Guinness Beef Stew

If I had a pub this is totally the type of dish I'd serve as cold weather pub grub. Hearty beef stew cooked in Guinness over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes. It would be especially good if you could eat it in front of a roaring fire with a nice pint of beer to wash it all down.

The stew is cooked all day in a crock pot which makes for little hands on time. I choose to sear my meat before adding it to the crock pot. I know it adds a little more prep time & an extra pot to clean but, I find I like the texture of the meat better after this step & the flour in this step helps thicken the stew a little.

Guinness Beef Stew

1 T olive oil
1 lb stew beef
1/4 c flour
salt & pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) Guinness
2 carrots, cut into 1 - 2 inches pieces
2 parsnips, cut into 1 - 2 inch pieces
1 large leek, white & light green parts sliced

1 t dried thyme

1/2 t dried marjoram

1 bay leaf

10 crimini mushrooms, cut in half

mashed potatoes (I made mine out of red skin potatoes & kept the skins on)

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Put the stew beef in a plastic bag, add the flour & some salt & pepper then shake to coat the beef. Cook the beef in the hot skillet until brown on all sides. Move the beef to a crock pot. Pour about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the Guinness into the hot skillet & bring to a boil to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour over the beef in the crock pot.

Add the carrots, parsnips and leeks to the crock pot. Add the remaining Guinness, thyme, marjoram & bay leaf. Cover & turn the crock pot to low. Let cook 5 - 6 hours until the vegetables are tender & the meat is falling apart. Add the mushrooms & cook for 1 more hour. (If you feel the stew is a little thin, turn the crock pot to high & remove the lid for the last hour, this will help reduce it). Check for seasoning & add salt & pepper to taste.

Serve the stew over hot mashed potatoes.

Serves 3 - 4

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

Turkey Chili

Chili is really one of our cold weather food staples. We often make a big pot for dinner on the weekend & then eat leftovers for lunch the rest of the week.

The wonderful thing about chili is you really can play with whatever ingredients you have on hand. This one was made from some left over turkey meat we had in the freezer. We keep lots of different kinds of dried beans in our pantry & like to mix two together for color & taste (for this chili we used navy beans & Rancho Gordo Vaqueros, a favorite of ours for chili). We use our own canned tomatoes in this chili but love to use the Muir Glen Fired Roasted Tomatoes as well. Another favorite ingredient in our chili is beer, it just gives it that added something. This is another flavor you can really alter by using different types of beer from light to dark (We really like Sessions Black for making chili.).

Topping can be whatever you like but my favorite is just a dollop of plain non-fat yogurt. It has less calories that sour cream but adds the same creaminess & tang (it also helps me cool things down when Matt adds a little too much spice to the chili for me!).

Turkey Chili

1 c dried beans
1 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
6 small or 3 large jalapenos, seeded & chopped
2 red bell peppers
1 1/2 t ground cumin
1 1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t chili powder
2 c cooked turkey or chicken meat, shredded or chopped
14 1/2 oz crushed tomatoes
12 oz beer (we used a pale ale)
1/4 c tomato paste
salt

Put the beans & 3 cups water in a large pot & bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Turn off heat, cover & let sit for one hour. Turn heat back on & bring to a simmer. Let simmer covered for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. You want the beans to be tender but not mushy.

In a large soup pot heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions & cooked until tender & translucent. Add jalapenos, peppers, cumin, oregano and chili powder. Cook while stirring for about 3 minutes. Stir in the turkey. Add the beer, tomatoes & beans. Cover, turn heat down to a simmer. Let simmer for at least 1/2 hour to let spices blend. (We let ours simmer for 3 hours.)

5 - 6 servings

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

Foodbuzz Festival

No weekly menu from us this week as we are in San Francisco. This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Foodbuzz Festival out here. Two-hundred and fifty food bloggers getting to try lots of food & drinks for two days, what could be more fun?! Here's some photo highlights....

Friday night started with a meet & greet cocktail party of the roof of the Hotel Vitale overlooking the Bay & the SF Ferry Building. That's me with Lori from Fake Food Free who's just returned from adventures in Southeast Asia.

Then it was off to the Ferry Building where SF's many street food vendors feed us an outdoor dinner. Oysters, pork sandwiches, handheld pies, yummy tacos, raw cheesecake, cupcakes, pizza....

Saturday morning treated us to a beautiful sunrise over the Bay Bridge & a perfect morning for breakfast & shopping at the Ferry Building Farmers' Market. A stop at Baccalone for tasty salted pig parts is required (I had to have that t-shirt & some lard soap.) We can't resist the beans, hominy & quinoa from Rancho Gordo & are taking home 11 pounds of it! (Thanks for the shopping bag & all the bean info Jesse.)

