Beef Stew and Some Special Rolls

Don't you just love the fall, it gives us all a good excuse to make that comfort food we have wanted since summer.  There's something about eating comfort food when the weather cools down, it........it just goes together like apple pie and ice cream, and baseball  and hot dogs.  That's why on this cold rainy Saturday I decided to make some beef stew. 

Everyone has their own recipe for beef stew and they think it's better than anyone else's, kind of like chili recipes.  Mine is no different than others I start with the basics of beef stew, beef, potatoes, carrots, onions.  I do add on item, taught to me by my grandpa, one or sometimes two whole yellow onions.  Do you see it in the photo to the right?  Swimming lazily in a sea of gravy. 

 

The other reason for making beef stew?  I get a chance to try Big Sis's Rosemary Rolls.  Of course I got to give the real credit to the blog she got the recipe from and that is Pioneer Woman web site.  If you want to see "real" photos of these rolls I suggest you visit both of their blogs because both are much better at picture taking then I am, but I manage to get by.

Hard to beat beef stew and homemade rolls on a cool, rainy Saturday afternoon while football games are on the T.V.

And look that onion is still enjoying life in gravy......but not for long.

Chicken, Shrimp and Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Sorry no Wednesday night leftover episode tonight due to there is only so much you can do with Shepherds Pie. But just so you don't get to bored I went and found this little episode from my previous blog. I guess if you want you can call this a rerun.

I love the fall and fall cooking. It is a time of year when on a chilly fall Sunday afternoon, football games are on in the background, Lions getting their ass kicked, you can put the dutch oven on the stove and let it brew up a Sunday Dinner all afternoon. This week is a good example of a meal for that chilly day. What is it? Let's take a look.



Now do you know what it is? It's GUMMMMMMMBOOOOOOO time. I love my gumbo there are so many different ways to cook it. You can put ham in it, turkey in it, chicken, shrimp, crab, sausage, okra, or just about anything else you can think of. For this week I chose chicken, shrimp and sausage, just take a look at this weeks cast of characters.



Once again can you tell what ingredients I forgot? Well if you can stayed tuned long enough the answers are down below.

Gumbos are pretty simple to make, really. The hardest part is making the roux and if you follow Alton Brown's way even roux is pretty simple. The traditional way of making roux is to use equal parts oil and flour and stir with a wooden spoon over medium low heat for an eternity. As Emeril says it takes two beers. In other words as long as it takes the average person to drink two beers is how long you need to stand by the stove and stir. There is a better or simpler way however. There might be some gumbo purest out there who will disagree but for me this is a no fail way to make roux. There is nothing more annoying than to stir roux for 20 minutes or more and end up burning it in the end. But no fear there is the Alton Brown method of making roux. First preheat the oven to 350 degrees. stir up equal parts of oil and flour, stick it in the oven for 1-1/2 hours and give it a stir every 20 minutes or so. In 1-1/2 hours this is what it will look like.



Almost perfect every time.

Once the roux is made put it back on the stove over medium low heat or so and add the chopped up veggies.



I'll admit once again I don't remember if this is a trinity or mirepoix. Does it really matter? Nope.

Cook those veggies for a few minutes and dump in the meat. In this case boneless skinless chicken thighs and andouille sausage. I should mention that I browned the chicken thighs and sausage in the dutch oven before I cooked the roux. Mix everything together, add the seasonings, in this case bay leaves and fresh thyme.

Now it is time to add some stock. My choice is shrimp stock. You can use chicken broth you buy from the store or make your own but since I had a bag full of shrimp shells saved in the freezer I decided to use shrimp stock. Shrimp stock is easy to make just dump the shells in some water and let simmer for a hour to a hour and a half.

Don't forget when you are about a 1/2 hour from the end to make some rice.



Ahhh good eye if you said there is one of the forgotten ingredients.

Let all this goodness simmer on the stove for an hour and a half or so and then add the shrimp.



Don't forget don't let that shrimp cook to long or you will over cook it. Once the shrimp is cooked here is what it will look like.



Now it's time to add this stuff.



Oh another good eye if you said this ingredient is missing from the above photo too. Do you know what File' Powder is though? I will let everyone guess or google it and leave your answer in the comment section.

Right now it is time to take a look at the finished product though.



Mmmmmm good. I will rate it a 4.75 out of 5 forks. I made better gumbo the last time I made it so I can't rate this one as high.

If you have never made gumbo don't be afraid to try. Follow the instructions above for making roux and after that it is as easy as making microwave popcorn.

That was a pretty good rerun I may have to make some gumbo this weekend.

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo with White Rice
Clcik here for a printable version of this recipe.

Prep Time:
30 min
Inactive Prep Time:
0 min
Cook Time:
3 hr 30 min

Level:
Intermediate

Serves:
6 to 7 cups, 6 to 8 servings

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 pound smoked sausage, such as andouille or kielbasa, cut crosswise 1/2-inch thick pieces
4 pounds chicken thighs, skin removed
1 tablespoon Essence or Creole seasoning, recipe follows
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped bell peppers
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
3 bay leaves
9 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
1 tablespoon file powder
White Rice, recipe follows
Hot sauce

In a large enameled cast iron Dutch oven or large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until well browned, about 8 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Season the chicken with the Essence and add in batches to the fat remaining in the pan. Cook over medium-high heat until well browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan, let cool, and then refrigerate until ready to use.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup oil and the flour in the same Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook, stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, to make a dark brown roux, the color of chocolate.

Add the onions, celery, and bell peppers and cook, stirring, until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the reserved sausage, salt, cayenne, and bay leaves, stir, and cook for 2 minutes. Stirring, slowly add the chicken stock, and cook, stirring, until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

Add the reserved chicken to the pot and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface.

Remove the pot from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken thighs from the gumbo and place on a cutting board to cool slightly. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Pull the chicken meat from the bones and shred, discarding the bones and skin. Return the meat to the gumbo and stir in the green onions, parsley, and file powder.

Spoon rice into the bottom of deep bowls or large cups and ladle the gumbo on top. Serve, passing hot sauce on the side.

Shepherds Pie

Shepherds pie, what is it exactly?  Here is the answer I got from Wikipedia.

"Cottage pie, also known as shepherd's pie, refers to an English meat pie with a crust made from mashed potato and beef.  The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791 when potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor (cf. "cottage" meaning a modest dwelling for rural workers). 

"In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.  The term "shepherd's pie" did not appear until the 1870s, and since then it has been used synonymously with "cottage pie", regardless of whether the principal ingredient was beef or mutton.  There is now a popular tendency for "shepherd's pie" to be used when the meat is mutton or lamb with the suggested origin being that shepherds are concerned with sheep and not cattle, however this may be an example of folk etymology."

What the heck does etymology mean?  Whatever it means now you know more than you ever wanted to about Shepherds Pie. 

I was watching my boy Alton Brown from Good Eats fame on the Food Network awhile back and he made Shepherds Pie.  I was a little curious since it is rare I eat lamb, in fact I can only think of one other time I ate lamb and that was about a 1-1/2 years ago when I tried lamb chops.  They turned out okay but nothing to write home about or on a blog for that matter.  But Alton made this look good, it had all the necessary ingredients for a good meal, meat, potatoes, and vegetables.  I mean how bad could it really be?  The only iffy part was the meat being lamb.  Since I was able and willing I thought why not and I also knew I wouldn't get Shepherds Pie out of my mind until I made it. 

So let's roll by introducing the supporting cast of characters first......

.......and of course the star of this weeks episode (we hope anyway).

It looks like hamburger to me.  How bad can it be I think the wife was a little skeptical when I told her I was buying lamb because she really didn't care for the lamb chops when we cooked them.  I told her we have to stay true to he original recipe and give it a try.  I think reluctantly she agreed so when Saturday rolled around we jumped into the car like we do every Saturday and headed for Whole Foods I wasn't sure where else I could find lamb but I knew Whole Foods would have it.

