Beef Stew Recipe

We made this in the crockpot today and it is the first crockpot beef stew recipe that I've liked.

1 lb stew beef, cubed
1/4 c. flour
1.5 T olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, cubed
1 turnip, cubed (if you don't have or don't like turnips, use another potato)
2 potatoes, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/2 t salt
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t lemon juice
1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/4 t paprika
2 c. lower salt beef broth

Dredge beef in flour and cook in hot oil until browned on all sides. Put all ingredients in crock pot, cover with foil, then add lid and cook on high for approx. 4 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving. If the stew is not as thick as you like dissolve a tablespoon of cornstarch in a tablespoon of cold water and stir to dissolve. Add to stew and mix well. Let stew cook for another few minutes to thicken. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

The Omnivore's Hundred

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4.) Post a link in comments at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes (those of you who know me, know that I do not eat raw tomatoes in any form, yeech.)
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn,or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV - BRING IT ON!
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

So I've eaten 55 of these things and there are 7 that I would never willingly/knowingly eat. To replace those I will add 7 less usual things that I have eaten: wild boar, dried salted fish ovaries from Sardinia, heart (BLECH), intestine (BLECH), tripe (also BLECH), a variety of sushi (both raw and rolls) and sashimi, and raw mussels.

Cheese, Glorious Cheese

I've finally gotten back to making cheese. I bought a new cheese press recently and made a point of using it the weekend after I got it. I made a farmhouse cheddar using the home cheesemaker's bible. The cheese took a few days to develop the necessary rind (and I made the mistake of leaving it uncovered overnight once and one of the cats made quite an indentation with her tongue). I was finally able to wax it on Sunday. We can try it in about a month. I had to move The Wife's meds into the regular fridge so I could reclaim the "cheese fridge." The cheese fridge has a separate external thermostat so I can get any temp from freezing to about 70. Most cheeses need to age at 50-60 degrees (ie, too cold for a regular fridge and too warm for room temp) so if you want to make cheese at home you have to make your own "cheese cave." My first cheddar was disastrous (tried to age it in the basement during the summer). We also tried to make an italian table cheese but we were never thrilled with it. My co-workers thought it was pretty good though. The Wife wants me to make a gouda next. I also want to try to make a provolone for my dad - I tried once but it never came together. Any other home cheesemakers out there?

Party!

Yesterday I hosted a party (followed by a family dinner) for The Wife's 39th birthday. I hired a caterer (to drop off the food, not to actually serve) which I have never done before. I am now completely sold on the concept. It would have been a little harder if it were warm out but because it is cold we were able to put the covered trays in the garage overnight and then today I packed them up (and composted the garnish). We had a fair amount of food left over from dinner but we didn't have a lot left over from the party. Notes to self: grape leaves and roasted veggies not a hit; shrimp a must have for the next party; must label pumpkin dip or people think it is mustard. I packaged the beef and chicken into 8 oz containers and put it in the freezer. The Wife and I will be eating leftovers for the next 2 months - that is not necessarily a bad thing. I do have a GIANT tray of bowtie pasta with bacon and peas in alfredo sauce that is going to work with me. I don't think it will freeze well and there is no way The Wife and I can even make a dent in it before it goes bad. We did discover that we can get 12 people (including toddler in portable high chair) into our family room for dinner. A few of us used the kitchen table (including an uncle who just pulled up the cooler and had a seat) because I needed a stable place for my plate and there were no more spots by the time I got my dinner. More tray tables would have been helpful. Even though it was a pretty casual dinner we used the china and silver, it is almost as easy to clean up as paper and doesn't generate any trash. During the afternoon portion of the pary, we discovered we can comfortably get nearly 35 people (including 8 kids and 2 teenagers) in our downstairs. I am far more likely to have parties in the future now that we know this. Everyone got along, our friends' kids played together, and neither The Wife nor I was a complete stress ball. It also gave us a really good reason to clean/organize the house and get various pictures hung. All in all, a fine day.

and everyone who tried it said they liked the home-brewed beer. They seemed surprised that it was tasty.

