Showing posts with label Stew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stew. Show all posts

1/29/2025

Simple Beef Chili

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When the weather is cool, it is not hard for me to decide to make a nice big pot of beef chili. What is hard is trying to decide which recipe to use; there are just so many to choose from. This chili has been on our list for over twenty years, and it will stay this way for many more.

What really gives this chili a depth of flavor is adding the spices to the sautéed vegetables before browning the meat. This allows the spices to bloom, which is the key to unlocking their full flavor. 

This simple chili calls for a simple topping of freshly grated cheddar cheese, but you can certainly add topping that suits your tastes, like sour cream or chopped scallions. Sweet Cornbread on the side is a must to clean up every bit of goodness in the bowl. 

Looking for another beef chili recipe? Try this Mexican Beef Cocoa Chili


It is simple but with a twist. Happy cooking!

4/27/2014

Sunday Dinner

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Asparagus and Goat Cheese Bites

Beef Daube with Mustard, Herbs, and White Wine
French Baguette

Chocolate Espresso Caramel Truffle Tart


I like to think of this dish as the Spring cousin to Beef Bourguignon.  It calls for white wine instead of red wine to braise the meat, making it a little lighter, but still full of rich flavor. Plenty of onions (never enough of those in my book), garlic and tomatoes help flavor the sauce along with a good Dijon mustard (by the way, I use Maille or Amora) and a few herbs.  I take it one step further by finishing the sauce with a little beurre manié which is a "kneaded" mixture of flour and butter.  It really makes the sauce velvety, smooth, and perfect for dragging through a crusty piece of bread.

One nice thing about this stew is that it is not as labor intensive as the Beef Bourguignon.  It's kind of a one pot meal which is perfect for me when there is a Sunday afternoon soccer game to attend. That's a score for me (and one for my little soccer player☺)!

Yikes! I need to clean my copper pot.

3/09/2014

Sunday Dinner

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Brunswick Stew

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake


Dream with me for a moment... A warm and sunny summer day, sitting in the backyard, sipping a cold beverage, and tending fire to my grill.  The image almost brings a tear to my eye.  Or maybe that tear is because I am using up the last of my hickory smoked pulled pork from the freezer.  Or maybe it's because I know I won't be smoking any meat anytime soon because my grill is still covered in several feet of snow!  Yeah... the latter is the tear jerker.

The only thing that can make me feel better at this point is a Sunday dinner that is reminiscent of summer barbecues and flavors.  Cue the southern classic-- Brunswick Stew.  It is a thick vegetable stew with various meats.  It is more commonly served as a side dish, but with all those veggies and meats, I like serve it as a main dish.  The meats can range anywhere from chicken to squirrel.  I'm not quite so sure about the squirrel, but I do use chicken and I raided my freezer for the last of the pork.  As far as the vegetables, I use the traditional tomatoes, lima beans, and corn.   What really makes this recipe stand out is the addition of hickory barbecue sauce to the base.  It makes it very rich in flavor and helps thicken the sauce.  Season with some good hot sauce to taste and keep dreaming of those warm summer days with every bite.

11/09/2013

Sunday Dinner

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Coq au Vin

Sunday Dinner Post Take II...  For those of you who receive e-mail subscriptions or if you just randomly clicked on my site this morning, you'll know what that means.  I inadvertently hit the publish button yesterday when I was typing up the post. So please disregard that recipe, since it had yet to be edited.

Funny-- looking back on Sunday dinners past.  We had Coq au Vin more than once on the same weekend.  It must be programmed in my head to serve it at this time of year.  There are several steps to this recipe, but hey it's Sunday (not a busy weeknight) and it's worth it.  Chicken braised in an enriched red wine sauce enhanced with the flavors of bacon and pearl onions gets my cooking motivation in gear.  Potatoes are all you really need, but I like the addition of turnips and carrots for a heartier meal.  And the sauce, oh the sauce... any leftovers are wonderful on a piece of toast with a simple salad for light and easy weeknight meal.

3/06/2013

Blanquette de Veau

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Before I begin, I must correct myself.  When I posted about our Sunday dinner this past week, I spoke about the "lightness" in the meal.  It sounded as if I meant light in flavor.  But after one bite, it was clear that this dish was only "light" in one way and that was the color.  When one cooks a recipe once or twice over the course of a couple of years, the remembrance of that dish can sometimes fade.  Having said that, this dish will have a permanent flavor fixture in my mind, mouth and belly from now on.

