Ina's Beef Stew

This was really really good. Forgot to add the peas at the end. Chris was not bothered by this at all.

Perfect for a lazy Sunday around the house.

INA GARTEN'S UNFORGETTABLE BEEF STEW

• 
  
• Ingredients-
• 3/4 pounds good quality beef chuck, cubed into ~ 1 ½" sized pieces
• 1/2 bottle of good red wine
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 1 cups flour 
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1 ½" chunks
• 1/2 lb potatoes cut into chunks
• 1 cup beef stock or broth
• 1 branch fresh rosemary (if you have cheesecloth wrap some around the Rosemary)
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Method-

Marinate the Beef
Place the beef in a bowl with red wine, and bay leaves.
Marinate overnight in the refrigerator
Brown the Beef
The next day, preheat the oven to 300° F
In a medium-sized bowl, add the flour, 1 Tbsp salt, and pepper, and combine
Lift the beef out of the marinade with a slotted spoon, discard the bay leaves saving the marinade.
In batches, dredge the cubes of beef in the flour mix before shaking off the excess.
Heat a glug of olive oil in a large pot and brown half the beef over medium heat for 5 - 7 minutes, turning to brown evenly.
Place the beef in a large oven-proof Dutch oven and continue to brown the remaining beef, adding oil as necessary. 

Place all the beef in the Dutch oven

Prep the Veggies
In the same large pot, heat another glug of oil before adding the onions, carrots, and potatoes.
Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally

Finish the Soup
Place all the vegetables into the Dutch oven over the beef.
Add the reserved marinade to the empty pot and cook over high heat to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon
Add the stock, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, ½ Tbsp salt, and 2 tsp pepper
Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables in the Dutch oven and bring to a simmer over medium heat on top of the stove.
Cover the pot and place it in the oven to bake it for about 2 hours, or until all of the meat and vegetables are all tender, stirring once during cooking
If the stew is boiling rather than simmering, lower the heat to 250 or 275° F.

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An Unforgettable Beef Stew

This is the second time this year I have made this stew. The recipe is an adaptation of Ina Garten's Unforgettable Beef Stew which I found on the Veggies By Candlelight blog. I also adapted that recipe to fit our tastes and to what I had in the house for ingredients.

In the blog post on Veggies by Candlelight, there are rules that the writer received from the person who gave her the recipe. They are really good and they should be followed.
Again from Veggies by Candlelight-

• You must sear the meat, not simply brown the sides. This will have to be done in batches because the beef cubes need to sizzle in a hot pan for a good five minutes before nudging them. Only when the bottoms have a dark crust and come away easily from the pan can you move on to the other sides.

• Whatever you do, please don't scrimp on the time. Stew meat takes a good long stretch of cooking before it becomes tender. Cook it low and slow for at least two hours

• Use chicken stock instead of beef. That is unless you make your own beef stock.

• For seasonings Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and good red wine.  Substituting a good dark beer for the wine is usually a great choice.  Keep the seasonings fairly simple.  If you've seared the meat well and cooked it long enough, a good stew can really stand on its own without much else.

Ingredients-
1 pound good-quality beef chuck, cubed into ~ 1 ½" sized pieces
1 1/2 cups of good red wine
2 bay leaves 
1 cup flour  
kosher salt 
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil 
1 yellow onion, chopped 
2 carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1 ½" chunks
1/2 lb small potatoes halved or quartered
1 cups beef broth
1/2 tsp chopped dried rosemary
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 
5 oz package frozen peas

Method-

The night before, or a couple of hours before you start...

Place the beef in a bowl with red wine and bay leaves.

Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Brown the Beef

The next day, preheat the oven to 300° F.

In a medium-sized bowl, add the flour,  1/2 tbsp salt, and pepper, and combine.

Lift the beef out of the marinade with a slotted spoon, discard the bay leaves, saving the marinade.

In batches, dredge the cubes of beef in the flour mix before shaking off the excess.

Heat a glug of olive oil in a large pot and brown half the beef over medium heat for 5 - 7 minutes, turning to brown evenly. See the notes above.

Place the seared beef in a bowl and continue to brown the remaining beef, adding oil as necessary. (If the beef is very lean, you'll need more oil.) 

Remove the beef and place in a bowl.

Prep the Veggies

In the Dutch oven, heat another glug of oil before adding the onions, carrots, and potatoes.

Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Add the vegetables to the bowl with the beef.

Finish the Soup

Add the reserved marinade to the empty Dutch oven and cook over high heat to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon 

Add the stock, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper. 

Add the meat and vegetables, including all the juices to the Dutch oven and bring to a simmer over medium heat on top of the stove. 

Cover the pot and place it in the oven to bake it for about 2 hours, or until all of the meat and vegetables are all tender, stirring once during cooking.

If the stew is boiling rather than simmering, lower the heat to 250 or 275° F. 

Before serving, stir in the frozen peas, season to taste, and serve hot.

Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken

Finally making this recipe from the Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa Foolproof cookbook. Chris gave this to me for Christmas and I have been wanting to make this. This was really good. The coating was crispy but the meat was very moist.

The original recipe can be found at this link - Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken.

Here is my version of the recipe. I cut the amounts in 1/2 and still have leftovers.

Ingredients-
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves, I used dried thymecKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 cups panko (Japanese bread flakes)
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, such as Grey Poupon
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breast and 2 chicken thighs

Method-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl mix thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper with the panko, lemon zest, olive oil, and butter to moisten the bread flakes. 

In a shallow bowl, whisk together the mustard and wine.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Sprinkle generously all over with salt and pepper. Dip each piece in the mustard mixture to coat on all sides, and then place skin-side down only into the crumb mixture, pressing gently to make the crumbs adhere. Place the chicken on a sheet pan crumb-side up. Press the remaining crumbs on the chicken pieces.

Bake the chicken for 50 minutes, until the crumbs are browned and the chicken is cooked through. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Thank You Ina

How not to overcook anything. Just the facts. From Ina Garten. Great article on Yahoo Lifestyle. Click here for the whole article.

Baking

For baking, the tests are fairly straightforward and the same for almost all cakes. First, lightly press the rounded top of the cake. Does your finger make a mark or does the cake bounce back? If it bounces back, it’s probably done. Next, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean or with just a crumb or two attached, the cake is done. If you’re testing a cake that has ingredients like chocolate in the batter, you should test the cake in several places; if you hit a puddle of molten chocolate your skewer might come out wet even when the cake is done.

Meat

Testing meat is a little more complicated because its temperature will continue to rise during the resting period, as much as 5 to 10 degrees, depending on the size of the piece of meat. (Larger roasts like standing rib roasts hold more heat and will continue to cook longer.) To make sure the meat doesn’t go past the target temperature after it rests, you need to take it out of the oven (or off the grill) a little before it’s done. That’s why in my recipes the recommended internal temperatures indicate the temperature you want before the meat rests under foil. 

It’s important to note that guidelines for cooking meat have changed in recent years. At one-time people were afraid that rare or undercooked meat might carry diseases, particularly pork, which was associated with trichinosis. To ensure safety it had to be cooked to 180°F, which resulted in overcooked, dry meat. Now that trichinosis is no longer a danger, I cook pork to 137 or 140°F and it comes out rosy, moist, and delicious.

Beef: 125 to 130°F for medium rare

Chicken: 140 to 145°F for chicken breasts / 155 to 160°F for thighs or whole chickens

Pork: 137 to 140°F for medium rare

Lamb: 125°F for medium rare

Duck: 120°F for rare

Seafood

Seafood is generally judged for doneness by a visual test. Cooked fish will flake easily with a fork when it’s done, and shrimp will be just firm and pink. The exception is lobster, which should reach 140°F when tested in the tail with an instant-read thermometer.

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

A nice salad for a Monday night. This recipe is from Ina Garten's book, The Barefoot Contessa. This will be lunch for a number of days this week! The butternut squash was from Lenore and Ralph's garden.

Ingredients-
1 (1 ½-pound) butternut squash, peeled and 3/4-inch diced
Good olive oil
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dried cranberries
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 ounces baby arugula, washed and spun dry
1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method-
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the squash on a sheet pan. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the maple syrup, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and toss. Roast the squash for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until tender. Add the cranberries to the pan for the last 5 minutes.

While the squash is roasting, combine the apple cider, vinegar, and shallots in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the cider is reduced to about ¼ cup. Off the heat, whisk in the mustard, ½ cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.


Place the arugula in a large salad bowl and add the roasted squash mixture, the walnuts, and the grated Parmesan. Spoon just enough vinaigrette over the salad to moisten, and toss well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately.