Weather is Cooling and Time for Soups

Having allowed my website to lapse, due to many complaints (mine) and difficulties, I am using solely my blog for publishing recipes these days. Also, without all those recipes on my website available anymore, I have been trying to get them published here in my blog, so they continue to be available. 
 

Add Beef with Sweet Cabbage

What with all the website recipes not there anymore, the other problem is that I have a whole lot of places where there are links to a recipe on the website - and the website is not there any longer, and this is not good in any way, so I have been going over my blogs, starting from the very first post, correcting link errors wherever I can find them. There were and still are, lots of posts that are missing photos - only heaven knows what happens "out there" online! All I can say is that it is a very slow and tedious process, going through all my posts, updating, updating. And something else - I realize that there is a  glaring lack of certain recipes. Even when I though I had all my lists made, something else comes up. One is one of my Mom's recipes. In flavor, it was one of my favorites. However, she made it with beef short ribs, notorious for a lot of fat and bone, with a little meat that you really have to fight for. That made the recipe one I didn't try to make for a long time. Then one day I thought, "Hey, what if I used a different meat?" 

Living in Guatemala at the time, I used what I later found was brisket. I find brisket, especially when cooked in a soup, gives really great flavor. I happened on it by chance in Guatemala, as I was young and with little cooking experience, but I stuck with that meat ever since, because it turns out so delicious. Mom called the recipe "Beef with Sweet Cabbage."

Beef with Sweet Cabbage

Serves 8 - 10

1 (2 – 3 pound) brisket

Beef with Sweet Cabbage

1 large onion, diced
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
¾ cup ketchup, or as needed
¼ cup of sugar
2 – 4 tablespoons vinegar
A few grinds of pepper
2 - 3 large potatoes, peeled, cut in 1-inch dice
1 small head of cabbage, in cubes

Place the brisket, onion, bay leaves and salt into a large soup pot with a tight fitting lid. Add water to just cover. Bring to a boil on high heat, then lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook for at least 2 hours, or until the meat is tender. Remove the meat and bay leaves from the pot. Set the meat on a platter until cool enough to handle.

Slice the meat across the grain into 2 – 3-inch sections. Break the sections into smaller pieces and pull the meat apart into strips. Return the meat to the pot.

Add in the ketchup. The soup should be nicely reddish. If it is not, add more. Add in the sugar and some of the vinegar. The goal in this dish is a nice sweet/sour balance between sugar, salt and vinegar. If the dish needs more vinegar, add a little at a time. Conversely, if it needs more sugar, add more. Remember it is easier to add more, but it cannot be taken back out. Start small and build the flavor. Grind in some fresh black pepper. Add in the cabbage and potatoes, stir, bring pot back to boiling, lower to a simmer, cover and cook for at least another half hour, or until the cabbage and potatoes are very tender.

NOTE: If you can only find a large cabbage, use only half, or as much cabbage as preferred.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Fantastic Beef Stew with Sour Cream

I was inspired yesterday. I knew I was going to make a stew. I asked my husband what he'd like and he said "beef stew, with lots of potatoes". Okay, I could do that. I got 2 (1-pound) packages of beef stew meat from the freezer early yesterday. By 2 o'clock it was just barely thawed enough to break apart. Then I was pondering what sort of stew to make. I need to go grocery shopping. My vegetable drawer was almost empty - not something that happens often. Did i want to just follow a tried and true recipe or try something new? I looked through some recipes but nothing really called me.

Beef Stew with Sour Cream

Basic ingredients

I figured I would just start with the meat and add whatever sounded good! I started with all the vegetables left in the fridge - bell peppers and celery, and some garlic and thyme and a little parsley. I don't use celery in stew very often, but it is a good filler. I had 2 onions left and potatoes in the pantry. I thought I would use mushrooms, since I had cans of them, and frozen peas. And then I thought about the sour cream in the fridge. Okay, I had basic ingredients, and I was ready to start. I like some of the quasi-Hungarian types of goulash, though any recipe for "goulash" I have tried to make has failed to please my husband. We used to frequent a German restaurant in Orlando, which had something they called "goulash soup". It was slightly thickened, had a lot of shredded beef and potatoes, and was deep in color with an obvious tomato base of some kind. No recipe I have ever tried - and I have tried many ways to duplicate this "soup" - has ever remotely satisfied my husband's memory. Oh well.

So, that was not the goal for last night's stew. 

Steps 2 & 3: Brown meat - add to stew pot

Still, the thought of a tomato base with the sour cream at the end was sort of there in my mind. Proceeding with that idea, I browned the meat. I have a wonderfully large braising pot with a lid, and love to use it for stew. It is wide and low, so it has a lot of surface area. Somehow, stews just seem to get done nicely in that pot. I got it out and set it next to the stove. I used a large nonstick skillet to brown the onions and then the meat. I added flour after the last batch of meat was browned, for a little thickening. All that went into the braising pot once done. Adding in the celery and peppers, thyme, some salt and pepper and bay leaves, I thought of Hungarian paprika. I love paprika; it is another spice that was often used during my childhood. Once the skillet was emptied, I added water and stirred up the browned bits, then added tomato paste. I had first thought of canned petite diced tomatoes or maybe tomato sauce, but ended opting for the paste. I stirred that into the water in the skillet and poured it over the meat and vegetables in the braiser. Into the oven went the covered pot and the stew simmered for 2½ hours.

