Beef Bourguinon

Is this not the most beautiful thing you have ever seen??? My lovely cousin gave me this gorgeous Le Creuset pot for my 30th birthday last month (she knows me well). I have been so taken with it that it has been sitting unused in the dining room for the last 4 weeks. I would stare at it every day and marvel at its finish, colour and size, all the while being terrified of actually putting it to use.

I felt that it's maiden voyage needed to produce something special...something worthy of the gourmet cookware it was being prepared in.

So, Beef Bourguinon it was! A relatively simple dish, with minimal ingredients but anything that calls for a full bottle of red wine is DEFINITELY special.

INGREDIENTS

2-3 tbsp olive oil
50g butter
2 tbsp seasoned flour
1.2 kg chuck or shin steak, cut into large chunks (about 5cm)
18 small shallots or button onions
18 button mushrooms
1 large onion, sliced
100g bacon or pancetta, cubed
4 cloves garlic, crushed but left whole
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
750ml red burgundy wine

DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil and butter in casserole, toss beef in seasoned flour then brown in batches over medium-high heat.

Remove and set aside. Add shallots and caramelise, set aside on separate plate, repeat with button mushrooms and add to shallots.

Add little more oil if necessary and fry sliced onion and bacon until onions softened and bacond browned.

Add garlic, bay and thyme then return beef and any juices to casserole and stir together.

Pour in the wine, season, bring to a simmer then lower heat and simmer gently on the stove, partly covered, for two hours (or cover and transfer to oven at 140C). 

Add the shallots and mushrooms and simmer for a further half an hour. Check for seasoning and serve. This gets better and better as leftovers also!!

Sadly, the picture of the finished product does not look as spectacular as it tasted. I guess I had tired myself out from playing badminton and volleyball all afternoon while it simmered.

 

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
An indulgence...just leave it at that.

Easy Beef Stroganoff

I have a confession to make. I actually tried this recipe a month ago and fell in love. However, it was right in the midst of when life got crazy so I never ended up posting about it. The picture does no justice here, but here it is anyway.

Even though we're not big beef eaters in the Smart-Clutterbuck household this is quickly falling into regular rotation around here. I made it again last night and was just as pleased as I was with it a month ago. 

It couldn't be any easier. The recipe was as follows:

• About a pound of steak (I used sirloin)
• 1 can of Campbell's Tomato Soup
• 1 cup water
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
• garlic
• 1 onion 
• mushrooms (as many as you want)
• Sour Cream

Brown the meat, remove to cook the onions, mushrooms and garlic, add the rest of the ingredients and the beef, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes. Add some sour cream.

I served it over some egg noodles and both Clutterbuck and I couldn't resist having seconds.

I'm BAAACK

Well it's been waay too long since my last entry. I won't list all the reasons I have taken some time away from cooking (and therefore blogging), but one of the main reasons was because we moved.

Yes, that's right. I am so excited to report that I am now in the presence of BRAND NEW, FULL SIZE Kitchen Appliances. Whats the catch you ask? The fridge....ugh the fridge....its TINY. I've never seen such a small fridge. My condiments alone fill the whole bloody thing up. I have no reason why this fridge was chosen for this kitchen, but for now I'm trying to work with it.

Since, I had a bottle of Diana's Honey Garlic Sauce taking up room in the fridge I decided to use it up. I chopped up an onion, green pepper and some garlic and sauteed it them on my brand new ceramic cook top. Threw it together with some meatballs and served it with brown rice and corn on the cob.

This folks, is the closest we have come to eating a home cooked meal in almost two months (unless you count the scrumptious chicken pot pies my mom made for us to re-heat and eat after our move). Sadly, the meatballs were not made by me. They were PC blue menu. However, they were also taking up space in the even more ridiculously sized freezer, so I was happy to see them go.

Our new place is on the 16th floor of a high-rise building in an area where there are no other high-rises. Our view faces west and south. We have been here for a week or so now and are still captivated by the city views. The sunsets especially are unbelievable (as seen in the first photo of this entry).

Here are a few pics I snapped last night while making this meal. Sadly, it was POURING intermittently so by the time dinner was ready we couldn't sit out to enjoy it more, but that's OK. Something tells me we'll have plenty of opportunity in the coming weeks.

Here's the Diana's Sauce enjoying the view of the CN Tower.

Beef Stew with Rosemary Dumplings

Mmmmm! This is definitely not a dish in regular rotation at our house but I can imagine it would be at other households. As, I've mentioned many times we aren't big beef eaters. However, I've been wanting to make a beef stew for a while now and finally decided to bite the bullet and go for it.

It was a Sunday project and I simmered it ALL day (from about 11am to about 7pm). The beef was tender and falling apart and the broth was so flavourful and yummy. The Rosemary dumplings were a nice addition but certainly not a necessity. This stew was a huge meal on its own.

And here's a picture of Sanchez doing some acrobatics while I was cooking...honestly, I don't know what goes through his head sometimes.

One Loaf to Love

I can not take credit for the name, nor would I want to. This is the first recipe I have made from my Eat Shrink and Be Merry cookbook. Every recipe has some corny name that I may or may not find funny, depending on the time of day.

I bought this cookbook a few weeks ago when I felt I needed some new culinary inspiration. The Internet is great, but you sort of need to know what you're looking for. I wanted something I could take to bed with me and read cover to cover (the iPad doesn't count). So, that's what I did. There are several recipes that I can't wait to make. I decided to go with the meatloaf first because I have never ever been a fan of meatloaf. I mean the name alone conjures up images from Sweeney Todd in my mind. I'm just not a huge fan of beef. Ground beef in sauces and things are good, but burgers, meatloaf, shepherd's pie and the like just don't get me going.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that this meatloaf completely converted me. It was moist, flavourful and had lots of veggies mixed in. Its kind of like a ground beef jelly roll (yes...I do realize that doesn't make it sound any more appetizing). I mixed up the beef, breadcrumbs (I used Panko), egg, BBQ sauce (I used Diana's Honey Garlic), and some seasonings. Then I rolled it out on to some parchment paper and shaped it into a rectangle, spread some finely chopped veggies on top, a little cheese and rolled the whole thing up (which wasn't as easy as I was imagining it).

I think the picture says it all above. I already have plans to make this in the next few weeks for company.

Taco Salad

So I just realized that tomorrow (March 7th) will be the one year anniversary of this blog. How fitting since the first entry was Tacos and this entry is a Taco Salad.

Its no secret that I am not a fan of a salad as a meal but this managed to slip under my radar. I was thinking back to how much I enjoyed the leftovers of last years tacos, in a salad form.

I sauteed some ground beef with onions, green peppers, tomatoes and taco seasoning. I added a little bit of ketchup in to moisten everything up a bit. Than i layered lettuce, shredded cheese, corn, salsa and the hot beef mixture. It was very filling and really good.

Fresh Pasta...take 2...and 3...and 4....

Yum yum yum!!!

My first attempt at making pasta with the KitchenAid Mixer. It went OK but I'm still trying to find that perfect balance to keep the dough from being too dry. I tried two different versions both were satisfactory but not perfect.

The first was a the KitchenAid recipe. It took me two tries, the first batch went straight to the trash, it did not pass go or even collect $200. It was a crumbly mess.

4 eggs
3.5 cups of flour (sifted)
1 tablespoon of water
Pinch of salt

It produced a huge batch of dough and I used it to make Bucatini in my pasta press. I have no clue what I'm going to do with all this pasta....especially since I'm not even sold on the texture of this batch, but it seems like such a waste to throw it out. I'll probably let it sit in the fridge for a while until my emotional attachment loosens and then I'll get Clutterbuck to toss it...its much easier for everyone that way.



The second batch seemed a bit better but still didn't really meet my expectations. It was a smaller batch though so it was much easier to hand knead (well moderately easier).

2 eggs
1.5 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of water
Pinch of salt

I used this batch to make dinner (pictured above). The bolognese sauce was the true star. It was a really slow cooked ragu with only a few key ingredients:

Large tin of diced tomatoes (drained)
Onions and garlic (finely chopped)
2 stalks of celery (finely chopped)
Bay leaf, fresh basil, crushed chili peppers

Simmered for a few hours uncovered and then the fresh pasta was tossed in to the pot with the sauce to finish cooking it all.



I think my next attempt will be my own made up recipe. It will look something like this:

2 eggs
1 yolk
1.5 cups of flour
tablespoon of water (as/if needed)
pinch of salt

I'll also start with the eggs in the mixing bowl and add the flour (the above recipes were done in reverse).

I'll keep you posted....in the meantime, does anyone want some "fresh" bucatini???

Baked Beef Ziti

I decided to take a stab at a recipe I tried a while ago. It has all the ingredients I love in a dish. Pasta, Ground Beef, Onions, Tomato Sauce, Garlic, and Cheese, but the last time I made it we weren't too happy about it. It was quite bland and made a HUGE amount that we resented having to eat for days after.
This time around it was fantastic. I went really heavy on the herbs and even had some fresh basil to throw in at the last minute. I also decided against Ziti because its a round smooth noodle....in other words its not very good at clingy to sauces. I used a Rotini instead and it was perfect.
We really enjoyed it and have been enjoying it since (made Sunday...its Tuesday). We had it with a garden salad...yes Clutterbuck and I have different salad dressings...he will only ever eat Russian which I am not a fan of at all. Actually lately I've noticed I'm much more of a fan of no dressing on my salad...wow never thought I'd see that day.
Thanks to K.Hill who also made this recipe on the weekend (that's what gave me the idea to make it again). I'll have to ask her how hers was....we can compare notes.

Asian Beef Salad

Ok, so as I've stated in previous posts, I just can't get into eating a salad as a meal. However, this one changed my mind.

I marinated some sirloin in some garlic, white wine vinegar, peanut oil and hoisin sauce overnight. Clutterbuck grilled the steak on the BBQ while I boiled the reserved marinade.

I tossed together any fresh veggies I had in the fridge (bell pepper, celery, water chestnuts, carrots) with a bunch of baby greens, topped it with the thinly sliced beef, some mandarins, chow mein noodles and then the cooked marinade as a dressing.

It was incredibly good. I'll be making it again soon since I have have the sirloin hanging out in my freezer.

Shepherds Pie

So yummy!
However, I'm noticing a startling thing in our place. When the oven is on it heats up the entire kitchen/living room to supernova temperatures. This is going to make cooking difficult over the summer...guess its time to start browsing the BBQ recipes.
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Please ignore all typos, unless they're funny
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