Beef Stew

So, to christen our Le Creuset newly acquired this week, Mr. Lost in Translation whipped up this gorgeous beef stew. It's nearly fool-proof and has such a rich, earthy taste to it. We used homemade stock I made and froze a few weeks ago, and I think it does make a difference but canned will do of course, too. Yukon golds are creamier and seem to make for a nicer texture (I'm not a huge Russets fan, though). Please please please use fresh green beans.

Mmmmmm . . .

Ingredients
2 pounds beef chuck for stew, cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
4 medium carrots, peeled, halved and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 small onions, diced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans reduced-sodium beef or chicken broth
2 cups dry red wine
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 handfuls green beans, ends trimmed
Directions
Season the beef cubes lightly with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy 6-quart pot over medium heat. As soon as the butter starts to turn brown, add half the beef and raise the heat to high. At first, the beef will give off some liquid, but once that evaporates, the beef will start to brown. Cook, turning the beef cubes on all sides until the pieces are as evenly browned as possible, about 5 or 6 minutes after the water has boiled off. If the pan starts to get too brown at any point, just turn down the heat a little. Scoop the beef into a bowl and brown the rest of the beef the same way using the remaining butter.

Scoop out the second batch of beef, then add the carrots and onions and raise the heat to medium-high. Cook until the onion starts to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour until it has been worked into the veggies and you can’t see it any more. Pour in the chicken broth, wine, and crushed tomatoes, and toss in the rosemary. Slide the beef back into the pot and bring the liquid to a boil.

Turn down the heat so the liquid is just breaking a gentle simmer. Partially cover the pot and cook 50 minutes. Stir the stew several times while simmering so it cooks evenly and nothing sticks to the bottom.

Stir the potatoes into the stew, cover the pot completely, and cook until the potatoes and beef are tender, stirring occasionally, about another 45 minutes. Add the beans and cook for another 5 minutes until the green beans turn bright green and are cooked through but still have a nice snap to them.

Watermelon Cooler

Here I am, after a long, long absence. I can't say that this will be a regular occurrence, but I can definitely promise that whatever I put up here, will be well worth trying. I only eat and drink of the most delicious things. Yeah...:)

Watermelon Cooler

4 c. seedless watermelon (cut into big chunks)
1 1/2 c. lemonade

Mix together in blender till smooth. Serve with ice.

This is truly one of the most refreshing summertime drinks of all time. I found the recipe from Real Simple magazine. You can drop fresh mint leaves in it for extra zing if you like. But it is just as amazing without it. Enjoy!

Tomato Feta Basil Pasta Salad

I have long associated pasta salads with the soggy, mayo drenched affairs seen at church barbecues. Furthermore, I never understood the reasoning behind cold pasta. Why have pasta cold when it is so very delicious hot?

This was before I moved to a place with no air conditioning. Yesterday it was 88 degrees in my house, and there was no way in this apt simulation of hell that I was going to turn on the stove, oven, toaster or any heat-emitting device. In the middle of the night, when with all the windows open and fans blasting the house had chilled to a comfortable 75 degrees, I mass produced cooked pasta, meat, and rice so today I could pull them out of the fridge to make oddities such as pasta salad.

Steering clear of mayo, I made this baby with stuff I had laying around. It's fresh and light and totally fulfilling. Give it a try!

3/4 lb cooked whole wheat penne pasta, cooled (DO NOT over cook--if refrigerating overnight, knock a couple minutes off the cook time)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 C feta cheese, crumbled (or to taste)
1/2 C sun dried tomatoes in oil (thank you, Costco)
Big bunch of basil, sliced in to ribbons (thank you, garden)
1 TBS good olive oil
1 TBS good balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Toss ingredients together and serve.

Chicken Avocado Sandwich

This was really simple to throw together, but it tasted so good I figured it would be unfair not to share. It involved a lot of easy ingredients from Costco, and we were starving and this was ready in about seven minutes because I used a Costco rotisserie chicken and their demi-baguettes sliced in half lengthwise. YUM.

Ingredients:

Any bread, but the demi-baguettes were perfect individual portions

Butter (or I used Brummel & Brown yogurt spread)

Pepper jack cheese

Avocado, mashed up

I put in a few drops of white truffle-infused balsamic vinegar (available at Caputo's . . . one of those "special" ingredients that can transform food)

Splash of sherry vinegar

Two pinches of kosher salt

One artichoke heart per sandwich, torn into pieces

Shredded chicken breast

Directions:

1) Set oven to broil.

2) Slice bread (lengthwise if a demi-baguette or ciabatini)

3) Butter and lay slices of pepper jack cheese as desired.

4) Broil for 3 minutes.

5) Layer on shredded chicken breast, avocado spread, and artichoke heart. Eat and enjoy!

Vegetarian Lasagna

If anybody has an obscene amount of time and wants delicious and vegetable-laden "lasagna," then I have the recipe for you! It involves a great deal of chopping and some careful knife-work to craft "noodles" out of zucchini by slicing them into long, 1/4 in. thick strips. I think a mandolin slicer would have been invaluable to reduce prep-time. It ended up being more casserole-like since the zucchini cooks down, too, but very yummy.

MARINARA:
[NOTE: I ended up making my own (below) and the recipe I used ended up taking quite awhile to cook down. The flavor was great, but I might not do this step in the future and just use a store-prepared sauce for vegetarian lasagna.]
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 med. yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
15-20 Kalamata olives, pitted and pureed in a food processor
4 large fresh tomatoes, deseeded and cut into eighths
2 14-oz cans plums tomatoes, drained
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, finely chopped
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions: Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, and chili and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add olives and fresh tomatoes and cook it a couple of minutes more before adding the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 10 minutes, lower the heat and let it simmer for half an hour more under a lid. Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender.

ROASTED VEGETABLES:
5 large zucchini, sliced into long, 1/4 in. thick strips as "noodles"
1 eggplant, peeled chopped into 1/4 in. cubes
1 yellow squash, thinly sliced
1 package button mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch fresh kale, roughly chopped
Sprinkle all with a bit of kosher salt

Directions: I grilled the veggies in a grill pan with a bit of olive oil for about 10 minutes to reduce the water in the veggies and make cooking time reasonable. You want the veggies softened but not goopy as they will continue to cook in pan. I did the zucchini separately and set it aside, and then did all the rest of the veggies together and threw them in a bowl together.

LEMON RICOTTA:
500 g. (roughly 2 c.) ricotta
1 lemon, zested and juice
1 egg
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese
1 tsp. kosher salt

Handful chopped basil

Directions: Zest and juice lemon into the ricotta. Mix in other ingredients.

ASSEMBLY DIRECTIONS:
1) Put a light layer of sauce in the bottom of a greased 9X13 baking pan.
2) Line the pan with zucchini strips. Cover in more sauce.
3) Layer on roasted veggies until the pan is about 1/2-2/3 full (mine only ended up having one layer each of veggies and ricotta)
4) Schmear on ricotta layer
5) Place another layer of zucchini strips. Pour more sauce on top and cover in mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
6) Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Turn on broiler and cook for another 3-4 minutes to get cheese brown and bubbling.
7) Serve warm. It doesn't slice really well, so I just took a big serving spoon and globbed out big servings. Yum!