Drunken Irish Stew

NYC was lucky enough to be hit with a mini-blizzard the week before last, and we were lucky enough to get out of work early to "get a jump start on the commute". What that really means is "spend these two extra hours making stew," which, along with some red wine, is the only way to spend a snowy evening.

This recipe comes courtesy of Bake's sister, who lives in Florida, so we can't figure out when it would be cold enough for her to make a dish this hearty. But for those of us in locales where the temperature hits freezing, warm up with all the booze in this Drunken Irish Stew (or save it until St. Patrick's Day).

We just couldn't wait to start eating, which is why this bowl is half full. It's surprising we could pause long enough to take this picture.

Drunken Irish Stew
adapted from Davislife Magazine

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/4 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
7 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup red wine
1 cup Guinness
6 cups beef stock (or broth)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1-1/2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dried thyme
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound russet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (peeled or unpeeled, gentleman’s choice)
1 pound baby red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (again, gentleman’s choice)
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large yellow or white onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, large pot over medium-high heat. Add the beef stew meat and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic cloves and sauté another minute, until fragrant.

2. Add the beef stock, red wine, Guinness, tomato paste, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and bay leaves. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a boil. When boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for one hour. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.

3. In another large pot, melt the butter over medium heat until slightly foaming. Add the potatoes, celery, onion and carrots, sautéing until golden, about 15 minutes. Set aside until the stew has simmered for one hour.

4. Add vegetables to beef stew and simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water until combined. Add slowly to the stew, stirring for 1 minute until thickened. Discard the bay leaves and remove any fat that may have accumulated on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 6-8.

*This can be prepared in advance and kept refrigerated for up to three days

CROCKPOT CHALLENGE: Portuguese Chorizo and Peppers

Ingredients:

2 pounds chorizo sausage, casings removed and crumbled

2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped

2 sweet onion, peeled and chopped

1 6 ounce can tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1 cup water
2 tablespoons crushed garlic

In a slow cooker,

combine the sausage, green pepper, onion, tomato paste, wine, water and crushed garlic. Stir so that everything is evenly distributed. Cover and set on low. Cook for 8 hours. Uncover the pot and cook an additional 2 hours to allow some of the liquid to evaporate. Serve over rice or with Portuguese bread. Makes 8 servings.

Notes: Above you will find the classic recipe for Portuguese Chorizo and Peppers as I was able to find it. In my attempt at this dish, I added 1/2 jalepeno, minced, 3 carrots, peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch long segments, 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme, and one can of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed.

Though the end result was indeed delicious, some observations:

- Make sure to use a red wine that isn't too sweet or of poor quality. If you wouldn't drink it, I wouldn't use it for your cooking, because your stew will be flavored with it and the vegetables will really soak up the flavor - the carrots especially do this and I will not be adding them to my next incarnation of this dish.

- The chorizo is surprising to work with, be prepared. I have used this sausage many times, sliced, but hadn't ever cooked a recipe that required me to crumble it. Chorizo is not formed in the same way as most sausages, where you snip the end off and squeeze out the insides. The chorizo needed to be peeled first and then crumbled. I left a few large chunks, as is my preference so that there could be variation in the texture of the stew. Please see pictures below for a demonstration of the chorizo peeling process. I saved the skins in my freezer to use in making a stock later on. Save everything for this purpose! Garlic and onion skins, vegetable ends, carrot peels, you name it!

Hungarian Goulash

The alternative title of this post is "A Dutch Oven is not just a joke!"

This Goulash was the trial run for a Christmas-gift Dutch oven, the results were terrific and yielded not only several lunches but also plenty of late-night post-drink snacks. It comes from a Cook's Illustrated book called The Best Recipe. Very modest, Cook's.

3 lbs beef chuck, cubed

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

4 ox sliced bacon, cut into pieces

2 medium-large onions, about 2 cups chopped

1 medium red pepper, chopped

6 garlic clovers minced

2 tbsp sweet paprika

3 tbsp flour

1 cup white wine

2 cups chicken stock or broth

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried thyme

4 large carrots, sliced

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

1/2 cup sour cream

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees. Put beef in a bowl and coat with the salt and pepper. Fry the bacon in the Dutch oven over medium heat until golden brown. Drain bacon, saving the drippings separately. Increase heat to medium-high and heat 2 tbsp of drippings in Dutch oven. Add half of meat and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside, then repeat with another tbsp of drippings and remaining meat. Set these aside.

2. Add onions and red pepper to empty Dutch oven and saute until softened. Add garlic, paprika, and flour and cook for another minute or two. Add wine, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pot. Add stock, bay leaves, and thyme, and bring to a simmer. Add meat and bacon bits and return to a simmer. Cover and place pot in oven. Cook for 1 hour.

3. Remove pot from oven and add carrots. Cover and return pot to oven. Cook just until meat is tender. 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove pot from oven.

4. Stir in parsley and sour cream, discard bay leaves, adjust seasonings, and serve. (Don't simmer the stew once you've added the cream or it will curdle.)

You could easily eat this on its own, but it's best served over egg noodles.

hearty vegetable stew

So I'm calling this a stew instead of a soup based on some of the guidelines I've acquired from wikipedia, but I'm not gonna act like it was an uncomplicated decision:

The distinctions between stew, soup, and casserole are subtle and not always easy to judge. The ingredients of a stew may be cut into larger pieces than a those of a soup and retain more of their individual flavours; a stew may have thicker liquid than a soup, and more liquid than a casserole; a stew is more likely to be eaten as a main course than as a starter, unlike soup; and a stew can be cooked on either the stove top (or range) or in the oven, while casseroles are almost always cooked in the oven, and soups are almost always cooked on the stovetop. There are exceptions; for example, an oyster stew is thin bodied, more like a soup.

But as you can see, a large part is up for debate. Anyways, on to the recipe.

ingredients

• 6 large potatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• 2 large onions (i used yellow onions)
• 5 spring onions
• 2 teaspoons of crushed hot peppers
  
• 4 large carrots
• 1 "bunch" of celery heart
• 1 cup of orzo pasta
• 1 can of small white beans
• 1 liter of hearty vegetable broth
• 1 liter of water
• a reasonable handful of frozen spinach
• seasoning to taste
  

So like most things I make, start with garlic and onions in oil, but this time in a big ol' pot instead of just a deep sauce pan. I followed with the spring onions, cut less fine than I'd usually encourage, but this stew is going to need all the colour we can put into it. I also added two teaspoons of crushed hot peppers, but if you prefer you could use a diced chili pepper or two. If they're pre-crushed they just get into the oil that much quicker. Give it a minute to do its thing, while that's happening peel the potatoes and carrots and cut them into hearty chunks. The celery should get chopped into decent-sized pieces as well. By the time you've finished cutting them all it'll be time to throw them in the pot.

For both additional protein and starch, I added about a cup of orzo and a can of small white beans. They got tossed into the mix, then add the water. Turn heat to high until the water boils, then drop the heat back to medium and add the vegetable broth. Add the frozen spinach, its mostly for the color.

Once you're at this point, its all about seasoning and playing the waiting game. I went with rosemary, black pepper, kosher salt and chives. JaBootaay made some chicken to go with his and our roomie, I had a big bowl of just the stew. Next time, I need to make sure I have quinoa on hand, since that adds a good texture and lot of healthy goodness. You'll notice that despite all the lovely green things I put it everything was beige by the end except for the carrots. This made me sad. I probably should have put in some fresh parsley at the end to remedy that.