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!

Around the World in Eighty Bites—Peru

My first introduction to Peruvian food came courtesy of a brief fling with a Peruvian guy. We split up quickly, but my love affair with Peruvian cuisine was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


Peruvian Ingredients

From my first taste—Lomo Saltado with Aji Paste—to future finds such as my favorite, a layered potato dish called Causa, I’ve never tried a Peruvian dish I didn’t like. One of my close friends grew up in Peru, and she knows all the best Peruvian restaurants in and around Boston.

In recent years, Peruvian food has been touted as the next “It” cuisine. While Peruvian food is exotic enough to be a break from the ordinary, most Peruvian food is not so foreign that it cannot be easily made at home. Still, some authentic ingredients may not be easy to find if you do not live in an area with a significant Hispanic/Latino customer presence. Thankfully, we live in an era where anything we want is merely a click away, and there are plenty of online retailers selling authentic Peruvian foods.

I've created versions of several traditional Peruvian recipes that you can try at home!


Margarita Ceviche

2 cloves garlic, quartered
Juice of 2 limes
Juice of ½ orange
1 shot tequila anejo
1 habanero pepper, quartered
2 sprigs parsley, minced (leaves only)
3 sprigs cilantro, minced (leaves and stems)
A few paper-thin slices red onion
1 lb. dry sea scallops, cut into medallions*

Combine all the ingredients in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Cover with plastic film and place in the refrigerator. Let it chill for at least 2 hours (up to 12). Serve immediately in chilled bowls, or in margarita glasses with a salted rim!

* To cut the sea scallops, it helps if you place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes before slicing. When slicing, slice across the grain of the scallop as shown in the photo to the left—the blue lines in the photo represent the “grain” of the scallop, and the red line shows the direction that the knife’s blade should cut. Slice each scallops into 4 medallions of equal thickness.




Aji Sauce

1 thick slice baguette, torn into pieces
5 oz. can evaporated milk
2 aji amarillo chiles (use habaneros or serranos if you cannot find aji amarillos
2 small garlic clove, minced
2 sprigs cilantro, minced
1/3 c. grated cotija cheese
1 T. olive oil
Pinch smoked sea salt

Soak the bread for 10 minutes in the evaporated milk. Place the bread and milk in a blender or food processor with all remaining ingredients. Blend well until smooth. Keep refrigerated and use as a condiment.


Giant Corn with Cotija and Orange




Giant Corn

8 oz. dried giant corn (Goya sells this product)
4 c. cold water
2 dried de arbol or chipotle chiles
2 oz. cotija cheese, grated
Rind of1/2 orange
1 T. minced red onion
2 T. Aji Sauce (recipe above)

Soak the corn in the cold water overnight. Once soaked, drain the corn. Place it in a pot with the 2 dried chiles, cover with water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil. Boil for approximately 45 minutes, adding water if necessary.

Drain the corn and chiles and place in a bowl. When cool enough to touch, remove the chiles, mince them and place in the bowl with the corn. Add the cotija, orange rind, onion, and Aji Sauce. Blend well.

Serve either at room temperature or chilled.


Purple Potato Causa

1 lb. purple potatoes, peeled and diced
¼ c. grated cotija cheese
3 T. Aji Sauce (recipe above)
1 lime, halved
8 oz. canned crabmeat
2 T. mayonnaise
1 ripe avocado
Salt

Aji Sauce, to serve
Cilantro leaves, for garnish

Boil the potatoes in salted water. Drain and mash, incorporating the cotija cheese, Aji Sauce, and the juice from one of the lime halves. Set aside.

Combine the crabmeat and the mayonnaise and set aside. Next, mash the avocado with the juice from the remaining lime half and a pinch of salt.

Assembly will require a ring mold. To assemble the Causa, spoon a tablespoon or two of Aji Sauce onto a small plate. Set aside. Place your ring mold onto a sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Fill the mold with about 2 inches of the mashed potato mixture. Then, add a ½ inch layer of the avocado mixture. Finally, top the avocado with a 1 inch layer of crabmeat. Place the blade of a spatula under the parchment and over the plate containing the Aji Sauce. Slip the parchment out from the bottom, letting the mold slip onto the sauce (this will take practice—I ruined my first few tries!). Top with one or two cilantro leaves. Repeat until all ingredients are used, and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Giant Corn with Cotija and Orange



Margarita Ceviche

Purple Potato Causa

Peruvian Small Plates

Around the World in Eighty Bites - Poland

If you ask people on the street what their favorite Polish foods are, most will say kielbasa and pierogies.  After all, spicy smoked sausage is pretty good, and so are those little dumplings that seem to be the blond-haired, blue-eyed love child of gnocchi and ravioli.  But there's far more to Polish cooking than kielbasa and pierogies.  Game meats, both freshwater and saltwater fish, hearty grains, and winter vegetables are featured in many Polish recipes, and a little flour, butter, and sugar can make magic with Poland's local fruits and berries. 

