Beef Stew with Bacon & Vegetables

I’ve known for a few days that it was going to be cold today. And by cold, I don’t mean “Waaahhh, a coat ruins this outfit,” I mean “I am legitimately concerned for my extremities.”

As much as I complain about the cold, I can’t help but love the excuse to spend a day next to the stove. Yesterday, when the weather wasn’t so frostbitey, I planned in advance and bought the ingredients I needed to make a lovely slow-cooked beef stew.

This recipe makes a lot—and by “a lot,” I mean “Hey, East Coast, I’ve got enough for all of you!” Nah, just kidding—but this recipe definitely yields enough for 8-10 cold, hungry people! And it has plenty of healthy vegetables, which I think makes up for the fact that bacon fat is the key to the best flavor.


Beef Stew with Bacon & Vegetables

4-5 slices of thick-cut streaky bacon, sliced into ½” pieces
1.5 lbs. chuck steak, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large onion, diced
3 leafy stalks celery, diced, leaves set aside
3-4 carrots, diced
3 juicy tomatoes, diced
2-3 c. dry red wine
1 32-oz. box organic low-sodium beef broth*
1-2 turnips, diced
3-4 red potatoes, diced
1 large bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves torn into pieces
1 t. dried thyme (or half the amount fresh)
1 t. crumbled dried sage leaves (or 3 fresh leaves, minced)
½ t. ground ginger
½ t. garlic powder
1 lb. green beans, sliced into 1-inch lengths
Smoked sea salt, to taste
Cracked black pepper, to taste


Before you even start chopping, make sure you have a huge pot (I used my 6.75 quart Le Creuset risotto pot). Otherwise, you’re screwed.

Just before adding the liquid

Once your pot is ready, add the bacon over medium heat and cook it until the fat is melted away and the meaty bits are cooked but not burnt. Then, add the beef chunks and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until the beef chunks are mostly browned. Then, add the onion, carrots, and celery stalk (make sure to keep the leaves separate and set them aside—they will be added later). Cook for about 5 more minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened a bit.

Next, add the tomatoes (I added a few yellow cherry tomatoes, as you can see in the photo) and 1 cup of the wine. Turn the heat to high, and cook until the wine has reduced and most of the liquid has evaporated.

Now, add one more cup of wine and the beef broth, the turnips, potatoes, and kale, and the thyme, sage, ginger, and garlic. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the kale is completely wilted, add the green beans. If it seems dry, add the remaining wine (if you don’t need to add it, you should probably drink it). Cook for about 5 minutes until the green beans are cooked, then add the smoked sea salt and the cracked pepper. Give it a few good stirs until it is well-blended, then serve piping hot. This dish will stick to your bones!


* If you use pre-made beef broth, make sure to use low-sodium, and preferably organic. Of course, if you have your own beef broth, even better!

Not the prettiest, but it's wicked good!

Linguine with Seafood and Citrus

I swear I’m not going to get emotional…I swear I’m not. Not gonna do it! Why am I getting all sentimental? Because I haven’t been inspired to write for a long time. But this weekend, I got the chance to hang out with some amazing friends, some old and some new, and throughout the day when the conversation turned to food, I began to miss cooking for the purposes of sharing recipes.

I don’t often get to share the actual dishes I create—but I can always share my recipes, and I love sharing food with others, even if it’s just through typed words on a page. It’s time to get back to what I love. So here goes. I don’t know how often I’ll get to post, I don’t know if anyone will read my recipes, and I don’t know if anyone will try to cook them…but I get to do what I love—cook, write, and share. Mangia, bitches!


Linguine with Seafood and Citrus

16 oz. linguine
2 oz. butter (1/2 a standard stick)
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 bulb fennel, sliced
2 T. capers
1 t. dried oregano
½ t. crushed chile flakes
Rind and juice of 1 large lemon
Rind and juice of 1 orange
½ c. dry white wine
1 lb. calamari, tubes sliced into rings*
½ lb. large scallops, sliced into bite-sized pieces**
2 cups roughly chopped parsley
2 large handfuls arugula
Salt and pepper to taste
Splash extra virgin olive oil

Cook the linguine in heavily salted water. In the meantime, melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, being careful not to let it burn. When the garlic starts to become fragrant, add the fennel, capers, oregano, chile flakes, and lemon and orange rind (save the juice for the next step). Stir gently, stirring every few minutes, until the fennel slices have softened but are still firm.


Timing is important for these next few steps – when the pasta is about 2-3 minutes away from being cooked, add the lemon and orange juice and the wine to the pot with the fennel and seasonings. Turn the heat to high, and stir until the mixture is bubbling.  Add the calamari and the scallops, and cook for about a minute, stirring constantly. Add the parsley and arugula to the pot, stirring just until it is blended in.  Add the salt and pepper to taste.

Immediately after adding the parsley and arugula, drain the pasta and add the cooked pasta to the pot. Add a splash of olive oil, then toss to coat the pasta. Serve piping hot preferably with wine.


* If tentacles give you the willies you can use all tubes, but tentacles add texture and make for a more interesting presentation.

** Always use “dry” scallops—the texture and flavor are superior. They’re more expensive, but you get what you pay for, and you won’t be ingesting a chemistry project.