Stew and Casserole

Yesterday was our day for Beef Stew cooked in the pressure cooker. Today was the Chicken Boudine. Neither were one of those "stand up and shout it" recipes, but both were filling, and most importantly very comforting foods. Both recipes made a lot of servings, so we'll probably be eating on both for a few days. I know the beef stew tastes even better the second day, I guess I'll find out tomorrow about the Boudine.

Update: The Boudine held up pretty well into the next day. If you want to know the truth of the matter, it was actually tastier on the 2nd day. The sharp cheddar seemed to be more married through the cream of mushroom base. I think if I made this again, I'd probably make it a day in advance and re-heat on the day I wanted to eat.

Try it! You might like it...or maybe you'll order pizza.

Not so spicy spiced beef

Like most of the eastern half of America, it's snowing here. We've managed to accumulate a few inches, but I don't think it's going to be anything drastic. On cold days like this, it's great to relax at home with some great spicy foods, or a warm bowl of soup. Today's spiced beef just didn't hit the mark for spiciness, but it was a very hearty meal. The pilaf was pretty good, though I think it could do without the celery. Both are interesting, and I think that they could be slightly tweaked to be made better.


Spiced Beef and Asparagus Stir-Fry
Taken from the Atkins for Life kit.

2 shell or strip steaks 1 inch thick
24 asparagus spears, trimmed
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
24 cherry tomatoes

Marinade:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespooon grated fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove, grated
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 1/2 teaspoons preserves (apricot or orange are good)
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon chinese five-spice powder
4 teaspoons canola oil

1. Remove fat from edges of steaks, cut crosswise into thin strips
2. Combine all marinade ingredients in a bag or dish. Add beef and toss to coat. Allow to marinate for one to 4 hours.
3. In nonstick skillet or wok, heat 1 teaspoon of oil over high heat. Add 1/3 of beef at a time and coook till no longer pink. Move to bowl and cook other two portions of beef.
4. Add another teaspoon of oil to skillet and toss in asparagus and sesame seeds. Stir fry for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes to heat through. Pour beef and juices back into pan and stir all ingredients together.

Brown Rice Pilaf
Taken from the Atkins for Life kit.

6 tablespoons of butter, divided
1/2 cup brown rice
1 cup, 2 tablespoons water
4 stalks celery, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt, divided
20 oz white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/4 teaspons black pepper
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1. In small saucepan melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add rice and celery and cook for 5 minutes until rice betins to brown slightly. Add 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook till all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. In large skillet, melt remaining butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and remaining salt. Cook until mushrooms turn brown and all liquid has evaporated. Dump mushrooms in with rice.
3. In skillet over medium heat, toast walnuts for 4 minutes until golden.
4. Add walnuts in with rice and mushrooms. Stir to combine.

The only change I would suggest making to the pilaf is cutting the amount of the celery. I personally only like using celery as a spice, not a main ingredient. It makes a great mirepoix, but isn't really good for much else in my book. For the beef, I think I'll make it next time with broccoli or some other green veggie. The asparagus didn't seem to cook through as much as I would have wanted. I love asparagus, but its flavour seemed to overpower the sesame and ginger flavours. I'll also add something to the marinade to give it some more heat. Maybe some red pepper flake, or a dash of ground red pepper.

Try it! You might like it...or maybe you'll order pizza!

Stop loafing and eat your meat.

I realized yesterday as I was doing some prep work for today that I had completely thrown off all of the side-dishes that I had planned for the week. Due to my rotation, I was left with the ingredients for rice pilaf to accompany the meatloaf. Rice and meatloaf? I think not. So I opted for the quick cheat tonight and put some fake-mashed potatoes and green beans as the side. The rice pilaf will have to wait for tomorrow and the spiced beef and asparagus stir fry.

Tonight's meatloaf also came from the Atkins for Life recipe box. (I promise in the future I'll expand the recipe genre and cook other things!) It's called "Not your Mama's Meat Loaf", and I'd agree with that. I wasn't really feeling the flavor tonight, though Staci said that she thought it was great. I don't normally make my meatloaf with much more than regular hamburger, so the addition of pork and veal was nice for a change, but not really my cup of tea.



Not Your Mama's Meat Loaf
1 red bell pepper halved and seeded
1 plum tomato halved
1 cup bread crumbs
2 lbs meat loaf mix (beef, pork and veal)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large egg
2 tablespoons coarse-grain mustard
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 large garlic clove
1 teaspoon salt

1. In oven, broil pepper and tomato, cut sides down on large foil covered pan for 8 to 10 minutes until skin is charred and vegetables are tender.
2. Wrap foil around vegetables and let stand to cool. Remove and discard skin.
3. Puree the pepper and tomato in processor till smooth.
4. In large bowl combine all remaining ingredients, reserving ahlf the pepper and tomato puree.
5. Form a 9X4 loaf on an open pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until done. Pour remaining puree on top of meatloaf and bake for an additional 10 minutes.


If I try this recipe again, I'll probably get a better mustard, and use less of the puree. I'm waiting to see if the meatloaf gets better as it cools; I'm hoping for a great meatloaf sandwich!

On a side note, I found an interesting article posted today by NPR about eating more whole grains. It's a pretty nice read with some great information on lesser-known grains that should be more frequently used. I've bookmarked the page, and am excited to try out some of the recipes that they've posted. As soon as I try some, I'll give a review here.

Try it! You might like it...or maybe you'll order pizza.

Barley Soup for the Soul

There are days, and then there are d.a.y.s.! Soup is always one of those comfort foods that is easy to fix, and does a body good. Unfortunately with a lot of canned soups the salt content is through the roof, and if you ask me, they lack the flavour that home-cooked soups can give.

Today was just that kind of soup, and it was...meatless! (Insert gasps here.)It was a rich and hearty Barley Vegetable soup with kale as the surprise ingredient. Interesting, to say the least. I will give a word of warning, kale is apparently the Disney World of slug-town. Make sure that if you buy kale you inspect every leaf, as the little slimy boogers will show up just about anywhere. The first three groups of kale in the grocery were covered with slugs. Luckily the bundle I brought home didn't have anything on them.

For fear of the soup not being filling enough, I will admit that I cooked some beef tips on the side in case they were needed. After trying the soup, it was actually very filling, and for lack of a better word, meaty, even without the meat. I also changed up the Atkins for Life recipe and used beef broth rather than chicken broth. It made the soup seem more hearty.



Barley Vegetable Soup

1/2 cup raw pearl barley
1 tablespoon of butter
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup diced tomato
2 cups chopped kale

1. In small sauce pan bring 1 1/2 cups water to boil. Add barley, reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
2. In soup pot, melt butter and cook mushrooms and onion until slightly browned and tender.
3. Add garlic to soup pot and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
4. To soup pot, add all of the remaining ingredients (except for kale). Bring broth to a rolling boil and reduce to low. Cook for 15 minutes for flavours to mix.
5. Add kale and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

If you're looking for something quick and hearty, this soup is a great addition to your food rotation. I definitely want to try this recipe again using different stocks (chicken, vegetable) to see how it changes the overall flavour.

Try it! You might like it...or maybe you'll order pizza.