Did you notice that jar in the cast of characters pic above? A couple of weeks ago I decide to make my own chicken broth, it is easy to do, chicken parts, celery, carrots, onions, pepper and a little salt. Pretty simple list of ingredients and from there let it simmer away on the stove for awhile. Since I now have my pressure cooker here with me I can can chicken broth again. It is so much richer than what you can buy out of the store, not to mention you can control the amount of salt that goes into it too.

First things first and we need to make a load of mashed potatoes. I really don't think you need instructions on making mashed potatoes so I will just get on with it. These mashed potatoes won't be served on the side, oh no, these potatoes will be served on top of the Shepherds Pie.

It already looks good enough to eat but we aren't done yet. To the oven we go and let it cook until the top browns, about 35-40 minutes.

Not bad, maybe a little to many potatoes this time but still not bad.  I think I will give it a 3.75 out of 5 forks. Is lamb my favorite? No and that is why I can't give it a higher score. The lamb certainly did have a different flavor than beef and I think it is worth eating just because it is something different so I will make it again. If you are into comfort foods and like lamb this is definitely worth a try.

Shepherd's Pie

For the original recipe please click here.

Jock's Cranberry Glazed Chicken

This last week I made some cranberry glazed chicken for dinner and decided it looked so good I would post a picture on Facebook. Little did I know the Porcupine Press folks were watching and asked me for the recipe so they can put it in their Just Shut UP and Eat It section. I guess you can say this post is for the Porcupine Press people. Now I got something to look forward to every month when my UP Magazine arrives.

I will admit even though the recipe below calls for the chicken to be cooked on the grill I cooked this particular glazed chicken inside on my cast iron grill over the stove top. The recipe works well cooked both ways but it is hard to beat if you can cook it over real charcoal.

Another note to make is regarding Emeril's Essence, you can purchase it in the grocery store or make it yourself by going to the Food Network web site and getting the recipe. I make my own so I can control the amount of salt that goes into it. The other choice is to use whatever seasoning you like I just prefer Emeril's Essence.

Jock's Cranberry Glazed Chicken
(Click here if you want your own copy of this recipe.)

1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries
1/3 cup chopped ginger
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup water
6 Chicken thighs
Canola oil
3 Tbs Emeril's Essence Seasoning
1 Cup Hickory Chips

Glaze:
Combine the cranberries, ginger, orange zest, sugar, orange juice, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 45 minutes, or until cranberries burst and sauce is very thick. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Use right away or store in the refrigerator for up to one (1) week. Reserve some cranberry glaze for the table.

Chicken:
Fire up the charcoal grill and once coals are ready arrange on ½ of the grill. Sprinkle the hickory chips on the hot coals and cover until smoke starts to develop.
Meanwhile remove chicken from refrigerator and pat dry. Coat lightly with canola oil and sprinkle liberally with Emeril's Essence. When the grill is ready place the chicken skin side down over the hot coals, with lid on, until browned, about 2 minutes. Turn over and repeat. After chicken is browned on both sides move over to the cooler side of the grill skin side up and glaze with cranberry glaze from above. Place lid back on grill and cook at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 170 degrees. With about 10 minutes left turn chicken over and glaze bottom side. With 5 minutes left turn chicken back over to skin side up and glaze one more time.

Serve with reserved cranberry glaze drizzled over top at the dinner table.

Hot Pork Sandwich

It is hard to beat a Sunday Dinner that produces Wednesday Night Leftovers and this week is no exception. If you remember last Sunday I made a pork roast and just in case you don't remember here is a reminder......



One of my favorite meals is hot sandwiches whether it is hot turkey, hot beef or in this case hot pork, they are all good.

I start with the gravy, either from a can (if you really want to make this simple) or from scratch, which is the method I always choose. Once the gravy is ready I drop the meat in the gravy to warm it up a little.



