Yum!

Come join me at the table and enjoy a year's worth of food in the next 2 minutes!

Click to Play

Year's worth of food

Beef Stew

Today I made beef stew. My own recipe...that I concocted today. Here's the thing: Melody requested that if I was going to make beef stew, that I don't make it with a thick gravy base. She has had a version of beef stew at a restaurant called "Howard's" in Colebrook, New Hampshire that she absolutely LOVED. So, today, I tried my hand at making a beef stew that comes as close to "Howard's" as possible!
After trying her first bite, she said that mine is better because it is homemade....what a compliment! (to tell the truth, I usually don't like beef stew...probably because of the thick gravy base!!...But this time it was a winner!)


Here's my recipe:

2 lbs chuck beef for stew, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon italian seasoning (or a mix of oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary)
1 large onion, sliced
1 Tablespoon shortening or oil for browning
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups of beef broth
4 potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 16 oz bag of mixed vegetables


~Season beef with salt, pepper, garlic powder and italian seasonings.
~Melt shortening in a 6 quart pot on stove top. Add onion slices and cook until tender and translucent.
~Add beef and brown on all sides.
~Add tomato paste...cook for 2-3 minutes.
~Carefully pour beef broth into pot.
~Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer.
~Simmer for 3-4 hours.
~Add prepared potatoes and frozen vegetables, cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender...careful not to boil...check frequently to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom of pot.

Serve with bread. Serves 8.

*Rachel, you could use stewing venison in place of the beef...I am sure that would be spectacular! Also, for two people, just cut all the ingredients in half...then you could have leftovers for lunch or another dinner!

Success!!

Yesterday, I attempted a new recipe for my crockpot...it was a success! Very, very tasty and tender. Here are a few pictures of my finished meal:
It looks messy and mushy, but it was SO good! There are actually 5 rolled chicken breasts under all that yummy-ness...still rolled around some homemade stuffing.

Here is my dinner plate. I did do the whole green beans sauteed' in olive oil and garlic.


Recipe follows in previous post. Enjoy!

New Recipes!

Hello, fellow chefs! I have been very long in posting and I apologize. I have been cooking, but haven't been able to take pictures of what I've prepared. I think the pictures make such a difference that I wanted to wait until I had some to share.

So, my first recipe is a pot roast recipe. I make my pot roast in the crock pot. On a side note...I LOVE MY CROCK POT!! I use it all year long. In the cold winter months, it's such a cozy feeling to know I have dinner bubbling away in the crock pot and in the hot, summer months, I plug it in out on the front porch! (seriously!!) It keeps the house cooler and I still have the freedom of dinner being cooked all day without me doing much at all!!


Pot Roast dinner:


1 3-4 pound chuck roast for slow cooking
1 cup beef broth, burgundy wine or plain water
1 Tablespoon thyme leaves
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

Put roast into crock pot. Pour broth (or whatever liquid you desire to use) over roast. Season with thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. (you have to get up early to start this dinner!!)

At about 1 hour before the roast is done, prepare potatoes to steam in chunks. Also, prepare some other vegetable to serve along with potatoes and roast. (you can cook the roast with carrots and potatoes, if you cut them small and put them under the roast in the crock pot...I prefer to cook things separately.)

At about 15 minutes before you want to eat, remove roast from crock pot to platter.
Mix 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup cold water in a seal able container. Shake well. Add to broth in crock pot, stir to blend. Cook for 15 minutes on high. Salt to taste.


The other crock pot recipe is for chicken breasts. I found a similar recipe and tweaked it! It's in the crock pot as I type this...we can't wait to try it! (Stay tuned: I'll update how it was after dinner tonight...)

Stuffed Chicken breasts in the crock pot


This is my homemade stuffing.

I dried out some bread, broke it up into chunks, added some poultry seasonings.
I sauteed' about a half cup each of celery and onion in 4 Tablespoons butter until soft.
Added about 1 1/2 cups chicken broth and mixed it all together.


I stuffed 5 chicken breasts that I had pounded to about 1/4 inch thick. I browned them in 2 Tablespoons butter and put them into the crock pot.


Poured over a jar of Alfredo sauce (about 2 cups). (the original recipe called for 2 cans of cream of celery soup...I don't really like the flavor of those types of soups, so I used my Alfredo sauce)


*Side dish idea for this meal: garlic and whole green beans sauteed' in olive oil until caramelized.

Update to come!