Beef Stew, Comfort Food Done Righ

I have to admit, most of the time when I make beef stew, it's from a leftover pot roast. It's just good - and a super easy way to produce a second meal from leftovers - especially when you plan on the leftovers. It's hard to get better than that.

Hard - but not impossible. If you want beef stew from scratch, without the intervening pot roast, then I can almost guarantee you'll be spoiled. This stew is just about perfect - rich and hearty, with juicy, succulent pieces of beef and tender vegetables, all cloaked in a phenomenally flavorful gravy. This stew shares some elements with some of the world's finest classic dishes - such as Irish Lamb Stew, Beef and Guinness and Boef Bourgignon - the long slow cooking with a touch of alcohol results in amazing flavors. Sure - the pot roast version is fast and easy - and tastes good. But this way is the ultimate comfort food way.



Serve this stew with just about any type of bread, but crusty Italian or sourdough is fabulous, as are either Cheddar or Buttermilk Biscuits. And with most stews, it gets even better the second day.



Ingredients


You'll need:



•3 pounds cubed beef stew meat, or better, 3 pounds chuck roast, cut into one inch pieces

•1/2 cup flour

•2 teaspoons garlic powder

•2 teaspoons onion powder

•2 teaspoons kosher salt

•2 teaspoons black pepper

•3 tablespoons vegetable oil

•1/2 cup red wine (white will work in a pinch but red is better)

•4 cups beef broth

•1 teaspoon dried rosemary

•1 teaspoon dried parsley

•1 tablespoon tomato paste

•1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce

•4 large waxy potatoes, peeled and cubed

•4 large carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces

•4 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces

•2 large onions, chopped

•2 tablespoons cornstarch

•2 tablespoons cold water

•Optionals - garnish with fresh chopped parsley, or toss in a cup of frozen peas just at the very end so they just heat through - the bright fresh flavors of both just pop.

Directions


1.Place flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl or gallon size baggie and whisk well. Add cubed stew meat or chuck roast pieces and toss to coat.

2.in a large Dutch oven, heat oil. Working in batches so as not to crowd the meat, brown beef on all sides. As each batch is done, set it aside.

3.Once all beef is browned, deglazed the pot with the red wine, stirring to scrape up the brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the beef broth, rosemary, parsley, tomato paste, and worchestershire sauce.

4.Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and allow pot to simmer for one hour.

5.Add potatoes, carrots, celery, and onions to the pot. Stir well. In a small bowl, make a paste of the cornstarch and water. Add to the pot. Cover and simmer for one hour.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I start out to make muffins with the best of intentions - meaning to use applesauce in place of oil, and whole wheat flour. But somewhere along the way I begin to channel Julia Child, and before I know it I've not only doubled the sugar, but added stuff like extra berries and more sugar in a topping, and slathered the whole thing in butter.




That's what happend here. I actually had the applesauce sitting on the counter, next to the whole wheat flour. I just couldn't resist the whole 'semi-cupcake' thing - especially when my litte muffin-head Bladen started jumping up and down saying "you make the BEST muffins Mom!". Nobody could resist the attempt to go over the top in the face of that little pixie kid egging you on. I will say though - an entire double batch of 24 presented to the Precious Darlings and two of their friends disappeared within one half hour session at the breakfast table. That's four muffins per kid. Picky kids at that.



That's a good muffin, mon amis.

Ingredients:

You'll Need:



(Makes 12 - recipe doubles easily)



For the Muffin Batter:



•2 eggs

•2/3 cup sugar

•2/3 cup light brown sugar

•½ cup vegetable oil

•1 teaspoons vanilla extract

•2 cups all-purpose flour

•Several grates fresh nutmeg

•1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

•1/2 teaspoon salt

•1/2 teaspoon baking soda

•1 cup sour cream

•1 1/2 cups blueberries

For the Struesel Topping:



•1/4 cup brown sugar

•1/2 cup all purpose flour

•3 tablespoons cold butter cut into pieces

•1 tsps cinnamon

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 400F. Either grease and flour a 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper muffin liners.

2.In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, then add sugar and beat well. Add oil and vanilla, stirring to combine well.

3.In a seperate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.

4.Add half the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, then half the sour cream, mixing after each addition. Mix only as much as necessary - overmixing will mean tough muffins. Repeat with the remainder of the flour mixture and sour cream.

5.Gently fold in blueberries.

6.Make streusel topping my combining flour, butter, sugar and flour in a small bowl. With a pastry cutter or your fingertips, pinch butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

7.Using a disher or ice cream scoop, scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Top each muffin with a generous tablespoon of the struesel topping.

8.Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. A wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of the muffins should come clean.

9.Allow muffins to cool for a minute on a wire rack - but serve warm!

Homemade Irish Cream

All righty - I couldn't let another St. Patrick's Day come my way without dabbling a bit with Irish Whisky. And while I'm perfectly happy with it neat, I've been dabbling a good bit with desserts lately - so making my own Irish Cream was a natural.



I wish I'd done this years ago.



I love using this stuff in baking - an Irish Cream Cake is a little piece of heaven, as is a Chocolate Guinness Cake with Irish Cream Frosting. But honestly - this little concoction is so unbelievably Bombshell that the very best way to have it is on the rocks. Ok - you may add it to your coffee if you want the best Irish Coffee ever. I will say that you need to be a bit careful with it - depending on how strong you make it, it can deliver quite a kick. So go easy on the whisky at first, especially if you're going to drink it neat or on the rocks. If you are going to mix it further for other applications, knock yourself out with the whisky.



I think I need to make a cake. Oh shoot. I need to make another batch of Irish Cream...

Ingredients


You'll Need:



•2 cups heavy cream

•2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk

•2 cups Irish whiskey (more to taste if you wish!)

•2 teaspoon instant coffee granules

•¼ cup chocolate syrup

•2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

1.In an electric blender, combine cream, condensed milk, whisky, instant coffee, chocolate syrup, vanilla extract and almond extract.

2.Blend on high for about 30 seconds. Taste - feel free to add more whisky if you like it stronger. Be careful adding it to your morning coffee though - you may not get much done.

3.Store in the refrigerator in a tightly sealed container, and shake well before serving.

A couple of notes on customizing this luscious stuff:



Go easy on the whisky and almond extract when you first make this. You can always add more of either but you can't take it out once it's in there. The almond is necessary, but can very quickly overwhelm the other flavors.



If you wish, you can melt baking or milk chocolate with the cream in a small saucepan over low heat instead of using chocolate syrup. There are subtle differences in flavor, but it's all delicious. To go really decadent, use a premium brand of chocolate.



If you like a thinner Irish Cream, the use half and half or whole milk instead of the heavy cream. Cream gives a thick result, more like a milkshake in consistency. My own preference is for using half half and half, and half whole milk. The creaminess is still there but the texture is much lighter. If you wish to sip it on the rocks I like this version. If you wish to mix it with coffee, I like the heavier version with cream.



The flavors come together as the Irish Cream sits in the fridge. By the day after you make it, it will be even better.



If you wish to use this as gifts you'll quickly be every body's favorite person.

Sweet Corn Muffins

My boy Bladen is a serious muffin head. A few years ago I was poking around, looking for a way to lessen the sugar in his favorite food. I came across a sweet corn muffin recipe - and it was magic. Now - it completely failed as far as lessening the sugar thing. But the flavor of these little beauties was fantastic. It faintly dawned no me that it was a variation of the heretical cornbread made up north of the Mason Dixon line, but Bladen was so enamored of them that I couldn't bring myself to care. Besides - these were sweet muffins, not made as cornbread, so I felt like I wasn't violating my Southern roots. Too much.



These are just delicious - they are tender, moist and sweet - but with a few kudos to me, not too sweet, although there is definitely sugar in them. Feel free to cut it back a bit if you like. They're less sweet than a standard muffin, and far more so than a typical dinner roll, and all of the kids eat them like crazy. They go great in place of bread with pork or chicken either one, and I often make these with different types of soup - especially lentils or split peas. The sweet cornbready thing goes really well with the hearty dried beans. Hey - for that matter, if you nuke them for a second they're great leftover for breakfast. Give these a shot - you'll like how different they are from typical muffins, and find yourself reaching for this recipe time and again!

Ingredients


• 1/2 cups all-purpose flour



•1 cup sugar

•3/4 cup cornmeal

•1 tablespoon baking powder

•1/2 teaspoon salt

•2 eggs

•1/2 cup shortening

•1 cup milk, divided

Directions


1.Preheat oven to 350F.

2.Grease and flour, or line with paper muffin cups, a 12 cup muffin pan.

3.In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cornmeal and baking powder.

4.In a second bowl combine eggs, shortening and 1/2 cup of milk. Beat well, until fully combined.

5.Add flour mixture to egg mixture and beat well, until fully combined. Add remaining half cup of milk.

6.Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full - an ice cream scoop or disher works best for this since they'll all be exactly the same.

7.Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden skewer inserted into the middle of an interior muffin (interior of the muffin pan) tests done by coming out clean. The tops of the muffins should be springy to the touch.