To finished the stew, I cooked cubed potatoes on top of the stove, added frozen peas to the stew straight from the oven, so they thawed nicely. Sour cream at the end was the perfect final touch. The stew was so amazingly delicious. My husband loved it, too, which makes it just that much better. Comfort food at its best.

Beef Stew with Sour Cream

Serves 6 to 8

olive oil or bacon fat for browning, as needed
2 onions, in ½-inch cubes
3 - 4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 pounds beef stew meat, in 1 1/2-inch cubes
2 green bell peppers, in cubes
3 large stalks celery, sliced

Steps 4 & 5 add flour to pan, remove to stew pot

1 large can (about 13.25 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
½ cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
1 - 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 - 2 bay leaves, depending on size
1 teaspoon sugar to round out flavor
2 - 3 teaspoons salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons flour
4 cups water
1 small can (6-ounces) tomato paste
2 pounds potatoes, peeled, about 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups frozen peas
1½ cups sour cream

Have ready a large stew pot or braising pot, with tight fitting lid. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Steps 6 & 7: Add water and tomato paste

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add in some oil or bacon fat. Add the onions and saute until they are just translucent. Add the garlic and continue to saute for another minute, until the garlic is fragrant. Remove the onions and garlic to the stew pot. Add more oil to the skillet if needed and brown the meat in 2 or 3 batches (Steps 2 & 3), taking care not to over crowd the pan or the meat will not brown properly. Brown all the meat, removing to the pot with the onions once done. With the last batch of meat (Steps 4 & 5), add in the flour and toss to completely moisten, then remove the meat to the stew pot.

Steps 8 & 9 all ingredients mixed together, ready to cook

While the onions and meat are cooking, chop the peppers and celery and add them to the stew pot, along with the mushrooms, parsley, paprika, thyme, bay leaves, sugar, salt and pepper (Step 8). Once the last batch of meat has been added to the stew pot, add some of the water to the skillet, stirring to pick up any browned bits in the pan. Add the tomato paste and stir until completely blended (Steps 6 & 7). Add this liquid to the stew pot, along with the remaining water. Set the stew pot on the stove to bring up to a bare simmer (Step 9), then cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place the pot in the oven at 300 degrees, or whatever temperature will just maintain a simmer, for about 2½ hours, until the meat is tender.

Just before the stew is done, prepare the potatoes and cook them in water to just cover, with 1 tablespoon of salt until they are tender when pierced with a knife. Drain the potatoes. Remove the stew pot from the oven. Remove lid carefully and add the cooked potatoes and the frozen peas and stir to combine. Allow the peas a few minutes to completely heat through. Stir in the sour cream, garnish with more parsley, if desired, and serve.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

A Wonderful, Any-Night Supper

Beef Ragout

Beef Stews are so comforting, and especially on these cold nights. There are so many possible ways to combine ingredients to make a stew, and this is just one more. I made this last week some time, and am just getting around to posting it. Looking at the recipe makes me want to go back and make it again.I called this Beef Ragout. Ragout is just a spiced stew of meat and vegetables. That description leaves a whole lot of leeway, and would fit most any beef stew. This one is nothing fancy, and just plain good. It has just the right amount of meat and vegetables, and a lovely flavor. It is hearty and warming and all that one wants from a dish such as this. Because the meat is marinated and then cooked in wine, the resultant sauce is very purple. This is perfectly acceptable for a stew made with wine, but to adjust the color, I used Kitchen Bouquet.

Beef Ragout

Beef Ragout

1.5 pounds beef stew meat, or chuck, in 1 – 2-inch cubes

MARINADE:
1 cup dry red wine
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 – 2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
2 whole cloves
----------
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet meat coloring
1 large can (13.25 ounces) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
½ - 1 cup water or stock
1 cup frozen peas
4 medium-small potatoes, peeled, cooked in salted water

Early in the day or the evening before, combine all the marinade ingredients in a container with a lid or a zip-top bag. Place the meat into the marinade and toss to coat well. If marinating and cooking the same day, the meat can be left on the counter.

Peas added to the cooked stew to heat through

When ready to prepare the stew, remove the meat from the marinade and place on layers of paper toweling to dry. Reserve the marinade. Preheat oven to 300, or whatever temperature will just maintain a simmer.

Have ready a large stew pot or braising pan with tight fitting lid. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the butter and olive oil with the onions. Sauté the onions, stirring until golden but not browned. Remove the onions to the stew pot, reserving any oils in the skillet.

