Hoping this works tonight and all the posts don’t end up looking like stew or Bixby’s foot. From the blog:
Just got back from an awesome play date for Bixby and lunch with friends for me. It sounds like we are in for a big snow storm next week and I am not ready. But the weekend is supposed to be nice, so we’ll get out and enjoy it while we can.
Speaking of snow, we had our first real snow this week, along with thunder, wind and rain. Although the inch of snow is long gone, the temperatures stayed cold enough for several days to make soups and stews the recipes of choice this week.
I began the week out by making Cream of Chicken Soup, recipe here.
Next up, the weekly dinner menu was Hearty Tomato Soup and Awesome Grilled Cheese, full menu, recipes and shopping list are all here.
JeffreyW went with the ultimate comfort food (above), Baked Macaroni and Cheese, click here.
And if you want to spice things up, my friend Alton (not that one) makes Carne en su Jugo, recipe here – there is also a full dinner menu and recipes at that link.
For the pet lovers, there is a Bixby update this week – he discovered piles of fall leaves.
What’s on your menu this weekend? We have a new movie theater opening, so that and a pottery show are on the agenda here. Are there good things cooking in your kitchen? Share your favorite soups and stews, I can always use something new for my recipe box. Especially with more cold on the way.
For tonight’s featured recipe (pictured at the top of the post), I played around with my basic stew recipe to make it bit more fun when friends came over for dinner this week. I didn’t have any wine handy, but always keep a bottle of good whisky in the pantry, so that became the little something extra for this one.
Bourbon Beef Stew
- 1 lb chuck roast
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 cup bourbon (more as desired)
- 1 small yellow onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 rutabaga or parsnip, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 medium potatoes, scrubbed well and cut into large chunks
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup flour
skillet, dutch oven or slow cooker
Trim fat from chuck roast and cut into 1-inch pieces. Heat oil in skillet, add beef and quickly brown on all sides. Reduce heat, add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add beef and garlic to dutch over or slow cooker. Deglaze skillet and add liquid to the beef mixture.
Add bourbon, vegetables, bay leaf and then add enough water to cover everything.
For stove top, bring to a low boil and stir occasionally. Once it begins to bubble, reduce heat to medium low cover and cook for 1 hour (longer will give you more flavor – reduce heat to low after 1 hour). Stir occasionally.
For slow cooker – cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Then add the thickening sauce (below) and cook on high, uncovered, until thickened.
To thicken, heat 1 tbsp of butter and 1/4 quarter cup flour in skillet, stirring constantly until the flour is golden. Slowly whisk in about 1/2 cup broth from the stew until smooth. Whisk mixture into the stew, bring to a low boil, stirring constantly until stew is thickened. Reduced heat and let simmer 10 minutes and serve.
That’s it for this week. Have a terrific weekend – TaMara
Another Holocene Human
Help, I need a new every day meal item that can be eaten on the go without a fork and requires virtually no preparation and is not a deli chicken sandwich on gluten free bread. (Or a peanut butter sandwich–that was my old go-to. I’m also burned out on sweet potato.) I feel like eating salty deli chicken daily isn’t good for me and I have questions about this bread I’m consuming like a sawmill consumes logs, also.
I genuinely do not have to time for lengthy prep or lengthy eating but if you feel the need to lecture me, don’t let me stop you. It will change absolutely nothing but at least we’ll all know you’re the kind of person to hector someone you’ve never met about shit that’s none of your business.
WereBear
Loves me some Bixby!
The stew looks fab.
Gin & Tonic
@Another Holocene Human: I don’t know about *no* preparation, but an alternative to “deli” chicken is to buy one of the rotisserie chickens that’s sold in every supermarket. Peel off the skin, and the meat is usually tender and no-salt-added. Shred/slice some off – one of those chickens lasts me several days. If you don’t want to put it on bread, then a nice leaf lettuce, like preferably Boston (more expensive) or red leaf (less.) Make a wrap in a large leaf. Add bean/alfalfa sprouts from the produce section, or shredded carrots. If you want to slice a bit, chops some scallions. All of this can be prepared in advance in a few minutes and stored in sealed containers in the fridge. Sauce/dressing is up to you. But none of this is harder than making a sandwich.
Gin & Tonic
ETA, if you tire of chicken, buy some cooked shrimp and do the same thing. Still no/low salt, no gluten, still quick prep.
MomSense
@Another Holocene Human:
Hummus in a wheat pita or wrap with a bunch of good lettuce and veggies drizzled with a bit of balsamic.
Bixby is awesome!
Grilled cheese and tomato soup is one of my favorite combos.
MomSense
@MomSense:
Hummus can be made really flavorful with garlic, roasted red pepper, pine nuts, harsh masala, etc. doesn’t have to be bland.
Percysowner
If you can buy hard boiled eggs (sometimes they are already shelled) at the store, you can throw together a quick egg salad sandwich or deviled eggs. It’s not prep free, but all you have to do is mash the eggs and add mayo and mustard or whatever you like and throw it between a couple of slices of bread. Or you can just eat the eggs by themselves if you want no prep, just sprinkle with salt and pepper.
SiubhanDuinne
Bixby’s foot is YOOOOGE!
Also, too, very classy.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
I misplaced my favorite beef stew recipe years ago and have never been able to find one I liked as much. It had beef, beer, tomato paste, baby carrots and peas (you ran hot water over frozen peas and stirred them in just before serving).
NotMax
Interesting question: What is the ultimate comfort food?
Each and everyone’s own list of course varies.
Topping my own rundown:
Pot roast and mashed potatoes.
Kasha varnishkes.
Hearty beef and barley soup with marrow bones.
French onion soup (prepared with a heavy hand on the sherry, natch).
Lasagne (with oodles of meat and real ricotta).
Thick split pea soup (with a light drizzle of Worcestershire sauce swirled in just before eating).
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Tapioca, preferably still warm, and with a nice sprinkling of freshly-grated nutmeg.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Also, since I think we all need a musical break from the news, here’s Lea Salonga singing a duet of “A Whole New World” at a Ham4Ham show a few days ago.
If you know Tagalog, you may get some amusement out of the “Taglish” song she sings first, to Lin-Manuel’s enormous embarrassment.
Germy
@Another Holocene Human: I usually follow Maria Bamford’s advice for cooking.
Sandia Blanca
@Percysowner: (Really replying to Another Holocene Human)
I was going to mention the boiled, shelled eggs available at Costco. Eat a couple of those with the seasoning of your choice, then some cut-up raw veggies in a container or bag, maybe some Snapea crisps for a treat, and a piece of fruit (apple or pear is easy).
Germy
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): I recently read an article about Frank Fay on the classic showbiz blog, then watched some of his pre-code movie work on youtube.
Very subtle wit, but apparently one of the most horrible, racist human beings to ever tell a joke onstage. His marriage to Barbara Stanwyck inspired the original A Star Is Born.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne
(Sung to the tune of the “Animaniacs” theme.)
Come join the Hamimaniacs
We’re obsessive to the max
Lin-Manuel is our god
(And not just for his bod)
We’re Hamimaniacs
;)
chopper
@NotMax:
matzo. ball. soup.
there is none better for comfort. none.
CZAnne
@Another Holocene Human:
How do you feel about the various flatbreads — flat outs, corn tortillas, rice paper? My default for a long while was rotisserie chicken turned into chicken salad smeared on the gluten-free flatbread of the week (usually with lettuce/cucumber sticks stuffed in). I’m personally partial to rice paper, but all of the above work fine. Wrap like burrito and they’re easy one-handed. Costco’s chicken salad is tasty, not too deadly on the sodium, and very low prep. The flatbreads have the advantage of being a good handle and relatively easy on the blood sugar. And they do make decent club sammie rolls, too.
Current go-to is not as one-handed friendly, but might be modifiable for your tastes, and does require some initial set up. Smash half a pound of liverwurst with an equal block of cream cheese, add brown mustard to taste. Store in a jar in the fridge. Serving is a heaping spoonful, with a handful of cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices and rice crackers and an apple on the side. The spread works on flatbreads, too. If liverwurst isn’t your thing, cream cheese goes well with smoked salmon and diced cucumber, or crushed olives, or a tomato based tapenade. (Yes, I read A Wrinkle in Time at an impressionable age and developed a taste for foods most eight year olds find reprehensible because book-bestie ate liverwurst and cream cheese with tomatoes.)
Follow up with a mint.
Omnes Omnibus
@chopper: Beer cheese soup. I am from Wisconsin.
Yutsano
@NotMax: A good homemade mac and cheese. Or tuna and noodles.
benw
@NotMax: Spaghetti with marinara sauce and a shitload of grated Parm.
debbie
@NotMax:
Lamb shanks, rice pudding, matzo ball soup. Not all at once.
Omnes Omnibus
@debbie: Looks like a three course meal to me.
CaseyL
My comfort food when I’m not feeling well is Chinese food, delivered to my door. Pot-stickers and wonton soup, in particular.
Comfort food I make myself: nachos, heavy on the cheese and olives, with guac and sour cream.
And eggs are one of my favorite foods: hard boiled, scrambled, easy over. With cheese.
…not feeling too well tonight, in fact. Time to find the Snappy Dragon menu!
Roger Moore
@NotMax:
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Carrots fresh from the garden
Hot chocolate with whipped cream on top
ETA: Bread pudding
Omnes Omnibus
@Roger Moore:
Oh yes.
That too.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@NotMax:
:-p