

 

Directions:

1. Place meat in ziplock bag and add the flour, salt, and pepper; shake to coat meat with flour mixture.  Add meat and flour mixture to the slow cooker along with garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, wine, potatoes, carrots, and celery.

2. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

Vegan/Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

The other day at school, one of the other teacher’s I work with was reading a book about becoming vegan.  After judging her a little (half the vegans I’ve met are annoying as hell about it), I started thinking about changing recipes to make them vegan (or at least vegetarian).  At that same time, I got an email update from The Scrumptious Pumpkin (a lovely food blog by someone who takes WAY better pictures than me) with a recipe for winter vegetable shepherd’s pie.  I was intrigued by this recipe a. because of the sneaky cauliflower.  I HATE the taste of cooked cauliflower, but I know it’s really good for you, so I was interested in sneaking in cauliflower where I wouldn’t be able to taste it. And b. because I got thinking about how easy it would be to transform it into a vegan/vegetarian version!

The mashed potatoes and cauliflower really are yummy, and I may try doing the combination every time I make mashed potatoes!  I used the mushrooms in this recipe to take place of the ground beef in traditional shepherd’s pie, and their flavor is really enhanced by the wine.  Fantastic.  Obviously, if you’re a meaty person and need the ground beef in this recipe, go for it and brown up a pound before you saute your vegetables.  It’ll be delicious for sure, but it’s not at all needed in this meal.  This dish takes a while to make, but most of that time is the prep.  If I’d been smart, I would have prepped the vegetables ahead of time (you know, like yesterday when I did NOTHING).  Prepping things ahead of time will cut the time in half, so I’d definitely recommend that.

Ingredients (serves 6):

3 small potatoes, chopped

1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets

3 whole cloves garlic

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided (omit if you’re making this vegan, it’ll still be delicious, don’t worry)

1/4 cup chives, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 medium carrots, diced

3 medium parsnips, diced

2 c baby portabella mushrooms

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp thyme

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 c red wine

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and roast 3 cloves of garlic in foil for about 20 minutes.

2. Steam potatoes and cauliflower over a pot of boiling water until fork tender, about 10-15 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl and mix in 3/4 c cheese, about 3/4ths of the chives, roasted garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.  Mash mixture with a potato masher (if you’re fancier than me) or fork (because I’m cheap).  Cover and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, saute onions, garlic, carrots, and parsnips in olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste; continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes.

4. Add tomato paste, oregano, thyme, cinnamon, and wine.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until sauce reduces and thickens.

5. Pour mushroom mixture evenly over the bottom of a casserole dish and top with potato and cauliflower mixture.  Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top and broil for 5-10 minutes or until the top of the potatoes have browned.

The final product out of the oven

Yum!

Spicy Potato Soup

 

I think New Years is easily my favorite time of year.  It really has nothing to do with the holiday, however, and everything to do with the fact that for the last 5 years I have spent NYE with my best friend from college.  It’s fantastic, especially now that we’re all “real adults” now and whatnot.  For the last 2 years, we’ve spent the new year at his place in Chicago, and delicious food always results.  Adam likes to cook, but he claims he doesn’t have the time to do it very often.  Also, I figure living by himself probably contributes to the lack of a desire to cook as well, I know I get lazy when I’m only cooking for myself too.  When we’re together though, we always cook at least half of the time.  Sadly, our NYE ham turned out a little questionable…I’ll take the blame for that one though after a terrible brain fart moment of bad conversion between minutes and hours…yeah, that ham may not have been fully cooked…whatever, it still tasted good.  Plus, the green bean casserole (only the best holiday dish ever, fyi) and sweet potatoes con marshmallows were delicious, so whatever.

Our other meal, I am happy to say, was much more successful.  I actually made this soup for Adam for the first time last year during my new years visit, he liked it so much that he requested it again this year.  Even our friend Derek, who doesn’t like spinach, thought it was delicious!  I’ve made this recipe with both the andouille and with the chorizo, frankly it’s just a matter of what I can find at the store.  Both turn out delicious.  If you have the option though, go with the andouille sausage, it’s far less greasy.  If you’re not a fan of heat, you can always make this soup with polish sausage or a mild Italian sausage instead.

