Beef and Barley Stew with Mushrooms

Barley I love, so here's another recipe to try this week-end as I have a piece of meat thawing in the refrigerator. Winter comfort indeed with rain expected in the next couple of days. Try a vegetarian version by leaving out the meat, double the amount of mushrooms, and add some potatoes.

Photo and recipe from Apartment Therapy.

2-3 pound chuck or round beef roast, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large onion, diced
8-10 ounces mushrooms (1 package)
3 celery stalks, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups beef stock
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup barley
salt and pepper

Film the bottom of a large dutch oven with canola oil and set over medium-high heat until the oil is hot. Working in batches, add a single layer of meat to the bottom of the pan. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes until the cubes loosen and are seared golden-brown. Flip the cubes and sear the other sides. When all sides are seared, remove the meat to a clean bowl or plate. Sear the remaining meat in batches. If there is any liquid in the pot after the last batch is finished, pour it over the meat.

Heat one teaspoon of canola oil in the pan and cook the onions with a pinch of salt until they are translucent and brown around the edges. Add the mushrooms and another pinch of salt, and cook until they have released all the moisture and have turned golden-brown. Add the celery and cook until just softened.

Clear a space in the middle of the vegetables and sauté the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the thyme and bay leaf, and stir all the seasonings into the veggies.

Pour the wine into the pan to deglaze, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan as the wine bubbles. Let the wine reduce down until most of it has evaporated or been absorbed by the veggies.

Add the meat and any drippings back to the pot. Pour in the stocks and top with enough water to cover the meat and veggies about about a half an inch. Bring the stew to a boil, then reduce the heat to very low.

Cover the pot and let it simmer for 1 hour. Add the barley and cook for another 45 minutes or so until the barley is cooked and the meat is almost falling apart (check by piercing it with a fork or knife. There should be no resistance and the meat should flake apart with pressure). Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as desired.

Serve in individual bowls with a crust piece of bread to mop up the broth. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for one week.

Sweet Potato FriesSweet potatoes are a dynamite source of beta-carotene (their bright orange color is a dead giveaway). Your body converts beta-carotene to vitamin A, a nutrient that helps to continually generate new, healthy skin cells.
I like to turn sweet potatoes into crispy oven-baked French fries. Cut peeled potatoes into ¼-inch strips and spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with oil spray. Mist the fries with oil spray and season with salt, black pepper, or any other seasonings (ground cinnamon, curry powder, and chili powder are all fun options). Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, flipping the fries halfway through. I finish my fries under the broiler for 5 minutes to get them extra crispy!

Salmon with Lemon Dill Sauce

Here's a simple, but yummy recipe I found from a pack of salmon fillets.

4 portions boneless, skinless salmon
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 tsp dill weed or 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Arrange 4 salmon fillets in a single layer on a lightly greased baking dish or baking sheet. Mix 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon dried dill, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Spread 1/4 of mixture evenly over salmon fillets.
3. Bake for 15- 20 minutes or until salmon is cooked. Salmon is done when it flakes easily with a fork.

Ginger Fried Rice

My husband is an expert when it comes to cooking breakfast and fried rice. So, here's a recipe from Mark Bittman that I hope he will cook soon.

Photo and recipe from New York Times

Time: About 30 minutes

1/2 cup peanut oil

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons minced ginger

Salt

2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and dried

4 cups day-old cooked rice, preferably jasmine, at room temperature

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons sesame oil

4 teaspoons soy sauce.

1. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels and salt lightly.

2. Reduce heat under skillet to medium-low and add 2 tablespoons oil and leeks. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not browned. Season lightly with salt.

3. Raise heat to medium and add rice. Cook, stirring well, until heated through. Season to taste with salt.

4. In a nonstick skillet, fry eggs in remaining oil, sunny-side up, until edges are set but yolk is still runny.

5. Divide rice among four dishes. Top each with an egg and drizzle with 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Sprinkle crisped garlic and ginger over everything and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

Pan-Seared Salmon with Fresh Tomato-Basil Relish

Here's a very easy dish to prepare. I had some tomatoes raring to be used before they go bad and a slice of salmon that's been sitting in the refrigerator. I wanted to try a new recipe so I headed to Big Oven for some ideas.

Relish:

• 2 Tomato chopped
• 1/4 cup Basil fresh, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 clove Garlic minced
• 3/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper black, coarsely ground

• 2 Salmon filet 6 oz. each
• 1/4 teaspoon Cumin ground
• 1/2 teaspoon Olive oil

To make the relish, mix the tomatoes, basil, vinegar, garlic, 1/2 tsp of the salt and 1/8 tsp of the pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

Sprinkle both sides of the salmon with the cumin and the remaining 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the salmon, skin-side up and cook about 4 minutes. Turn over the salmon and cook about 1 minute. Reduce the heat and cook covered, until the salmon is just opaque in the center.

Transfer the salmon to a plate and add the relish to the skillet. Increase the heat and cook until the relish is heated through. Once heated move it aside and return the salmon just long enough to reheat it if needed.

