Beef Stew

This may be only the second time beef has made an appearance on this blog! But with the cold weather comes the need for comfort food - or I was just really low in iron that day. Whatever the reason, we passed by the stewing beef in the grocery store and immediately decided to make a stew for supper - it was a Sunday afternoon, after all. While we usually do a lot of cooking with beer, this time we followed the classic recipe from the Joy of Cooking. Don't mess with the classics.

One big change at the get-go: we only bought 1 lb of stewing beef, half of what was called for in the recipe. So it wasn't going to be as beefy as usual. First we seasoned the beef (already cubed) with thyme, salt and pepper, then dredged it in flour. Shaking off the excess flour, we browned all sides of the pieces in our Dutch oven in some veg oil. We even did it in two batches so as not to crowd the pan - patience is key. After removing the beef and adding more oil in the pan, it was time for the first batch of veggies: 2 diced carrots, 1 diced celery stalk, 1 diced onion and 3 diced garlic cloves.

Cook the veggies for about 5 minutes, then throw in a couple bay leaves and some thyme. We added 1 cup red wine and 1 cup chicken stock and threw the beef back in. We left it simmering, covered, for about 1.5 hrs - to get the house smelling good, of course! Once the beef is tender, it's time to throw in the chunky vegetables: we had 2 carrots, 5 turnips and 4 small white potatoes. Cover and cook again about 45 minutes - we added extra wine to have enough liquid to cook all of our veggies.

And that's it! It takes time, but it's a fun activity to do if you've got a free afternoon - especially when you're drinking the wine you're cooking with. It's classic and homey and perfect for wintery days.

Spicy Mint Beef

Guys, this recipe was a rare one for me. Actual meat! I usually avoid cooking it, keeping my meat-eating to a minimum and mostly just at restaurants. But I had just bought some fish sauce for the first time (surprising, given the amount of thai food I eat) and I was flipping through the Food Network mag and this recipe sounded really good - especially with the mint and basil, yum. So I give you Giada de Laurentiis' Spicy Mint Beef. Made with real beef.

Of course, this special meat-buying occasion meant I wanted something good - so I went with Rowe Farms, all organic etc. Might as well splurge on the fancy stuff. First into a large pan was 4 minced garlic cloves and 2-3 minced thai chiles. Now, I wasn't sure what 'thai chiles' were, the shop had tiny red ones and jalapeno-length red ones. I went with the larger ones, they weren't that spicy, so I assume the smaller ones are hotter. Cook those about 1 minute. I cut about one pound of steak intro strips and fried those for two minutes to mostly cook them. This recipe comes together very quickly - but there's a lot of chopping to do first.

Next I threw in 1 chopped green pepper and 3 sliced shallots, and cooked 1 minute. I mixed the sauce in a small bowl: 1/4 cup fish sauce, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup honey (the soy sauce and honey replaced her original ingredients - 2 Tbsp each sweet soy sauce and black soy sauce. It was printed in the magazine so I went with it), and 2 Tbsp Chinese chili-garlic sauce (what I had, though she calls for chili paste in oil). Add sauce to pan, bring to a boil and cook about 2-3 minutes so everything is nice and cooked and saucy. Remove from heat, stir in 1 cup basil leaves and 1 cup mint leaves.

I served it on brown rice. And you know what? It was fabulous! Amazing! Super salty but in a delicious way. I needed ice cream afterwards. It tasted like a restaurant dish. The fish sauce, man, it makes all the difference. I even made it again the next night with tofu and ... still awesome. The mix of salty, spicy, sweet, the umami of the fish sauce (which smells terrible in the bottle, but obviously works!), the mint and basil, it all combined into loveliness. We gobbled it up. Maybe a little less soy sauce/fish sauce next time, though. Not a low-sodium dinner, but the perfect way to show off my thai skillz.