Blanquette de Veau is a classic French stew of veal, onions and mushrooms (see it's light-- in color☺). It is simmered in a simple flavored sauce that is enriched with egg yolks and cream (there goes the lightness).  However, the lemon juice that helps finish the sauce does provide a bright, fresh flavor that keeps it from being overly heavy and rich.  With the addition of mushroom and onions, there is not much need of another vegetable, but I do like to serve it with glazed carrots, a side of potatoes, or a simple salad.  All you really need, though, is a good chunk of bread to sop up every bit of that delectable sauce.  I kid you not, this sauce makes shoe leather taste good!


As far as the recipe itself, you'll note that it calls for blanching the veal stew meat in water first.  Not a common cooking practice, but it is important.  Why?  When veal is simmered, it releases quite a bit of cooking "scum" that you will want to discard.  The rest of the recipe is just steps, all of which can be done in advance like most stews.  But when reheating, note that this is a delicate stew and you do not want it to even come to a simmer.  Otherwise the egg yolk liaison will curdle and the sauce will break.  You might think that such a low and slow, step-by-step cooking process isn't worth the wait but trust me,  it is.  Enjoying a glass of wine helps pass the time☺.

1/30/2013

Game Day Food

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It is the week of the run-up to the Big Game on Super Sunday.  Everyone wants something good to eat while watching the game, the commercials, or just talking at a party.  I am reaching back into the Galley Gourmet archives for some of my favorite foods for game day indulgence.  I'll start with the mains today, list some great snacks and appetizers on Thursday, then round out the roundup with some killer desserts on Friday.  Ditch the supermarket veggie tray and get after it!

For sandwich lovers...

Buffalo Chicken French Dip






When you need to feed a crowd...



And on to the grill for those of you in warmer climes (or brave cold weather grillers)...




12/12/2012

Beef Bourguignon

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What could be better on a cold winter day than a bowl of this?  Beef Bourguignon, a standout of the stew family has all you could want in a dish.  Savory beef and vegetables tackle hunger in any size while providing the comfort of familiar flavors.  Being that this is not your average stew, it is a bit time intensive, but the results are well worth it.  Much of the preparation can be done in advance.  And while it is being done, the house will smell like heaven.  Serve it with a thick slice of  country bread for a hearty meal that you and whoever else is lucky enough to eat it will savor.


3/11/2012

Sunday Dinner

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Mango Guacamole and Tortilla Chips

Ginger-Braised Spareribs with Cilantro Scented Red Beans

Key Lime Pudding Cake


Sweet, savory, and satisfying. These three S words best describe this Charlie Trotter dish of a long braise of meat and a good stew of beans. It has flavor working on so many levels that you can pick out a different one to focus on even after several delicious bites.  The cilantro scented beans provide for a flavorful backdrop to everything going on with the pork.  Have a few corn or flour tortillas on hand to wipe up the sauce or even to make an impromptu taco during the meal.  Mmmm!

Sunday Dinner one year ago

2/10/2011

Chorizo and Potato Stew

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We enjoyed this dish earlier this week and I couldn't wait to write it down.  It was so delicious that we all went back for a little more.  This stew was inspired by two other recipes that I have that include Spanish chorizo.  One recipe is for a chorizo and bean stew, the other is a recipe for chicken, chorizo, and potato stew.  I didn't have any chicken on hand, but I did have chorizo, beans, and potatoes, so I decided to blend the two recipes and-- boy, am I glad I did.   This was just the perfect thing to warm us up on a very chilly night.

The one thing that I do need to point out is the difference between Spanish chorizo and Mexican chorizo.  Spanish chorizo is a cured spiced pork sausage that is easily sliced.  Mexican chorizo is a fresh sausage that  crumbles when it is cooked.  Both are tasty, but make sure you purchase the hard cured Spanish chorizo for this dish.  I use Palacios Mild Chorizo.  

To bring out some smoky flavors, I added some chipotle peppers in adobe sauce and a little smoked paprika.  I felt the broth needed a bit more body to it, so I stirred in a few crushed tortilla chips to thicken it up.  Just before serving, I added a little brown sugar and balsamic vinegar to balance out the flavors.  Served with some crumbled ricotta salata, diced avocado, and some extra tortilla chips--this was a body-warming bowl of good eats.