Nothing fancy here...just slow cooked, melt in your mouth stew. Beef, carrots and potatoes make Tom very happy..and so he was.
4 lb boneless chuck roast cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes ( or beef stew meat)
3 Tbl olive oil
1 large onion chopped in large pieces
1 stalk celery sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups beef broth ( plus more if needed)
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt and pepper ( to season the meat)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
4 medium carrots cut into thirds
4 medium potatoes cut in large pieces
2 Tbl cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water for thickening
Season the meat with salt and pepper. In a dutch oven sear the meat in the olive oil until well browned. ( do this in batches). Place the meat in a bowl and set aside. Add the onions, celery, and garlic to the pot and lightly brown. Add the wine and broth and with a wooden spoon, scrape up the browned bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pot. Return the meat to the pot and add the bay leaf and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered for about 1 1/2 hours. If needed add a little more broth to the mixture while simmering. Add the carrots and potatoes and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the cornstarch mixture and let simmer for a few more minutes until the stew thickens. Get out the bowls!
Get out your spoons and crusty bread! This shrimp and scallop pasta is really garlicky and brothy...and soooo good!
1 pound raw medium to large peeled and deveined shrimp
1 pound raw sea scallops, halved crosswise if very large
3 Tbl olive oil
8 cloves minced garlic
1 15-16 ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups clam juice
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
6 -8 julienned basil leaves
8 ounces dried pasta
In a dutch oven, saute the garlic in the olive oil on low heat for a minute or two, until the garlic gets fragrant and softens a bit. Add the tomatoes, wine clam juice, black pepper, and red pepper, bring up to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the scallops and shrimp, bring back up to barely boiling, stir in the basil, and turn the heat off. Cover and let "steep" while preparing the pasta according to package directions. Serve the sauce over the pasta in bowls.
Note: The Chuck Muer House Bread is perfect with this!
Last week I turned my mom's cheesecake recipe into a pudding-like dessert...on purpose! This is so easy and because it's so rich, a little goes a long way. This makes 10 to 12 small servings.. and even has a graham cracker crumb topping.
Topping:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbl butter, melted
2 tsp sugar
Combine all the ingredients and bake at 350F in a small baking dish for 20 minutes. Set aside.
Pudding:
1 cup masarpone cheese
1/3 cup cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
8 ounces heavy whipping cream
1/4 tsp gelatin powder
Sprinkle the heavy whipping cream with the gelatin and the whip until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Thoroughly beat the mascarpone, cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
Fold in the whipped cream, cover and chill for a few hours.
Serve in small dessert dishes sprinkled with a teaspoon of the graham cracker mixture.
The other night when we had the Greek salad, I slow roasted the lemony Greek chicken, but didn't have any potatoes in the house, so I thought rice would make a great side. I guess you could call this a slow baked pilaf because I added the rice mixture to the roasting pan after the chicken had cooked at 250F for about 3 hours. I did turn up the heat to 350F the last half hour. The juices from the chicken intermingled with the rice and made a great addition to the meal.
2 Tbl olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 stalk celery, diced
1 1/2 cups raw rice
2 cups chicken stock ( plus more if needed)
salt and pepper to taste
Saute the onion, celery and mushrooms in the olive oil until they soften. Add the rice, stock and a few shakes of salt and pepper. If making this with slow roasted chicken, add the mixture to the bottom of the roasting pan at about the 3 hour mark. Stir occasionally. At the 4 1/2 hour mark raise the oven temp to 350F.
If you're just making the rice on its own, bake it at 350F for 45 to 60 minutes, adding more broth if the casserole starts to get too dry.
I did some research on Greek salads recently and found that basically only in the Detroit area do restaurants put sliced beets in them. You can find Greek salads with or without lettuce but always feta cheese, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and onion. So go ahead and put whatever you like in them. Here are some suggestions:
Lettuce
Cucumber
Red onion
Kalamata olives
Feta cheese
Beets
Pepperoncini
Tomatoes
Anchovies
Tomato
Parsley
Chicken
Shrimp
Green or red bell pepper
Here's a quick dressing recipe:
Combine the juice of 1/2 a lemon,1/2 cup olive oil, one clove of crushed garlic, 1/4 tsp dried oregano and salt and pepper into a jar with a lid or the mini food processor.
 |
| Almost Ready To Bake |
I got a buy on multicolored bell peppers last week and decided to stuff 4 of them... I usually use ground beef or lamb, but this time decided to use ground turkey..they were great..enough for dinner and lunch the next day.
4 large bell peppers( any color), tops cut off and cleaned of seeds and membrane
1 Tbl olive oil
1 lb ground turkey ( or beef or lamb)
1/2 cup raw rice
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
8 ounces tomato sauce
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper ( or more if you like spicy)
1 medium onion, diced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder or granulated garlic
1 cup chopped parsley
Saute the onion and turkey in the olive oil until the onion softens and the turkey looks almost cooked. Add the rest of the ingredients off the heat and combine thoroughly. Divide the mixture into the 4 peppers and cover and bake for 1 hour at 350F. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes.
Note: If you want the peppers a little saucy. combine a can of diced tomatoes, 2 minced garlic cloves, a little paprika, salt, and pepper and pour over the peppers before baking.
It was another day to get those odds and ends out of the vegetable bin and come up with a tasty side. I think this one would be good roasted as well.
1 heaping cup zucchini, diced small
1 heaping cup corn kernels
1/3 cup diced red onion
2 plum tomatoes, seeded cored and diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper (or the whole thing if you're adventurous) finely diced
2 Tbl olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
