Irish Beef Stew

We're getting into soups/stews now that we are experiencing a winter in the north-land :-) Keith actually found this recipe online. The Guinness & wine combine w/ other seasonings to give it a nice & complex flavor; my new fav stew. Be generous with the salt, in my opinion. Check it out:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (NOT extra-lean)
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups beef broth
• I cup of Guinness beer
• 1 cup of fine red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Lightly salt the beef pieces. Working in batches if necessary, add the beef (do not crowd the pan, or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook, without stirring, until nicely browned on one side, then use tongs to turn the pieces over. Continue to cook in this manner until all sides are browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2 While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.

3 Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

Serves 4 to 6.

Super Easy Veggie Chili

This recipe was given to me by a friend years ago, and I finally made it when my sister was a vegetarian & visiting me. It is cheap, simple, pretty (it's quite colorful), and good. Of course, as with all chili, it's better after it sits in the fridge a few days. Enjoy!

1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped bell pepper (mix of yellow and green)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBSP brown sugar
1.5 TBSP chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 16oz cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
2 15oz cans black beans, rinsed & drained (I like Goya or Bush's best)
1 15oz can kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 15oz can pinto beans, rinsed & drained

Heat oil in dutch oven over med-hi. Add onion, peppers, garlic; saute 5 mins or until tender. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer 30 mins. Serves 8. This will be my healthy lunch this week as I prepare to pig out for Thanksgiving :-)

Shrimp w/ Tomato Sauce and Feta

Made this instead of my normal shrimp scampi due to being inspired by Darwell Yeager :-)

Shrimp - enough for 2; if you live north, you might have to buy them frozen if you don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money. Buy the raw, frozen ones, defrost, and peel.
Basil
Oregano
Olive Oil
Feta
Tomatoes - 1-2
Farfalle pasta
3 cloves garlic - minced

Drizzle some olive oil in a frying pan. Once oil gets hot, add shrimp & garlic. Cook about 3 mins, turning the shrimp halfway through. Remove shrimp from pan. Add a little more olive oil and 1-2 tomatoes, diced. (I like the vine ones or get the freshest ones you can find.) Cook over medium and sprinkle oregano & basil to taste. Cook this about 10 mins while you cook the pasta to al dente for 8-10 mins. Add everything together once pasta is cooked and drained, and sprinkle plenty of feta on top. Garlic bread and salad are nice compliments. Easy, quick, delicious meal! You could add crushed red pepper to add some spice if you want. Enjoy :-)

Chicken Marsala w/ Prosciutto

This is my classic standby meal - good for company or a weekend evening. It all started b/c I screwed up chicken marsala so bad that Keith told me I should never cook it again. Well, being the competitive person I am - of course - I transformed my "worst" meal into my best! I recommend serving it with some garlic bread and salad or make a simple penne drizzled with olive oil and parmesan cheese.

CHICKEN MARSALA

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
all-purpose flour
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 package prosciutto (3-4 oz)
8 oz (1 package) mushrooms - crimini or porcini, stemmed and halved
1/2 c marsala wine
1/2 c chicken stock
2 TBSP unsalted butter

Either buy thin chicken breasts or put parchment paper over the chicken breasts and pound flat to 1/4 inch thickness with a meat mallet. Put the flour in a shallow pan; add salt and pepper and stir. Heat the oil over medium-high in a large skillet. When the oil is hot, dredge both sides of the chicken breasts and add to the oil. Cook for 3-5 mins on each side until golden. Only turn once. Remove chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm.
Lower heat to medium & add the prosciutto to the drippings in the pan. Saute for a minute to render out some of the fat. Add mushrooms; saute til brown and moisture has evaporated -- about 5 mins. Season w/ salt and pepper. Pour marsala into pan & cook for a minute or so. Add chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for a minute or so to heat the chicken through. That's it. Serve the chicken, ladling the gravy on top. Delicioso!

Lamb Chops with Balsamic Reduction & Rosemary crisps

Keith is part Greek (actually true!), and so we've really delved into the Greek food and culture for the past few years...OK, mostly food :=) One of the things that we really enjoy is lamb! (if it bothers you, just pretend it's something else until you eat it, and then realize you've been missing out on a very delicious meat). With all of that said, this recipe isn't Greek per se, but it does have lamb. It's quick and easy and guest-worthy. One thing we've just recently discovered is that you can be quite discriminating with your vinegar selection. For this meal, going to a gourmet shop to spend $15-$20 on a nice bottle of balsamic vinegar is worth it. You won't be sorry. Balsamic vinegar is so great for grilling vegetables & on salads that it's great to have around anyway. So, here's the recipe; bon appetite!

LAMB CHOPS W/ BALSAMIC REDUCTION
3/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste
4 lamb chops, 3/4 inch thick
1 TBSP olive oil (another thing worth spending a little money on)
1/4 c minced shallots
1/3 c balsamic vinegar
3/4 c low sodium chicken broth (you can make ch broth yourself & keep on hand w/o too much trouble; very good & enhances flavors of everything you cook - recipe to follow at later date)
1 TBSP butter (go ahead, use the real stuff)

Mix together all of the herbs and spices and press them into both sides of the lamb chops. Let the chops sit for 15 mins to absorb the spices. Heat the olive oil in large skillet on medium high. Cook the chops for about 3.5 mins per side for medium rare (you'll need to adjust the time if your chops aren't as thick or you want them more done). [make sure the oil is hot enough before you put the chops in...you want to hear the searing sound when they go into the skillet] Remove from the skillet; put on a plate. [don't tent w/ foil or they will keep cooking] Add shallots to the skillet and cook for a few minutes until browned. Stir in vinegar, scraping any bits of lamb off bottom of skillet. Add in chicken broth. Continue to stir and cook over medium high for about 5 mins. Cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat, stir in butter, and pour over lamb.

