Oven Braised Beef and Beer

As soon as my March 2007 issue of Canadian Living arrived in the mail, Kevin insisted that I had to make this recipe. Low and behold, it's one of the most delicious stews I've ever made! Yummy!

If there's anything I've learned over the years of cooking, you only cook with alcohol that you will drink. To be honest, I've never liked beer but in this recipe, it's really very good. You can even buy only 1 can at a time if you wish at the liquor store and often the staff will be happy to help you out. Using beer in this recipe was WELL worth the flavor that was added to the stew. I absolutely recommend it. I experimented with various types of beer and settled on Stella Artois. You decide what works best for you.

2 lb cross rib pot roast, boneless, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup diced bacon
2 carrots, sliced
2 onions, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
3 cups button mushrooms, (250 g/8 oz) halved)
1/4 tsp each salt, pepper, and dried thyme
3/4 cup each beer and beef stock (or all beef stock)
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (optional)

Slow Cooker instructions:

In a skillet, get some oil good and hot, then fry up your beef in batches until it's browned on the outside and has some nice caramelized edges. Transfer beef to your slow cooker.

In the same skillet, fry up your bacon just until it's starting to crisp. Add to the slow cooker.
Drain most of the fat from the skillet. You will need a bit to fry up the carrots, onions, garlic, and mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper until the onions are softened, which will take about 3 minutes. Add the beer to the skillet, scraping up all the delicious brown bits off the bottom of the pan.

Add it all to the slow cooker. Top with the beef stock and tomato paste. Stir and then cover and cook on low for about 6 hours or until meat is tender.

Whisk flour with 1/4 cup of cold water, stirring into the cooked stew, then cover and cook on high for about 15 min. or until it thickens up. Top with some freshly chopped parsley. If you happen to have some fresh thyme on hand, it would be delicious chopped up and added instead.

Serves 4.

Delicious with garlic mashed potatoes!

Oven instructions:

Omit the flour. Instead, brown the meat and set it aside, then fry up the bacon, carrots, onions, garlic, mushrooms, salt, pepper, and thyme until the veggies are tender (about 7 minutes).

Stir in the tomato paste, then stir in the beer and beef stock and bring it to a boil, stirring up all those tasty brown bits on the bottom. Add the beef back to the pot, cover, and cook in a 325 F oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until the beef is tender. I personally don't have a dutch oven to do this in, but I have used a casserole dish and it has worked fine. Sometimes I've added a bit more beer or beef stock if I feel it isn't 'saucy' enough. I love the sauce, so I happily top the beer and beef stock up to about 1 1/4 cup of each rather than 3/4 cup each.

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Spicy Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

With a hint of curry, chunks of cauliflower, and a generous helping of cheddar cheese, this soup makes a great warm up on a blustery day. It's a great way to use up a stray cauliflower in the fridge, and I love it with some crusty bread. It doesn't freeze all that well because of the milk but if you really want to freeze it, just make the recipe, omit the milk, and then add the milk when you thaw the soup before re-heating it gently.

2 Tbsp butter
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1 1/2 cups diced potatoes
4 cups coarsely chopped cauliflower
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp curry powder
1 cup milk
2 cups aged cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp dill
1/2 tsp pepper

Melt butter in a stock pot and saute the onions and celery until golden. Add potatoes, cauliflower, dry mustard, curry, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until the vegetables are softened, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat. With a slotted spoon, remove approximately half of the vegetables to a bowl and set aside. At this point if any pieces are large I cut them to bite-sized.

With a long handled blender or a regular blender, process the soup remaining in the stockpot until smooth. Return the vegetables to the pot and allow the soup to cool for about 10 minutes. Add the frozen peas, dill, and pepper, and then the milk and cheese, gently heating the soup over low heat. for approximately 10-15 minutes. Do not let it boil.

This soup keeps very well in the fridge for a few days, but I do not recommend freezing it.

Makes about 4 servings

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Salmon Tacos

I have subscriptions to two magazines-Canadian Living and Everyday Food. Both have a lot of recipes that taste good and are quick to make.

When Jake saw this recipe in the Everyday Food Jan/Feb 2007 issue, he asked me to make it because it sounded interesting. So here it is!

1 1/4 lbs salmon fillet
1 lime
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
4 green onions, sliced

Place the salmon fillet into a shallow microwavable dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with 1 tsp lime juice, and sprinkle 1/4 cup cilantro as well as the green onions over top. Put a lid on top and microwave on high for about 7 minutes. Drain well (seriously, or you have mushy salmon) when finished cooking. Flake with a fork. Serve with sauce and toppings.

Sauce:
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
1 tsp lime juice
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and serve with salmon and toppings.


Toppings:
8 six inch whole wheat flour tortillas
2 carrots, peeled into strips
4 cups shredded Romaine lettuce

When the salmon is cooked, each person takes 1 tortilla, and arranges salmon, lettuce, carrots, and a drizzle of sauce in the center. Roll up and eat! Serves 4, 2 tortillas per person.















While it was very tasty, microwaving the salmon made it a bit mushy. I plan to bake the salmon in the oven next time instead and add a little garlic, as well. On the other hand Jake thought it was very good, although he passed on the carrots and made me pick them off after this picture was taken.

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Baking the Perfect Cookie: A How - To

I've been asked a few times about how when you're baking drop cookies, what do you do to keep them from baking into a big lump. Here's what I do:

1. measure out the dough out onto the pan








2. using your fingers, shape into a more 'roundish' shape








3. Press it down gently so it's slightly flattened. Then bake as usual. They tend to come out nicely round, and not big thick lumps. However since they will be a little thinner, watch the baking time. Usually mine come out at the earliest time written in the recipe (but it depends on your oven, the type of cookie, altitude, etc. )

How can you tell when your cookies are ready? For a drop type, like the ones shown here (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip) I gently touch the cookie with my finger. The top should be neither squishy or hard, but just set. It's at that point where I take them out, and they are perfect every single time.

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Banana Oat Muffins

Muffins are such a great lunch box item! Listed are a whole pile of recipes, all tried and enjoyed here in the jar. Instead of putting pre-packaged granola bars in Kevin's lunch, I often bake muffins. Any of the recipes can be changed to make mini muffins, just try baking them for about 10 minutes instead of the usual 20.

1 1/4 cup quick (not instant) oats
1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 cups of mashed banana (about 4)
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/4 cup sesame seeds

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a fork. Set aside. In a different bowl, whisk together the egg, banana, and melted butter. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until it is just moistened. Fold in the nuts and sesame seeds. Divide batter into a paper lined or greased muffin tin. Bake at 375 F for about 20-25 minutes.

Makes 12

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