Ingredients (serves 8):

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil (omit if using chorizo)

1/2 onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb andouille sausage, sliced into rounds OR 1 lb chorizo, casings removed

6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups milk

1 3/4 cups heavy cream

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 (10 oz) package frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions if using andouille (or other sliced sausage):

1. Heat the butter and oil together in a large stock pot over medium heat and cook onions and garlic until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add sausage slices, cook and stir another 5 minutes.  Stir in potatoes; cook and stir 15 minutes.  Add chicken broth, milk, heavy cream, and Italian seasoning.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Stir in spinach and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until spinach has heated through.  Top with Parmesan cheese to serve.

Directions if using chorizo (or other crumbled sausage):

1. Heat butter in a large stock pot over medium heat and cook onions and garlic until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add chorizo and cook until meat has browned thoroughly, about 5-7 minutes.  Drain excess grease.  Stir in potatoes; cook and stir 15 minutes.  Add chicken broth, milk, heavy cream, and Italian seasoning.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Stir in spinach and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until spinach has heated through.  Top with Parmesan cheese to serve.

 

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

Ever since we got back from Thanksgiving break, my roommates and I have been meaning to put up our Christmas tree.  Actually, if we were willing to put up a fake tree, we probably would have put it up before Thanksgiving…but that’s sacrilegious.  I REFUSE to put up a fake Christmas tree.  Being from Ohio though, Katie and I can’t really get into the Christmas spirit without cold weather which, as I’m sure you might imagine, is in short supply in Mississippi.  Luckily, a warm thick soup is the perfect way to trick yourself into thinking it’s colder out than it actually is!  Since we were going to be busy buying a decorating our tree, and we needed to be tricked into actually believing it’s December, this crock pot recipe seemed like the perfect thing!

For the record, this recipe could easily be made vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and (sadly) omitting the bacon.  I would not, however, recommend this unless you absolutely have to.  I mean, seriously, no bacon?!  That’s just wrong.

Ingredients (serves 6):

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 cups chicken broth

1tsp basil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 cup flour

2 cups half and half

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

6 slices bacon

Directions:

1. Saute onions in olive oil.  Combine onions, potatoes, broth, and spices in a slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6-7 hours (or, you know, 10 if you’re a teacher).

2. About half a hour before serving, whisk together flour and half and half.  Add this mixture, along with the evaporated milk, to the soup.  Cover and cook for another half hour.

3. Meanwhile, fry bacon in a large skillet.  Pat bacon to remove excess grease and crumble into small pieces.  Stir into soup before serving.  Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese if desired.

Roasted Red Potatoes and Squash with Apple Juice

Last time I cooked with butternut squash I had quite a bit left over (it was a BIG squash), so when I decided to make a fall inspired meal today (check out the Apple Stuffed Pork Chops) I knew this squash would be the prefect side dish.  Allrecipes.com once again gave me inspiration with this recipe for a delicious apple juice-white wine reduction to roast my squash and some red-skinned potatoes in.  (As a side note, I’m totally making the original recipe with root vegetables for Thanksgiving, yum.)  Delicious.  The apple juice-white wine reduction gave the squash and potatoes an amazing flavor, but the best part of these vegetables was the onions!  They really took on the flavor of the reduction and were amazing…I could have eaten an entire plate of these onions by themselves, so good.

Ingredients:

1 cup apple juice

1/3 cup white wine

1 tbsp butter

2 cups butternut squash, cubed

2 cups red-skinned potatoes, cubed

1 onion, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.Preheat over to 425 degrees.

2. Boil apple juice and wine in a saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 2o minutes.  Whisk in butter.

3. Place vegetables in a baking dish and pour apple juice mixture over them.  Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.

4. Roast until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.