I also like my hot sandwiches with toasted bread. A few years ago I ordered a hot sandwich from a restaurant and they toasted their bread and I have been doing the same ever since. I think the bread holds up better in the gravy too.



What we end up with is another quick, good Wednesday night meal from leftovers. I'll give it a 4.5 out of 5 forks, simply delicious.

Roasted Pork Loin with Brussells Sprouts, Shallots, Garlic

I'll admit it, I am a Food Network junkie. I like nothing better than to get up early on Saturday and Sunday morning and see what is coming up that morning on the Food Network. The weekend mornings are the only time I can watch shows on the Food Network about cooking anymore. It seems at night during the week it's all about Food Network Challenges, Throwdowns and visiting backwoods Diners.

A couple of weeks ago a new show came on Sunday morning called Alex's Day Off starring Alex Guarnaschelli. I knew right off the bat I was going to like this show because of two things; the first was the executive producer was Bobby Flay, never a bad thing, and the second was on the very first show she cooked breakfast and she cooked her eggs in the left over bacon fat. Yum, yum. Now I don't cook my eggs in left over bacon fat (at least not anymore) but there is not a better way to cook them. Needless to say she had my attention and I couldn't wait to see what else she would be cooking in the future.

This weeks Sunday Episode is from Alex's second show which featured Roasted Pork Loin with Brussels Sprouts, Shallots, and Garlic. Normally I will go with the original recipe the first time I cook it but this time I couldn't resist so I added potatoes, in the end I think that was a good thing.


As usual we start with this weeks cast of characters.........

.......and now introducing the star of the show.....

...........the pork loin or better known as the center cut of the loin.

The shallots and garlic all need to be peeled......

......and we need to get the brussels sprouts and potatoes ready. Like I said I added the potatoes and I chose fingerling potatoes. They were about the same size as the other veggies once they were cut in half so I thought they would cook about the same rate.

The pork loin needs to be browned, my favorite part.

We are almost to the part where we can sit back and watch a little Sunday afternoon football. Pile all the veggies in the pan.........

........and cook over high heat for about 5 minutes. I don't now why I am giving directions since he recipe is below and you can read it for yourselves.

But next I mix up the glaze, or whatever else it may be called, for the pork loin......

....and after the veggies got a good carmelization going put the roasting rack over them and place the pork loin on the rack and spread the glaze over the top.

Look what we got about an hour later..........

This is when I differ from the directions below, if you notice Alex says to cook to an internal temperature of 125 degrees but I always cook my pork roast to 147 degrees. I don't like my pork undercooked and I know if I go much over 147 degrees the pork will dry out real fast. I find 147 degrees almost perfect for me.



Ahh, roast pork and vegetables, it don't get much better than that. I think the veggies were just as good if not better than the pork. I think I will rate this a 4.25 out of 5 forks. Alex didn't disappoint.

Stayed tuned for Leftover Wednesday later this week.

Roasted Pork Loin with Brussels Sprouts, Shallots, Garlic

Recipe courtesy Alex Guarnaschelli

Prep Time:
--
Inactive Prep Time:
--
Cook Time:
1 hr 10 min

Level:
Intermediate

Serves:
8 servings

Directions

I love this recipe because it elevates a lean cut of pork and makes it rich and tender.

Whenever I roast a whole cut of meat, I also love to include "built-in" vegetables. These vegetables end up with a wonderful flavor after cooking in the oven. It is important, however, to make sure the pork roast has enough air circulating around (and underneath it) as it cooks. Use a roasting pan fitted with a grill rack so the meat is slightly elevated as it cooks.
Ingredients

* 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
* 1/4 cup grainy mustard
* 1 lemon, zested and juiced, plus 1 lemon, zested and juiced (2 lemons total)
* 8 sprigs fresh thyme
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 pork loin, preferably center cut or relatively "even" in thickness from 1 side to the other
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 12 cloves, or 1 head, garlic, cloves separated but not peeled
* 2 cups Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and dry outer leaves removed
* 14 to 20 small shallots, peeled
* 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
* 1 slice rye bread, diced
* 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, add the Dijon mustard, grainy mustard, the zest and juice from 1 of the lemons, the fresh thyme and the butter. Whisk together and set aside. Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat and add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to the pan. Season the meat on all sides with salt and pepper, to taste, and gingerly put the pork loin in the hot oil. Brown the pork, without moving it around, for 3 minutes. Use a pair of kitchen tongs or 2 large spoons, to gently, but firmly, rotate the pork a 1/4 turn in the oil. Repeat this process turning the pork every 3 to 4 minutes. The most important thing? Be patient. Get the other vegetables together as the meat browns.

For your "Built-In Vegetables":

Meanwhile, toss the garlic cloves, Brussels sprouts and shallots in a bowl with the remaining 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt, to taste, and stir in the chili flakes. Heat a roasting pan over medium-high heat. Arrange the vegetables evenly in the bottom of the roasting pan and cook just until the vegetables begin to caramelize, about 5 minutes.

When the pork is browned on all sides, remove it from the skillet and put it on a rack in the roasting pan, flesh side up, fatty side down.

In the same cast iron pan that was used to brown the pork, discard some of the leftover fat, leaving about 1 to 2 tablespoons in the pan. Add the diced bread and toast over low heat. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside until service.

Take care to disperse the vegetables so the heat in the oven can circulate around and under the pork as it cooks. Pour the mustard mixture over the pork. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees F and put the roasting pan in the center of the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Test the temperature in the center of the loin. You are looking for an "ideal" internal temperature of 90 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Roast for 10 to 15 additional minutes and test again. You are looking for an ideal temperature of 125 degrees F. Remove the pork from the pan and allow it to "rest" for 10 minutes.

Put the roasting pan on top of the stove, over low heat, and add the vinegar and the juice and zest from the remaining lemon. Stir to blend with the vegetables. Taste for seasoning.

Arrange the pork in the center of a platter (sliced or whole) and spoon the vegetables and any cooking liquid over the top. Garnish with croutons and serve.

Printed from FoodNetwork.com on Wed Nov 04 2009

© 2009 Scripps Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved
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Chicken and Noodles

As promised here is the premiere episode of Wednesday Night Leftovers. The great thing about the internet is you will never know what night I actually eat leftovers because it doesn't come at you live. I can tell you this though, we do normally eat leftovers on Wednesday and sometimes Thursday night. Since I need a title for this series I chose Wednesday night because it sits right in the middle of the week.

Time to roll.......

Remember this little diddy from last weeks Sunday Dinner Episode? Chicken Pot Pie and as normal we have leftovers.

It is hard to completely change a meal from leftovers but there are little things that can be done to at least give a different type of meal than making it seem like you are eating the same old thing from Sunday. A good leftover meal shouldn't take much effort to prepare especially during the week when the last thing you feel like doing is cooking.

Enter tonights stars, leftover chicken mixture from Sunday and egg noddles. Notice the whole wheat noodles. We only use whole wheat pasta and noodles now because they have improved it so much from a couple of years ago and we don't even notice the difference anymore.

The toughest part of the tonights dinner has just been completed, getting the everything out on the counter, from here it's all downhill.

The only thing that could make tonights meal easier is if it could be cooked all in one pan. Since the noodles need to be boiled in some salted water we must use a second pan. My choice is my trusted double boiler that I use for all my pasta cooking.

At the same time the chicken leftovers go in a pan and warmed up, this is so easy even a caveman can do it.

By now you probably realize where I am going with this so we can spare all the suspense and show the final scene.

Looks good, eh? And mere minutes to prepare. On a leftover scale I give it a 4 out of five forks. I can't give it 5 because some leftovers seem to gain flavor as they sit in the refrigerator but this really didn't.

Still pretty good and even better, so easy to prepare.