Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Short Rib and Barley Stew



So! I hear that a big part of the country is suffering a horrible cold spell.
I'm sorry! 
I hope you are taking care of yourselves.


I thought that I would share my recipe for Short Rib and Barley Stew that I found (here).
This is such a hearty, DELICIOUS soup.  I hope you will try it.
I have made this 3 times now and every time it is wonderful. 

I have tweaked the recipe a bit here and there to adjust it to our taste. 
Plus it calls for Marmite... what is that? Has anyone ever heard of this ingredient?
My understanding is that it is something that ads an intense salty flavor... 
Anyway, I could not find it anywhere, so I added extra Soy Sauce. 
That did the trick! 

So here it is. I hope you like it!

  • 2 pounds boneless beef short ribs, cut into 1-inch chunks
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2 medium carrots, split in half and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks (about 1 cup)
  • 2 medium ribs celery, split in half and sliced into 1/2-inch chunks (about 1 cup)
  • 1 large onion, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups total)
  • 1/2 teaspoon marmite
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 2 medium cloves garlic, grated on a microplane grater (about 2 teaspoons)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 quart low-sodium chicken broth (preferably homemade) 
  • ( I use canned chicken broth and I have to add almost twice what it calls for)
  • 1 (14.4) ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
  • 1 cup pearl barley
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 cups loosely packed kale leaves, roughly torn

Procedures

  1. Season short ribs with salt and pepper and toss in a large bowl to coat. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over high heat until smoking. Add the beef and cook without moving until well-browned on first side, about 5 minutes. Stir beef and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until browned all over, about 10 minutes total, reducing heat if bottom of pan begins to burn. Return meat to bowl and set aside.

  2. Return pan to medium-high heat and add carrots, celery, and onion. Cook, stirring frequently until vegetables begin to brown, about 4 minutes total. Add marmite, soy sace, garlic, and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

  3. Add broth and scrape up browned bits from bottom of pan with wooden spoon. Add tomatoes, barley, and bay leaves. Return beef to pot. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce to lowest possible heat and place cover on pot, leaving lid slightly ajar. Cook, stirring occasionally until beef is completely tender and barley is cooked through, about 2 hours. Stir in kale leaves and cook, stirring constantly until wilted, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately, or for best flavor, chill and refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 5 days.




Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Old Fashioned Bread Pudding

 SO! 

Yes! You are right... it has been almost a week since I last posted. 
So sorry. 
We are in a crazy busy season here in our little corner of the world. I still miss being involved more in the blog-is-phere, but I'm having to make decisions and sometimes the here and now is more important. Some things are fun and good. Others well .... 
Lets just say... "We're building character these days." 
With that said....

Last Friday I was able to help with a Dinner and A Movie Event for the ladies of my church. I was in charge of the dessert bar which means that I did not have time to make anything home made. And I really hate that... but oh well! What I ended up doing was purchasing several Cinnamon Strusel Quick Breads from my local Safeway. They were okay.  I did have some left over though. So what do you do with that left over bread? 
YOU MAKE BREAD PUDDING! 
I went to my mom's old cook book and found this simple recipe.


5 slices day-old bread                                 1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter or margarine               3 eggs
1/2 cup moist raisins                                   3 cups milk scalded
1/4 teaspoon salt                                         1/4 teaspoon cinnamon


Toast bread and spread with all the butter while hot. Arrange toast in a buttered baking pan. Sprinkle
with raisins. Stir the salt and all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the eggs. Add milk and stir to mix well. Pour over the toast and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Press toast lightly down into milk occasionally so that the toast soaks up most of the milk mixture. Mix cinnamon with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and sprinkle over top. Place dish directly on oven rack. Bake in a moderate oven (350° F)  for about 25 minutes until a pointed knife inserted in center comes our clean and top is an appetizing brown. Serve warm or cold. 5 to 6 servings.

As usual, I did change a few things.



I set aside some of the toasted bread and cubed it, then sprinkled it across the top. Also, because there was already a lot of cinnamon in the bread I just sprinkled sugar across the top.

 Look at all that nubby goodness!

 Crusty on the outside and moist on the inside!

 Simple ingredients combined to make some wonderful comfort food.
I was thinking... what if you did this with pumpkin bread or zucchini bread... 
Oh My!
I'll be sharing this yummy recipe for Foodie Friday!


Oh! P.S. I almost forgot to share... the movie was....

 The Inheritance
A 1997 Hallmark movie based on the Novel by Louisa May Alcott

Summary Provided IMDb
At the lush Evenswood estate in Concord, Massachusetts, Edith Adelon, a beautiful orphan, lives as the paid companion to the daughter of the wealthy Hamilton family, although they regard her as one of their own. Years ago, Henry Hamilton saved Edith from an Italian orphanage at the request of his long-deceased brother. Now, Edith is his daughter Amy's prized friend and confidante. As the Hamiltons await a trio of visitors for the annual Greens Cup horse race, Beatrice Hamilton asks for Edith's help in finding a suitable husband for a cousin, Ida Glenshaw, with one of two visiting eligible bachelors. But when it becomes clear that both the young men have affection for Edith and not Ida, jealousy soon develops, leading to malicious conniving and brutal backstabbing. Despite the growing love between Edith and one of the young suitors, because of their conflicting social classes, the couple is reminded time and again that their love can never be. The Inheritance is a story that centers on an innocent young woman's struggle to make sense of her position within the Hamilton household and in society, and the love she feels for her patrons, as well as for a young man she can never marry.

Ladies! This was sooooo good. Just what I needed to sweep me away from the hectic week that I had just spent. It is such a nice clean movie. The home and costumes are so well done. You will love it...
Let me know if you do watch it.



Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Homemade Cranberry Sauce





A few weeks ago (before Thanksgiving) I made a couple of batches of  cranberry sauce.  I think it 
looks so pretty in the jar. It tastes pretty good over cream cheese to.


Here's the recipe! 

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup of good quality Port
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Wash cranberries and drain.
 
 Place all ingredients in medium saucepan.
Boil over medium high heat for about ten minutes or until almost all cranberries have popped, stirring frequently.   
 

Sauce will thicken when cool. 
   

A very simple and pretty thing to give thing to give!
Have fun!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Checking in!



Hola Sweet Friends!

Are you so busy loving the season? 
We are! 



We're winter gardening...  Look at those little roses! 


 Canning... I made homemade cranberry sauce... wonderfulness!
 I will be sharing that recipe with you.


 Decorating! 


 Crocheting! I can't wait to show you this fun project.


 ...more decorating!


... and MORE decorating!