Place the salmon on serving plates and spoon the relish over the salmon to serve.

jools’s favourite beef stew

I like making stews. Here's a recipe from Jamie Oliver.


Jools goes mad for this stew in the colder months of the year, and the kids love it too. It’s a straightforward beef stew to which all sorts of root veg can be added. I really like making it with squash and Jerusalem artichokes, which partly cook into the sauce, making it really sumptuous with an unusual and wonderful flavour.

The great thing about this stew is that it gets put together very quickly, and this is partly to do with the fact that no time is spent browning the meat. Even though this goes against all my training, I experimented with two batches of meat – I browned one and put the other straight into the pot. The latter turned out to be the sweeter and cleaner-tasting, so I’ve stopped browning the meat for most of my stews these days.

• olive oil
• a knob of butter
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• a handful of fresh sage leaves
• 800g/1¾lb stewing steak or beef skirt, cut into 5cm/2 inch pieces
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• flour, to dust
• 2 parsnips, peeled and quartered
• 4 carrots, peeled and halved
• ½ a butternut squash, halved, deseeded and roughly diced
• optional: a handful of Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and halved
• 500g/1lb 2oz small potatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato purée
• ½ a bottle of red wine
• 285ml/½ pint beef or vegetable stock
• zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
• a handful of rosemary, leaves picked
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/300ºF/gas 2. Put a little oil and your knob of butter into an appropriately sized pot or casserole pan. Add your onion and all the sage leaves and fry for 3 or 4 minutes. Toss the meat in a little seasoned flour, then add it to the pan with all the vegetables, the tomato purée, wine and stock, and gently stir together. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and just a little salt. Bring to the boil, place a lid on top, then cook in the preheated oven until the meat is tender. Sometimes this takes 3 hours, sometimes 4 – it depends on what cut of meat you’re using and how fresh it is. The only way to test is to mash up a piece of meat and if it falls apart easily it’s ready. Once it’s cooked, you can turn the oven down to about 110°C/225°F/gas ¼ and just hold it there until you’re ready to eat.

The best way to serve this is by ladling big spoonfuls into bowls, accompanied by a glass of French red wine and some really fresh, warmed bread. Mix the lemon zest, chopped rosemary and garlic together and sprinkle over the stew before eating. Just the smallest amount will make a world of difference – as soon as it hits the hot stew it will release an amazing fragrance

Banana Ice Cream

I just read about making ice cream with only one ingredient - bananas - in Kitchn. We love bananas. We usually have a bunch that we finish in a day or two so this should be worth a try. Now if only I had a food processor. I wonder if my hand blender would work. Maybe not.

It turns out that frozen bananas are good for more than just dipping in chocolate. If you freeze a banana until solid, then whiz it up in a blender or food processor, it gets creamy and a little gooey, just like good custard ice cream. I was surprised at this bit of kitchen wizardry; I assumed that a blended banana would be flaky or icy. But no — it makes creamy, rich ice cream.

Some bananas, depending on their ripeness, have a bit of that green aftertaste. My sister has been experimenting with adding in another ingredient or two, like a tablespoon of peanut butter and another of honey. Delicious!

Here's another tip: Saving Overly Ripe Fruit

It's rare, but every so often, not all of the bananas get eaten before they start getting too soft.

Don't spend a moment feeling guilty; the best solution is to peel them (if you don't, you'll have to shave off the peel once frozen), slice them (if you can, or just break up into mushy bits), and freeze in a plastic freezer-safe container, plastic bag, or wrapped in wax paper. Next time you have a hankering for a smoothie, you have the perfect ingredient waiting for you in your freezer: already frozen pieces of banana.

This also works well for other tropical fruits like mangoes, papaya, and pineapple, stone fruits like peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, and cherries, and also for berries.

(photo: Makeiteco.com)

Chicken-And-Corn Fried Rice With Lemon Spinach

Chef Ming Tsai prepared this dish for the NPR challenge. I'm not good at making fried rice so I'll let my husband try this recipe. He's the expert at making fried rice and breakfast food. He makes good omelettes.

Serves 4

1 pound ground chicken
2 eggs
1 large yellow onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ginger powder
2 ears of corn when in season, or 1 bag frozen (12 ounces)
1/2 (10 ounces) bag spinach (washed, spun dry, de-stemmed, leaves torn)
2 tablespoons naturally brewed soy sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
4 cups cold, cooked long-grain rice, brown and white combination, preferably day-old so it's nice and dry*
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Canola oil

Heat a wok or large saute pan over medium-high heat. Lightly coat with oil. When oil shimmers add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and brown, breaking up any large chunks with wooden spoon or spatula. Remove chicken to a plate. Add about 1/2-inch oil to wok and allow to heat; add eggs, which will puff up. Cook scrambled eggs and remove to a paper towel-lined plate. If necessary, add more oil to wok to lightly coat, then add onions, garlic, and powdered ginger, and cook until nicely caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add corn, rice, chicken and egg, and toss to combine. Add naturally brewed soy sauce, toss to combine, and check for seasoning. Place mound of raw spinach in center of four dinner plates. Drizzle with lemon juice and season. Top with fried rice to cover. Enjoy!

*Alternatively, if you're not cooking rice the day before, place the cooked rice in a single layer on a sheet tray, and place in freezer to cool and dry.

Copyright 2009 Ming Tsai

Dal, Chilean Style

Here's another recipe from the NPR challenge. Yes, it's another bean dish.

3 cups of lentils
2 cups of chopped potatoes
2 chopped carrots
3 chopped tomatoes
1 hot pepper
1 small onion chopped
2 gloves garlic chopped
16 ounces tomato sauce
1 tsp cumin
a little beer or sherry
a little red vinegar
olive oil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper

1. Soak and cook lentils till soft. Drain and rinse, set aside.
2. Sautee onions, garlic, hot pepper, and cumin in olive oil. Add beer or sherry.
3. Add potatoes and carrots, cover with water, bring to boil.
4. Add tomatoes and cook till potatoes are soft.
5. Add lentils and tomato sauce.
6. Salt and pepper to taste. (I sometimes add more water or beer if it's too thick, or vinegar if it's too sweet.) Add more cumin or hot sauce if you like it really spicy.
7. Throw in the cilantro, take if off the heat. Serve after a few minutes.

Moorish-Style Chickpea And Spinach Stew

NPR had a contest called "How Low Can You Go" Family Supper Challenge. This was one of the recipes prepared that cost under $10.

This is one of the first dishes Jose Andres' wife, Patricia, cooked for him, soon after they were married.

Makes 4 servings

9 ounces dried garbanzos (chickpeas)
Pinch bicarbonate of soda
6 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
1/4 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
2 ounces white sliced bread, with the crusts removed
2 tablespoons pimenton (Spanish sweet paprika)
1 pinch Spanish saffron
2 tablespoons Spanish sherry vinegar
1/2 pound spinach, washed and cleaned
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and white pepper to taste

The day before you cook, soak the chickpeas in cold water with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. The next day, drain and rinse the chickpeas.

In a big saucepan, combine the chickpeas with 2 1/2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for two hours, until the chickpeas are tender. Every 10 minutes or so, add 1/2 cup of cold water to slow down the simmering. By the end, the water should have reduced so it is barely covering the chickpeas. Turn off the heat and let sit.

In a small saute pan over medium to low heat, brown the garlic in 1/4 cup of the olive oil. When the garlic is browned, after about 3 minutes, remove from the pan and set aside. Add the bread and brown on both sides, about one minute each side. Remove the bread and set aside.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Add the pimenton and saffron to the saute pan, and the sherry vinegar immediately afterward to prevent the pimenton from burning.

In a mortar, smash the reserved garlic and the browned bread to make a very thick paste.

Bring the chickpeas back to a low boil and add the spinach. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pimenton mixture along with the garlic and bread paste, to create a thick, stewy sauce. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

Jose's Tips

When the chickpeas are soft and cooked, only about one finger's depth of water should remain in the bottom of the pan. If there is more, remove some water from the pan before adding the rest of the ingredients. By the way, if you're in a rush and want to make a successful dish without cooking for two or three hours, you can use good quality chickpeas from a can or jar.

Recipe adapted from Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America by Jose Andres, published by Clarkson Potter.

Muhjadarrah

I am always on the lookout for vegetarian dishes. Here's one I'd like to try soon as I still have some lentils left in the pantry.

I was first introduced to Muhajadarrah over ten years ago with this recipe, from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and I haven't strayed from it since. No need to, really. But a quick google search reveals that, like most classic dishes, there are dozens of different recipes and variations. You can certainly introduce middle eastern spices such as cumin or cinnamon, but I recommend trying this first just as it is. It's revolutionary to taste something so delicious and satisfying that comes from using the simplest and most humble ingredients imaginable.

A few bits of advise: be sure to caramelize the onion very deeply and to use plenty of salt and pepper. These are your only seasonings, so they're very important. Also, be sure to use brown or green lentils, not the orange ones which will just dissolve to a mush.

serves 4

6 T olive oil

1 very large onion (or two medium) sliced into rounds 1/4 inch thick

1 1/4 cups green or brown lentils, sorted and rinsed

3/4 cup white or brown long-grain rice

salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it becomes a rich, dark brown color, about 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, put the lentils into a saucepan with one quart of water. Bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes. Add rice, plenty of pepper and more water, if needed, to cover. Cover and cook over low heat until rice is done, about 15 minutes. Stir in half the onions and about 1 teaspoon of salt, then cover and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes. Spoon the lentil-rice mixture on to a platter and cover with the remaining onions.

I serve this with a bowl of cubed feta cheese or good, thick yogurt; some jarred roasted red peppers tossed with sherry vinegar, olive oil and a little garlic; and Trader Joe's middle eastern flat bread, heated in the toaster oven until it puffs. Occasionally I go all out and make a tangy little salad of parsley, capers, shallots, lemon, s & p.