ROSEMARY CRISPS

These are super easy and DELICIOSO! It's seriously one of our FAV sides. It's crazy that this isn't a standard side, in our opinion, b/c it's so so good.

Red potatoes
Olive oil
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper

Heat your oven to 400. The key to this recipe is to slice your red potatoes (skin on) very very thin. Slice them as thin as you possibly can w/ a sharp knife (be careful). Mine are definitely less than 1/16", but you want to get them at least that thin. Slice as many as you think you'll need -- estimate 1 per person. Take all the sliced potatoes, put in a large plastic container, and drizzle with olive oil. You just have to kind of judge it b/c I never measure it out. You want enough that it will bind the spices onto the potatoes. Sprinkle dried/fresh rosemary, salt, and pepper (to taste) onto the potatoes. Put the lid on the container, and shake it vigorously. Wala, you will have evenly coated potato slices. Get a cookie sheet, lightly spray with Pam, and pour the potatoes on it. You only want one single layer, so if you made enough potatoes for more than 4, you will need to do a few batches. Press the potatoes down where most of them are flat and in a single layer. Cook for 20-25 mins or until they are starting to brown. Flip them over. Cook another 15-20 mins, keeping an eye on them so they don't burn. Serve!

Easy, Spicy, Tex-Mex Sunday Brunch

OK, so today we wanted something chill & Tex-Mex. It was great w/ just enough spice to wake us up!
Menu: Egg, onion, pepper, & sausage burritos w/ spicy breakfast potatoes
*note: you could do black beans as a side also. Recipe will follow at some point down the road.
A hardier bear like an IPA or Brown Ale is a really nice compliment for the heat of this recipe.

BREAKFAST POTATOES:

Whatever potatoes you have on hand - Russett, red, whatever; estimate 1 per person
White Onion - estimate 1/4 c. per person
Green Pepper - estimate 1/8 c. per person
Olive Oil - 2-4 TBSP
Paprika to taste (for spicier, add more)
Garlic Salt to taste
Pepper

Boil your potatoes; keep the skins on! We recommend that you chop them in half or quarters to speed this process up. If you are cooking for 2-4 people, it should take about 20 minutes. You want them soft, but not mushy enough for mashed potatoes. After they are boiled, remove from heat, drain, and chop into 1/2 inch pieces.
Heat a skillet to medium high, add half of your olive oil. Wait until hot, and a drip of water/piece of onion POPS. When ready, add your DICED onion and pepper. Stir regularly until soft. Cook about 5 mins in the olive oil. Remove and set aside.
Add remaining olive oil. Turn heat up to medium-high. Add potatoes, garlic salt, paprika, and black pepper. Cook until browned, stirring regularly - about 15 mins. Taste test the potatoes to make sure they are soft enough. If not, you may want to turn down the heat, cover, and cook a bit longer. When potatoes are to desired softness, add onions, green peppers, and stir for about one minute. Done!

SPICY EGG BURRITOS:

2 eggs per person, whisked
1/4 onion per person
1/8 red/yellow/whatever you have pepper per person
crumbled/chopped hot sausage like chorizo; 1/16 lb per person
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil - 1-2 tsp
handful of shredded cheese (optional)
Flavorful hot sauce like Louisiana hot sauce; you don't want one that is mainly heat like Tabasco
flour tortillas

You want to start your eggs once you've put your potatoes in the skillet -- no earlier. First, heat skillet and drizzle olive oil in pan (eyeball it). After it has heated to where it will pop if you drip water/onion in it, add the onions and peppers. Cook approx 5 mins until soft. Add sausage of your choice. (You could even use a mild sausage or sweet sausage if you like -- just don't use too much - eggs are the main ingredient.) Stir, and after the sausage has browned, add the whisked eggs. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Stir/cook for about 5 mins. Done! Sprinkle shredded cheese on top if you like. Cover to keep warm if potatoes aren't finished yet. When you are ready to serve, bake or microwave your flour tortillas according to package directions. Scoop the egg mixture inside, drizzle hot sauce on top, and fold. Mmmm! Get a nice IPA/brown ale and Enjoy!

If you want to cut the fat, omit the sausage & cheese. It's still really good w/o those.

Favorite NOLA restaurants & bars

We will make our first post about reminiscing on our beginnings in the most soulful, passionate, and FUN city in the world - New Orleans :-) We haven't lived there since 2005, and there are always great new restaurants springing up, but here are our top 3 favs (w/ a little lagniappe):

1. Jacques-Imo's - eclectic, interesting, and marvelous dishes. The owner was in the Coast Guard before becoming a chef & restauranteur, & we have a great story of actually driving him home one night after some shared drinks! Def a local spot more than a tourist one -- worth the streetcar ride out of the Quarter.

2. Arnaud's - authentic New Orleans food at its best. Must have the cafe brulot! Keith proposed to me during a walk on the Moonwalk along the MS river right after our last dining experience here in 2006. It's a fabulous restaurant, and they have live jazz music frequently as well.

3. Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse - AWESOME. Best steak we've ever had - better than Ruth's Chris, better than authentic aged steak houses, guarantee that you'll be impressed. mmMMM!

Lagniappe ( a term frequently used in New Orleans that means - a little something extra)
other best bets: RESTAURANTS: Brennan's, Commander's Palace, Acme Oyster House, Coffee Pot Restaurant, BARS: Igor's (if you need a bloody mary first thing in the morning), Bombay Club (jazz & cocktails), Hotel Monteleone, French Quarter Bar (in Ritz Carlton), Lafitte's, Columns Hotel bar, Maple Leaf (next door to Jacques-Imo's w/ excellent live music)