8.Allow muffins to cool for ten minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or room temperature. Wrap extras well and store for up to 2 days.

Irish Bacon and Cabbage

Adapting the Irish National Dish to American Supplies

As St. Patrick's Day rolls around every year, many Americans break out the recipes for corned beef and cabbage. This actually is an American dish (although a delicious one). In Ireland, if there is a national dish, it would either be an Irish Stew such as Irish Lamb Stew or Beef and Guinness, or Bacon and Cabbage.



Bacaon and Cabbage will confuse many American readers - simply because what we think of as bacon is completely different than what is thought of as bacon in Ireland. So if you're going to make this recipe (and you should, it is AWESOME), then be aware that you'll have to do a little hunting to find the real thing.



American bacon is made from pork belly, and it cured, smoked, then cooked until crispy. Irish bacon is made from pork back or loin, is much leaner (although it does still have some fat), and is cured but not smoked. In Ireland, American bacon is called 'streaky bacon'. Americans should think of something closer to Canadian Bacon, American ham, or Italian Pancetta. All three will work as substitutes in in recipes calling for Irish Bacon, but if you can, take the time and effort to find real Irish Bacon. You'll thank me.



Now additionally, there's another cut known as Irish Boiling Bacon, which is made from the shoulder. That's what is used in this recipe. In America, look for a pork butt, or picnic shoulder - the same cuts Southerners use to make pulled pork. That's a good thing - because these are not only easy to find, but relatively inexpensive. Certainly a lot less than bacon of any kind - American, Irish OR Italian. The trick to getting something closer to Irish boiling bacon will be to brine it - exactly like you'd brine chicken or turkey. For more information on brines, including video instruction, check out Basic Brine for Poultry.

Bacon & Cabbage:




•2 to 2 1/2 pounds Irish bacon - or if you're stuck with American supplies:

•2 to 2 1/2 pounds pork butt or shoulder, brined as in Basic Brine

•1 medium head cabbage, cored and quartered



•Serve with either Parsley Sauce or Mustard Sauce (recipes below)

•Serve with simple boiled potatoes, or with Colcannon, boiled turnips or carrots

Directions


1.Place the bacon (brined pork butt) in a large Dutch oven and cover with cold water. Place over medium heat, bringing the pot slowly up to a boil. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer, and simmer the bacon for about an hour and a half. The general rule of thumb is to simmer for half an hour per pound.



2.Skim the top of the pot occasionally to remove and foam that will come to the top. This is just coagulated protein - but you don't really want it. Once done, the meat will be for tender. That's what you're looking for.

3.About twenty minutes before the meat is due to be done, add the cabbage to the pot. Don't put it in any earlier - you want the cabbage to still be a touch crisp - and overcooked cabbage smells like sulfur. Tastes a bit like it as well - so don't over cook it. You'll turn something lovely into something that tastes and smells a bit like brimstone. That's not Luscious.

4.Pull the bacon out and place it on a platter or carving board to rest. Don't rush this - all meats need to rest before cutting or they'll be dry. So allow you're bacon ten minutes - think of it as the rest time after a good workout. The bacon needs a moment to get it's act together before you slice it.

5.Drain the cabbage while the bacon rests, and place it in a serving bowl. Make sure to reserve some of the cooking liquid to use in making one of the sauces. To serve the bacon, slice it thinly. Serve with potatoes, turnips, colcannon or carrots. The bacon really benefits from an intensely flavored sauce.

6.All done - Happy St. Patrick's Day! Or any other, come to think of it!





Parsley Sauce

•4 tablespoons unsalted butter, Irish Butter if you can find it!

•4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

•1/4 cup of the cooking liquid from the bacon

•1 1/4 cups milk, heated

•Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

•1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley



In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Cook for about three minutes, whisking well to form a smooth paste.

•Whisk in the cooking liquid from the bacon, stirring constantly. Whisk in the milk, stirring constantly.

•Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for five minutes, or until thickened.

•Taste, and adjust for salt and pepper. Remove from heat, and stir in parsley. Serve hot with boiled bacon.
Mustard Sauce


•3 tablespoons butter



•1 small onion, diced



•2 cloves garlic, minced



•1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard



•1 cup dry white wine, I use a Chardonney



•1 bacon cooking liquid, plus more as needed



•1 1/2 cups half-and-half, plus more as needed



•Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1.In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt butter, and saute the onion and garlic for five to seven minutes, or until onion is translucent.

2.Stir in mustard and wine, and bring to a boil. Whisk in bacon cooking liquid and half and half and bring back to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook whisking constantly, for 7 to 10 minutes, or until sauce is reduced by half.