Cooked potatoes added in

Add in half the meat cubes and brown them quickly, raising heat if necessary; remove them to the stew pot when done. Repeat with remaining meat cubes. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and onions and toss until the flour disappears. Add in the reserved marinade, Worcestershire, Kitchen Bouquet, mushrooms and water or stock to just reach about half to ⅔ up the meat. Cover the pot and set the pan in the oven for 2 to 2½ hours, or until the meat is tender.
When the stew is done, remove from oven, add in the peas and cover, allowing the peas to heat through. Add in the cooked, cubed potatoes and stir to combine.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest. 

A Wonderful, Warming Winter Stew

Carbonnades Beef Stew with Beer

I read about this stew a very long time ago. The book, no longer in print, was called Glorious Stew, by Dorothy Ivens, copyright 1969. It has been one of my favorite cookbooks since I got it as a soon-to-be new wife, way back then. The stew is supposedly Flemish in origin, and according to Ms. Ivens, the meat was meant to be cut in thin, flat pieces. Two things that made this stew stand out was the amount of onions and that it used beer as some of the cooking liquid.

I tried making the stew as Ms. Ivens suggests, but over time, some things just seemed easier to do a slightly different way. I liked the idea that the onions should be equal in weight to the meat. Onions are very sweet when cooked, and these just seem to melt down to nothing during the stewing period. I like beer, and learned to drink heartier beer while living in Guatemala, so a heartier beer is what I have always used. Ideally, a Belgian Ale would be the right beer for this stew. In Guatemala, I only had Guatemalan beer to choose from. Since living in the US again, I have used German beer over the years. Now, beers from anywhere in the world are available, so finding a Belgian Ale is not such a difficult thing to find anymore. Still, as with wine; if it is good enough to drink, then it is good enough to use for cooking.

Ingredients for Carbonnades

This recipe is found all over the internet, and is made in widely varying manners. The only thing that is consistent is the use of beer as some or all of the cooking liquid. There are enough beers available singly that even if beer is not your drink of choice, a bottle can still be acquired to use for the stew. The alcohol is cooked out completely with the long stewing process, but the flavor is just wonderful. My husband absolutely dislikes anything bitter, and never, ever drinks beer. That does not stop him from loving this stew! I generally use one normal sized bottle of beer. If needed, I may open a second and use a little more (then I drink the remainder!).

Steps 1: Bacon and Beef in Pot

For me, a stew is a one-pot meal. I might, on a rare occasion, serve a salad first, but generally, if I make a stew; that is dinner. My husband will eat bread with it, but I find a stew filling enough on its own. The stew has potatoes in it. I put the potatoes in at the beginning of the cooking period, as I do not like extra pots to clean afterwards. If you prefer potatoes that still taste and look like potatoes, peel them and cut in chunks near the time the stew is finished. Cook them in salted water until just tender and then drain and add them to the stew as it is served. If tarragon vinegar is not available, use cider vinegar and add in a half teaspoon of dried tarragon or 1 to 1½ teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon.

Carbonnades Beef Stew with Beer

Makes about 4 servings

2 pounds beef rump or chuck

Step 2: Onions and seasonings in the pot

2 - 4 slices bacon, cut across into 1/4-inch pieces
2 pounds white onions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1½ teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 teaspoons salt
a few grinds of pepper
1 - 2 cups beer; Belgian Ale preferred
4 medium potatoes, peeled, cut in chunks
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
Extra parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to about 300 degrees. The stew should be able to maintain a simmer; adjust the temperature later, accordingly.
Cut the meat into 1 to 1½-inch cubes. Set the cubes of meat on paper toweling to dry; this ensures it will brown in the pan. Have a large stew pot or braising pan with a lid ready.

Step 3; adding the beer to the pot

In a skillet, brown the bacon. Remove the bacon from the skillet with a slotted spoon and add to the stew pot. Retain the bacon grease in the skillet and add in the onions. Saute the onions until they are limp and golden colored, but not browned. Remove them to the stew pot with the slotted spoon. A few pieces at a time, brown the meat cubes. Do not crowd the pan or they will steam. Remove them to the stew pot as they are browned.


To the ingredients in the stew pot, add the

Step 4: Potatoes into the pot

sugar, 2 tablespoons parsley, bay leaf, fresh thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour in the beer and stir all the ingredients to combine. Set the stew pot on a burner and gently bring up to a simmer. Cover with the lid and set the pot in the preheated oven. Check the pot after about 45 minutes to see if it is at a simmer. If it is boiling, lower the heat; if it is not simmering, raise the heat slightly. Check again about halfway through the cooking time to make sure there is still enough cooking liquid. If it is dry, add either more beer, or supplement with beef stock or water. Cook for 2 to 2½ hours in all, or until the meat is tender.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and vinegar. Set the stew pot on top of the stove, remove the lid and set the burner on medium low. Gently stir in the tarragon and cornstarch mixture, stirring until the stew has thickened slightly. Allow the stew to continue at a simmer for about 5 minutes more, to ensure the cornstarch is completely cooked through. Garnish with more parsley before serving.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.