Then came one of the highlights of the weekend for me, a cheese tasting with Sue, one of the founders of Cowgirl Creamery. We got to taste favorites like Mt. Tam but also the new Inverness Cheese & the upcoming hard cheese to be called, Wagon Wheel. What we tasted was just called batch 11. Sue is just full of information on artisan cheese making, it was wonderful!.

Then is was off to the Metreon City View for the Tasting Pavilion which featured 50 food & drink vendors with plenty for us to try. I was thrilled to see Aunt Else's Aebleskiver there from Minneapolis. The afternoon was capped off with a tasting of California sparkling wines. What a view for sipping some bubbly.

Dinner Saturday night was a family style affair for 250 in the Greenleaf produce warehouse. Dinner was brought to us by Outstanding in the Field with Randall Grahm from Bonny Doon pouring the wines! It was so fun to see this giant table woven throughout an industrial space with crates of produce everywhere. The food was great & the conversation with so many food bloggers a blast. I'm so lucky I was able to make the trip out here & have such a wonderful experience. Thanks Foodbuzz.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

What we did with CSA box #13 and what's in box #14

1. Guinness Beef Stew 2. Pizza Bianca with Leeks & Prosciutto 3. Hearty Lentil Soup 4. Asian Stuffed Peppers 5. Peppery Olive Oil & Sweet Potato Bread 6. Lamb Patties with Fennel Tzatziki & Spinach Couscous 7. Sweet Potato Ravioli with Spinach in Cream Sauce 8. Roast Chicken with Potatos, Carrots, Parsnips, Brussel Sprouts & Fennel 9. Pork Chops with baked Squash & sautéed Kale

What's in box #14


Spinach - It think its time for some spinach lasagna

Celeriac - I want to find a better soup recipe than the last celeriac one we made, it was a little too celeryish

Festival Squash - We really like this squash best just roasted with some butter

Sweet Potato - So many possibilities

Garlic

Onions

Beauty Heart Radish - I wonder how these taste roasted

White Turnip - I'll add to other roasted vegetables or into a soup

Carrots

Kabocha Squash - This is really the best way to use this

Escarole - Apparently this is very good sautéed as a side dish

Collards - This will get used in soups & stews like we use kale & chard

Leaf Lettuce

There was also a bag of salad greens but since we are heading out of town I left them for someone else to enjoy.

Find more ideas on using your CSA box at Cooking Away My CSA

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

8 Weeks of Cookies - Chocolate Chunk and Hazelnut Biscotti

It's that time of year again...time to start the holiday baking! Last year I baked a batch of cookies for each of the eight weeks leading up to Christmas. It was a really good way for me to have a nice varied cookie tray yet not feel overwhelmed with making a lot of cookies at one time.

My first batch, on Matt's request, are these chocolate & hazelnut biscotti. Now, biscotti aren't something I normally associate with Christmas but when I think of how good these will taste with a hot cocoa or even some hot spiced wine it makes total sense.

Chocolate Chunk & Hazelnut Biscotti
(adapted from Biscotti)

3/4 c hazelnuts
1/2 c unsalted butter, at room temp.
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
2 T rum or rum extract
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
2 c all-purpose flour
4 oz bittersweet chocolate or mix of bitter & semi-sweet, roughly chopped (don't chop the chocolate too small or you'll just end up with chocolate biscotti)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place the nuts in a roasting pan & roast in the oven for 9 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the oven & let cool a little. Rub off the skins the best you can with your fingers or in a towel. Chop finely in a food processor.

Turn oven down to 325 F.

In a large bowl beat the butter & sugar until fluffy. Add eggs & rum then beat until well blended. Mix in the salt, baking powder & flour. Fold in the nuts & chocolate.

Divide the dough into two piece. Form it into two logs, about 14-inch long and 1/2-in thick on a greased & floured cookie sheet, leaving about 2 inches between the logs. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until starting to brown. Let cool 5 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch slices. Place cut side down on the cookie sheet & bake for 10 - 15 minutes more. Cool on a rack.

I got about 40 cookies

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8 Weeks of Cookies 2008 (somehow I ended up with 9 weeks)

Anise Mandelbrot

Candy Cane Cookies

Apricot Foldover Cookies
Swedish Peppernut Cookies

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Pfeffernusse & Chocolate Covered Pfeffernusse
Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

Sacher Bites

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski