Really?!

 

• Just because a recipe calls for it doesn't mean you have to use it (I hate cilantro but love parsley)
• Do not ever believe the number of servings because it makes a big difference on who you are feeding
• Good cooking does not have to be or should it be difficult
• Not everything has to be made from scratch
• Great ideas come from food magazines but be daring and change them up
• Cooking for family and friends is good for the soul

  

 

This certainly won't come as any big surprise; I enjoy watching cooking and food shows.  I try to figure out what I would do with the basket mystery ingredients on "Chopped."  By the time I've come up with a recipe the chefs have already served the dish.  I like a lot of Rachael Rays shows.  I do think she cheats a bit with her "30 Minute Meals" as she has so many things already prepped.  Paula Deen  is probably one of my favorites.  Like her, I do not take good recipes and wreck them with low cal, no fat ingredients. 

What I am not a big fan of is reality TV.  Last week I watched "Worst Cooks in America"  where chefs Anne Burrell and Bobby Flay select teams from the worst cooks and, ultimately, turn them into gourmet cooks.  The premise isn't bad.  The reality is, because it isn't based on reality.  Anyone can pretend to be a bad cook.  I can make my macaroni and cheese with grape Kool Aid and it would be pretty awful.  I would expect that a chef or a TV show producer would realize that it was a scam.  

Here is what I was expected to believe---one cook thought a quarter cup was anything the size of a quarter.  I guess for a 1/4 cup of water she'd have to use an eyedropper to accurately place the water on the quarter.  Then there was the cook who didn't know that you peeled onions before you chopped them.  Another thought an asparagus spear was an artichoke,  One cook didn't know about washing his hands.  Come on, the kindergarteners know better.  But I have saved the absolute best for last, this cooks secret ingredient was, are you ready, dog food!

How is it possible that these people even know about the TV show as they have obviously never watched the Food Network?   Are they even capable of operating the remote?  Can these cooks read? And, why oh why, if  they really cooked food that poorly , wouldn't they buy prepared foods that you throw in the microwave?  Oh, I know, because then we wouldn't have this TV show.

And one of these horrible cooks will end up wowing everyone at the end of the season with their culinary skills, their sublime use of seasonings and impress a Gourmet Magazine restaurant reviewer with their expertise in creating a menu that is flawless.  And all of this is just eight weeks.

If this is reality, I am Julia Child.

Chicken Stew

3 lb rotisserie chicken

2 Tablespoons butter

1 onion diced

2 ribs celery sliced thin

2 Tablespoons flour

2- 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

3/4 pound red potatoes, diced

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons butter

3/4 cup milk

2 Tablespoons dried dill

De-bone chicken and cut into chunks or shred. Set aside.Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat; cook and stir onion and celery until soft, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons flour and whisk continuously to make a thick roux, about 2 minutes. Slowly pour in chicken broth, whisking to remove any lumps. Add 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, basil, thyme, potatoes, and mixed vegetable. Cover and cook the stew over medium heat until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in chicken meat and continue to simmer.  Meanwhile, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl; cut in 3 tablespoons butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk and dill. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough into the simmering stew. Cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Cover and cook until the dumplings are tender, 8 to 10 minutes more.

I'm Back

 

• Just because a recipe calls for it doesn't mean you have to use it (I hate cilantro but love parsley)
• Do not ever believe the number of servings because it makes a big difference on who you are feeding
• Good cooking does not have to be or should it be difficult
• Not everything has to be made from scratch
• Great ideas come from food magazines but be daring and change them up
• Cooking for family and friends is good for the soul

  

  

Remember my last blog? Where have I been? I'd like to tell you that I was on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, sipping a Limoncello while dining on fresh mozzarella, sun kissed tomatoes and fresh gnocchi. Or that I was on the veranda of Hamilton Grant in St. Andrews Scotland sipping a Drambuie, dining on Dover Sole and overlooking the North Sea and St. Andrews Old Course. I'd like to tell you that but it isn't true and if it had been I would have been bragging about it.

No, I have been suffering from SAD, seasonal affective disorder.  In other words I have been in a funk.  I am one of those people that does not do well with the ridiculously limited amount of sunshine that is experienced every fall and seems to last for an eternity.  Lately, it seems to have gotten worse or the amount of sunshine has been greatly altered this year.  Even during the hours that we are supposed to have sunlight, it has been cloudy and overcast. 

I have tried additional doses of Vitamin D to no avail.  My next step is getting a light box but I am not hopeful that this will be the remedy I need.  Now you would think that because I suffer from this disorder that I am a constant sun bather in the summer, not so. I just need my daylight and I need it from 8AM to at least 8:30PM.

  

I don't hate winter and so it causes me a great deal of angst that my affliction comes at this time of the year.  Really winter is just as great a time to cook as summer.  Winter is when you get into hearty, heat up the kitchen with long cooking times, soul satisfying foods.  Stews, chilis, pot roasts,soups, casseroles, roasted root vegetables and most of what we think of as comfort food.

Maybe, because I like to cook, I enjoy the changes in seasons.  Different foods for each season, different types of cooking and the difference each season brings, in what we enjoy.  Really, when you think about it,seasonal changes bring expectations of certain foods.  I would miss that.  

So I'm back because I have decided this funk has lasted long enough and I don't think waiting until April to share some winter recipes is  the best timing.  And the leftover Guinness Stout from this recipe has helped my mood immensely.  

Beef Stew

 

2 pounds lean beef stew meat, cut

into 1-inch cubes

 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 pinch salt and ground black

pepper to taste

1 pinch cayenne pepper

2 large onions, chopped

 1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 cups Irish stout beer (such

as Guinness®)

2 cups chopped carrot

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 tablespoon chopped fresh

parsley for garnish

 

 

Toss the beef cubes with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Dredge the beef in this to coat.

Heat the remaining oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef, and brown on all sides. Add the onions, and garlic. Stir the tomato paste into a small amount of water to dilute; pour into the pan and stir to blend. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

Pour 1/2 cup of the beer into the pan, and as it begins to boil, scrape any bits of food from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. This adds a lot of flavor to the broth. Pour in the rest of the beer, and add the carrots and thyme. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley. This is great served over mashed potatoes or you can quarter some baby red potatoes and add them in with the carrots.