3.Taste, and adjust for salt and pepper. If you wish to adjust texture, add a touch more half and half. Serve with the Irish Boiled Bacon.

Irish Lamb Stew

You don't want to save this stew for St. Patrick's Day. There are too many awesome things about it to hold it for a special occasion. Or maybe pull it out for more special occasions - because it's delicious. Rich, hearty and filling, the flavors in this stew just make you want to close your eyes and savor every bite.




There are a couple of things to keep in mind with this stew though. It actually is better after a day or two - so put it together ahead of time and it just gets better and better. If you want, you can certainly prepare it in a slow cooker. Assemble it up to right before you add the vegetables, allow it to cook on low all day, and at the end of the day, add the vegetables and give it another hour on high. Other wise the veggies will become mushy.



If you'd like you can substitue the white wine for either red wine or Guiness. I just happen to like the white wine with the lamb. And of course you'll want to serve it with some fresh buttered Irish Soda Bread!

Ingredients


You'll Need:



•1 pound thick sliced bacon diced

•3 pounds boneless lamb shoulder or boneless leg of lamb, well trimmed and cut into one inch cubes

•1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

•1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

•1/3 cup all-purpose flour

•3 cloves garlic, minced

•1 large onion, chopped

•1/3 cup water

•2 1/2 cups beef stock

•1 teaspoon sugar

•4 medium carrots, diced

•2 medium onions, diced

•2 large potatoes, peeled and diced

•4-5 sprigs fresh thyme

•2 bay leaves

•3/4 cup white wine

Directions


1.Over medium heat, in a large Dutch oven, cook bacon until brown and crispy. Drain and set aside.

2.In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, salt and pepper. Add lamb pieces, and coat evenly. Working in batches, brown lamb pieces in bacon fat. Don't add too much to the pan at once - or they'll steam instead of brown. Be patient and add no more than a single layer at once, making sure the pieces don't touch. As they brown, remove the brown pieces from pan and set them aside. Once finished with all pieces, drain any excess fat.There probably won't be any.

3.Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook until onion turns golden. Deglaze pot with water, and add bacon, beef stock, sugar and browned lamb pieces to the onions and garlic.

4.Bring pot to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, cover, and cook for about 1 1/2 hours.

5.Add remaining ingredients to the pot, cover and simmer for half an hour, or until vegetables are tender. Taste, and adjust for salt and pepper.

Simple Chocolate Frosting

Simple, perfect, chocoate frosting.

I have weired kids. It's my own fault - their entire lives they've been the test subjects for my recipes and experiments. That's great in a way, because they all eat well, understand what it means to cook (and can do it themselves), and try new foods and flavors readily.



On the other hand, they also live under the impression that they're all budding food critics. While my attitude is 'shut up and eat it - I fixed it and it's your supper', they have no problem popping off "it's good Mom, but I think you need a bit more acid in the pan sauce. And the sear on that steak could have been a bit deeper, couldn't it?"



Bear with me - I know this is about chocolate frosting. I do have a point. It's this - all four of my kids like different types of chocolate frosting. The youngest is perfect happy with a stick of butter held together with a bit of cocoa and ten pounds of powdered sugar. The middle one lives for cream cheese frosting of all kinds, but the oldest - he's a problem. He is so particular about cakes and frosting that most of the time he greets a big fat towering piece of layer cake with a pen and paper, in order to list everything I did wrong. He wants sweet - but not cloying so. He wants chocolate, but it should be between milk chocolate and bittersweet. He likes a lot of frosting - but not too much, and never so it competes with the cake.



Ergo - this is Ricky's frosting. It meets all the criteria of the world's youngest and most knowledgeable food critic. It is exactly what it seems - a simple, chocolate frosting. It goes perfectly on lots of chocolate cakes and cupcakes, but our favorite is the Old Fashioned Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. Even if you have normal kids (or adults, my Dad loves this stuff), they'll most likely love this frosting. And if you have a weirdo like mine - this one will take the cake.

Ingredients

You'll Need:



•1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

•3/4 cup cocoa

•4 cups powdered sugar

•1/2 cup milk

•1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1.In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter until lightly fluffy.

2.Add cocoa, and beat until well combined.

3.Working a cup at a time, starting and ending with milk or cream, add powdered sugar a half cup at a time. Reserve a couple tablespoons of cream until after the vanilla is added. (You'll do that next).

4.Add the vanilla, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl, and make sure everything is well incorporated.

5.Test the consistency. You want it spreadable, not stiff enough to hold it's shape. Use it to frost anything you like - cupcakes, sheet cakes, brownies - you name it!