Poland shares borders with Germany and Russia, and these two influences can be seen in the frequent use of cabbage, beets, and buckwheat.  But Poland also received a Italian influence in the 16th century when a Polish king married an Italian queen, who brought with her a team of Italian chefs.  Porcini mushrooms, garlic, wine and leeks began cementing their places in the Polish kitchen, and they are still popular ingredients today. 

As a tribute to my readers in Poland, I steered clear of kielbasa and pierogies and decided instead to make Duck with Red Cabbage, a traditional dish that hasn't yet become synonymous with kuchnia polska here in the States.  Unfortunately, my grocery store was completely sold out of duck.  Normally I would have hopped from store to store in search of fresh duck, and I normally would not compromise the integrity of a recipe, but all bets are off during massive ice storms!  I substituted chicken thighs - not the same, but still delicious.

To accompany my Chicken and Red Cabbage, I made a batch of fluffy Potato Dumplings seasoned with garlic and smoked sea salt.  Just before serving, I tossed these in a skillet with some bacon drippings and butter.  Try these recipes for yourself if you want to experience a little taste of Poland on your palate!

Chicken with Red Cabbage

1 T. butter
2 oz. bacon or pancetta, chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
4-6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 head red cabbage, shredded
1 cup dry red wine
1 T. caraway seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot.  Add the bacon and cook for several minutes, or until it starts to crisp.  Next, add the onion and cook for about a minute more, stirring occasionally. 

Now, add the chicken.  Brown on both sides, then add the cabbage, red wine, and caraway seeds.  Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked and the cabbage has softened up a bit.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with potato dumplings. 





Potato Dumplings

2 pounds potatoes, peeled
1 egg, beaten
1 T. smoked sea slat
1 T. garlic powder
1/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting

1 T. bacon drippings
1 T. butter

Cook 1 pound of the potatoes in boiling water until tender.  Mash, set aside to cool.  Grate the other pound of potatoes using the large holes of a box grater.  Squeeze any excess moisture from the grated raw potato.  In a large bowl, combine the mashed potato, grated potato, egg, salt, garlic, and 1/4 cup flour.  Mix well. 

Using your hands, form the potato mix into loosely packed balls the size of golf balls.  Working in batches, drop several at a time into salted boiling water and cook for approximately 5 minutes, or until they begin to float to the survace.  Remove with a slotted spoon, set aside on a plate. 

Once the dumplings are all cooked, melt the bacon drippings and butter in a large frying pan.  Add the dumplings and toss for a minute or so to coat.  Serve hot with Chicken and Red Cabbage.

Around the World in Eighty Bites - Belgium

Before I get to the recipes, I have to let myself get a little emotional here. Up until a few days ago, I’ve been going through the shop, cook, write, post cycle without really knowing who was reading these stories and recipes. Sure, I could see my Facebook and Twitter followers, but I thought those two links were the extent of my reader base. I recently learned that Blogspot, my hosting site, tracks certain statistics. Maybe this is something I should have known, but my technical knowledge doesn’t reach beyond the kitchen - I’m no techie by any means; I don’t even own an iPod! Imagine my surprise when I found out I had readers in Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, and about 20 additional countries! I felt joy, I felt happiness, but most of all, I felt relief. It was the same feeling you get when you’re driving around, unsure where you’re going, and then you see a familiar street or landmark and know that you’re moving in the right direction, and you sigh with relief, knowing that you aren’t a million miles away from your destination.

Over the last few days, I’ve been pretty overwhelmed, and excited, about the fact that people around the world are reading Bacon, Butter & Booze! But I’m not a trophy collector, I’m a writer, and I’m a cook. As such, it is in my soul to use each one of those stats not as validation, but as inspiration. To pay tribute to my international audience, I am going to attempt to cook a dish from, or inspired by, each country that shows up on my stat tracker, and I‘m calling my project “Around the World in Eighty Bites.” Tonight, I begin with Belgium.


Belgium, a small European country bordering France, Germany, and the Netherlands, is known in culinary circles mainly for its beer, chocolate, and, of course, waffles. Tonight, I made a light one-pot meal based on chicken, potatoes, Belgian Endive, and Duvel, a pale ale rumored to be one of Belgium’s best!


Beer-Braised Chicken and Endive

1 T. butter
6-8 chicken thighs, with skin and bones
1 onion, minced
1 ½ lbs. red potatoes, diced
3 bay leaves
Several sprigs fresh thyme
½ t. freshly ground black pepper
1 bottle Duvel ale
1 pound Belgian endive, cut crosswise into inch-wide strips
Salt to taste

Melt the butter over high heat in a heavy-bottomed pot large enough to fit all the chicken comfortably. When butter starts to bubble, add the chicken on the thigh side. Cook for a minute or two, then turn the chicken pieces over, skin side down.

After the chicken has cooked for about two minutes, add the onion, potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, Duvel ale, and pepper. Do not stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for 20 minutes, shaking the pot occasionally without removing the lid.

Once the chicken and potatoes have simmered, remove the cover and add the endive and salt. Stir once, then cover and simmer for 2-3 more minutes.

Now, remove the cover and stir again once or twice. Take the chicken pieces out of the pot, remove skin, and portion into individual bowls. Spoon an equal amount of the endive and potato mixture into each bowl, including the broth. Serve, and be sure to drink some Duvel with this dish!

Wine Tasting, Lobster Potato Salad

I haven't posted for a few days.  Combine fatigue, writer's block, and the fact that due to this weekend's marathon stove session I had more leftovers than refrigerator space, and there you have it - a simple recipe for a neglected blog.  It's time I got off my lazy arse and started doing what I love - cooking and writing. 

I took a day off of work to attend a training at the animal shelter, and once that was over I picked up the ingredients for the lobster potato salad.  I came home, prepared the salad, and stuck it in the refrigerator to chill while I scooted across town to a wine tasting in Boston's version of Little Italy - the North End. 

Thanks to my search for a bottle of Lacrima di Morro, an Italian wine featured in La Cucina Italiana's "25 under $25" article (June 2010), I discovered The Wine Bottega on Hanover Street.  Located in Boston's North End, they obviously feature a great selection of Italian regional wines, but they feature other countries' wines as well.  They specialize in wines made by small producers, and many of their selections are organic.  Best part?  Free tastings every Friday from 5-8.  I have never been to a wine tasting before, but I think they may become my new after-work ritual.  They last about 15 minutes, and they are based on a new theme each week.  This week's theme?  Critter Wines - we tasted six wines featuring various animals on the labels.  Did you know that porcupines party in Italian vineyards when the growing conditions are aligned to result in a good wine?  Now you know.  Sign up for their newsletter to learn more! 

I am not a wine connoisseur by any means - my knowledge of wine amounts to red, white, sweet, dry, bottle, box, I like it, I don't like it.  And because I have an attitude problem, I refused to buy non-Italian wines ("French wines get all the attention but we started it, that's not right!").  After tasting a Roucaillat, I've changed my mind.  Sorry, French wines!  I won't write you off anymore.  You, dear readers, will be hearing more about my education in vino.


I don't have the words to describe the wines I tasted - when I read wine reviews, the samples are often described in almost human terms.  As my mom said, "Fruity, yet assertive?  Are they talking about wine or a co-worker?"  Today, I picked up a red (2009 Sergio Mottura Civitella Rosso) and a white (2006 Martilde Malvasia Dedica).  I can't tell you what flowers they smell like or what kind of barrels they were aged in, but I can tell you what dishes they inspired me to cook and eat.  I'm saving the red until I duplicate the pappardelle w/ wild boar ragu, and I am drinking a glass of the white while I write, wishing I had made a simple risotto with pecorino romano and thinly sliced fennel.  Guess I know what I'm making tomorrow.



Here is the recipe for the Lobster Potato Salad - it goes together quickly, and it does not require much chilling time.  However, like most mixed dishes, it tastes better after the flavors have been allowed to blend for about a day.  To save time, you can buy prepared lobster meat, but you won't be able to save the shells to make flavorful seafood stock.



Lobster Potato Salad

1.5lbs potatoes (red or Yukon Golds work well)
1-2T. butter
meat from 1 1lb. lobster, or 1 cup prepared lobster meat 
2-4 green onions, sliced into thin rings
juice from 1/2 lemon
splash olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Slice the potatoes lengthwise into quarters, then slice into half-inch wedges.  Place these in a pot and fill with enough water to cover by at least an inch.  Salt the water, bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender.  When they are cooked, drain them and set them aside to cool.  In another similar-sized pot, melt the butter over high heat so that the butter begins to brown slightly.  Add the potatoes, remove from heat immediately, and toss the cooled potatoes with the melted butter.  Set aside.

While potatoes are cooking, slice the green onions and put them in a large bowl.  Next, add the lobster meat.  If you are using a whole lobster, break the lobster apart overtop of the bowl so that any flavorful juices are not lost. 

Once the meat is removed from the lobster, or if you are using prepared lobster, use your fingers to tear the meat into small chunks.  Add the cooked and buttered potatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Toss until all ingredients are evenly distributed, then cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 




Once the salad has chilled, you are ready to serve.  Place on a plate or in a shallow bowl over lettuce leaves.  Mangiare!