Super Bowl

The Wife and I have a spread that has probably never been consumed while watching the Super Bowl. We are eating cucumbers, carrots, and pita dipped in hummus and shrimp with cocktail sauce. The Wife also has some ranch dip for the veggies. We are both drinking soda although The Wife brought in a bottle of home brew and a bottle of Yuengling in case I wanted them. So far the commercials have been just eh. Let me revise that...The Budweiser Clydesdales commercial absolutely rocked! Ok WTF was with the badgers and the Toyota Corolla?

Abby Normal? Super Duper!

Yesterday, The Wife and I drove into Manhattan to see "Young Frankenstein: The Musical." We've had these tickets since September when The Wife presented them to me as an anniversary gift. I absolutely LOVE the movie "Young Frankenstein" which The Wife tolerates because she loves me. The musical has received so-so reviews and The Wife was very worried that I wouldn't like it. On the contrary, I laughed the whole way through. In my opinion, it was very Mel Brooks - lots of double entendre and physical humor. There was also a song about tits. What can be bad about a musical with a song about tits?

We then met a friend (whom we haven't seen since our wedding...in 2001) for drinks and dinner at Becco. The food at Becco was just great. I had "polentina con speck", followed by a ceasar salad (The Wife did say mine was better), and their "sinfonia di pasta." The sinfonia di pasta is a trio of chef-selected pastas that are served table-side and for which refills are available. Last night's selections were mezze rigatoni with pesto and green beans, spicy tomato with fried shrimp over spaghetti (one made without shrimp was available which was good as our dining companion is allergic to shellfish), and mushroom ravioli in a light cream sauce. It was amazing. For NYC the price was surprisingly affordable especially given that we each had a 3-course meal and 2 of 3 had drinks. With tax and tip it was about $45 a person.

Yummy (and easy) beef stew

If you have a slow cooker, this is a great beef stew recipe.

1 lb stew beef, cubed
2 TBSP olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
healthy pinch of ground cloves
1 c. beef broth
1 1/2 c. water

To thicken (at end of cooking time)
2 TBSP corn starch dissolved in 1/3 c. cold water

Brown beef cubes in olive oil. Transfer to slow cooker and add remaining ingredients (except corn starch mixture) and stir to mix well. Cook for approximately 5 hours on high (add extra water if necessary - sauce should just cover meat and veggies) and then test carrots and potatoes for doneness. When carrots and potatoes are done, mix the corn starch and cold water until smooth. Add slowly to hot stew and stir well. Let the stew cook on high until it thickens -approx. 5 minutes.

Grilled Pizza

I was reading Foodie Farmgirl's entry about pizza and that reminded me that The Wife and I have been perfecting grilled pizza over the past several weeks. We have been buying frozen pizza dough from the local bakery or Italian deli. In the Winter we make our own dough but in the summer it is just easier to buy it. We roll it out, put it on an oiled pizza screen, and then put it on a pre-heated gas grill for 5 minutes. Then we pull it off (the screen makes everything easier), oil the top, flip the dough, spread fresh tomatoes (seeded, put through a food mill, lightly salted, and drained for 30 minutes), shredded mozzarella (not fresh, it releases too much whey in cooking), and prosciutto on it and return it to the grill for another 8 minutes. Very tasty and you don't heat up your kitchen when it is 95 out.

Of course if you are a giant dumbass like yours truly you do the following things wrong with each successive pizza - the first one you don't cook long enough on either side. The next one you oil the top after flipping it - which causes tomato juices and cheese whey to gather on the top of the pizza. The next one is a giant dome when you open the grill after cooking on the first side and you forget to oil the top and flip the pizza (I think I forgot to flip it over as I was rolling it out which was why we got the giant dome). So tonight I shall try to remember all of the steps in the right order. I remembered to drain the tomatoes ahead of time, I remembered to take the dough out to warm up before using it (it rolls out better that way) so at the moment I am on the right track.