In My Kitchen: December 2014

Photo: crutches ready to go back into storage, hooray!

In my kitchen orderly quiet reigned during the first week of December, unusually quiet for this noisy, active cook who sings aloud, talks to herself and fills the counters with stacks of pots, bowls, cutting boards and assorted ingredients while cooking. Crutches and limited mobility might account for the diminished activity, but I'm on the mend and it is time to get busy again. Does surfing food blogs across the internet count as being productive?... mmmmm, probably not, but it did bring me to Celia's monthly event on Fig Jam and Lime Cordial where food bloggers from around the world invite you into their kitchens for a quick visit and chat. Drop by December's In My Kitchen roundup to see what's happening in these interesting kitchens this month.  

In my kitchen we have been dining on various interchangeable breakfast/dinner items like tacos, omelets and frittatas...

Photo: Egg-topped Kale and Red Pepper Taco

simple soups that enjoy a long simmer on the stovetop and freeze well... 

Photo: Hearty Tuscan Bean and Kale Soup

colorful, plated, main-dish salads loaded with healthy fruits and vegetables and a bit of protein...

Photo: Greens with chicken, feta, blueberries and pomegranate seeds with a sweet vinaigrette

and scads of fruits that double as breakfast or dessert. No new, exciting recipes this week, just familiar favorites that keep us well fed until I recharge my cooking enthusiasm. Holiday baking might be a good starting point... or maybe not. 

Wednesday's brownie baking was an interesting episode, a laughable kitchen semi-disaster. I thought brownies would be an easy dessert to share with a friend invited to join us for dinner and Seattle's annual Christmas Ship parade and caroling at Seward Park. 

Brownies are easy to make, whether from scratch or from a boxed mix, right? I went with a new-to-me box mix, eager to try out a silicone baking pan designed for mini brownies, blondies and bars. The directions on the packaged brownie mix called for lining a baking pan with parchment or foil for easy brownie removal - uh huh, I'll bet you see this one coming. I carefully cut strips of foil to fit inside each cup and extend up the sides, then sprayed each one lightly with cooking spray. This was tedious work and I quit early, leaving 4 mini cups without foil. Gold star for effort, if not for brilliance. 

The brownies looked good, smelled divine, and tested our will power as they sat cooling on a baking rack. Next they tested my patience as they clung to each square cup in the silicone baking pan. The 4 brownies without foil wrappers broke apart into large, layered chunks; tasty but not pretty. The brownies with foil stubbornly clung to both silicone and foil. It took long minutes of grumpy muttering, picking away with knife and fingernails, for the cook to separate food from foil. In the end we piled brownie bits in bowls and covered them with whipped cream for a dessert-with-a-story, a funny memory to share among friends. 

In my kitchen you will find a barely used silicone mini brownie pan looking for a new home. Would anyone like to adopt it?

Beef Bourguignon , aka Beef Stew

We woke up to a hint of snow, a skim coat of flakes barely thick enough to frost the decks, bushes and lawn but not sufficient to blanket the landscape. This wasn't the snow event predicted by TV forecasters, not a real snow like the storms hitting the central and eastern states. No, this sprinkle of snow was just a reminder of things to come.

After several days of winds and hard rain this was a welcome weather change! By afternoon the clouds cleared, the sun came out and the temperature dropped into the mid-to-high twenties. Brrrr, time to layer on some sweaters and get busy in the kitchen with some comfort food cooking... easy-prep comfort food... beef stew kind of comfort food.

Friends are coming by tomorrow for a late lunch and a round of Mexican Train. I mentally skimmed the list of our favorite cold-weather soups, chilies, gumbos and the like, searching for something that would be a delicious but casual kitchen meal, a no-fuss menu to fit a flexible schedule. Richly flavorful Beef Bourguignon sounded like a winner; a dish that actually improves in flavor if prepared a day ahead. It helped that I had all of the ingredients in stock and didn't have to go out and play with the post-Thanksgiving crowds of shoppers still clogging the shopping center parking lots. 

The rest of the menu will be simple since stew is such a substantial main dish. I'm thinking hot spiced cider and deviled eggs for a warm-up nibble as people arrive, colorful marinated grape tomatoes and mozzarella balls as a salad...

...tiny red potatoes to add to the stew, some crusty French bread to soak up every last drop of that wonderful gravy...

 ...and an apple galette for dessert as we take a break midway through the game. (not pictured: RL added a towering pile of whipped cream to each slice, and no one protested.)

That's my menu, what do you serve with your beef stew?   

Beef Bourguinon

based on a favorite recipe found in Tyler Florence's cookbook, Real Kitchen.

Yields 3 quarts, about 8 servings

1 Tbs Canola oil
2 slices bacon (not maple flavored)
4 lbs chuck roast, dried with paper towels, fat trimmed & cut into large, bite-size cubes
Salt & freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brandy (or port or marsala, etc.)
1 bottle hearty red wine (Pinot Noir, Merlot, Burgundy, etc)
1 can (14.5 oz) low-sodium beef broth
2 generous Tbs tomato paste (from a tube)
cheesecloth bag with 4" sprig rosemary, 6 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, chopped (or Gourmet Garden chunky garlic in a tube) 
2 cups pearl onions, blanched & peeled (or 1 bag frozen) 
1 pint white mushrooms, stems trimmed, large 'shrooms halved (or add some reconstituted, dried 'shrooms)
Pinch of sugar
2 Tbs unsalted butter (optional)
Gremolata garnish of freshly minced flat-leaf parsley and the zest of 1 lemon

Add the oil to a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Add the bacon strips and cook until crisp; remove to a paper towel and hold until ready to serve. Pat the beef dry again with paper towels, then add to the pot to brown in several batches. Sear the beef cubes on all sides in the bacon drippings, letting each side sit undisturbed until browned. Remove to a bowl and season each batch with salt and pepper.

Return all of the browned meat and their juices to the pot. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and stir to completely coat each cube until all of the flour is incorporated. Add the brandy and stir; loosen all of the browned bits on the bottom of the pan (there's a lot of flavor lurking there). Cook and stir to evaporate the alcohol. Add the red wine and beef broth; stir in the tomato paste; add the cheesecloth bag of herbs. Bring to a simmer and cook until the liquid begins to thicken and develops a sauce like consistency, about 12-15 minutes. Cover the pot and simmer over very low heat for 1 hour. Use a flame tamer/heat diffuser if needed to keep the pot at a low simmer instead of a hearty boil.

Uncover the pot; add the garlic, onions, mushrooms and the pinch of sugar. (The sugar will balance the acidity of the red wine.) Taste; season with salt and pepper as needed. Raise the heat slightly and simmer for another 40 minutes, or until the vegetables and the meat are tender. Remove the cheesecloth packet of herbs; stir in the butter to add a glossy finish to the sauce (optional). Sprinkle with the gremolata (minced parsley and lemon zest) and crumbled, reserved bacon just before serving.

Accompany with whole or mashed potatoes or buttered noodles, crusty bread or soft biscuits, You won't want to waste any of the delicious gravy!

Note: if you prepare the stew a day ahead, hold it in the fridge overnight and skim of the solidified grease before reheating and adding the finish of butter and gremolata.