Beef Stew

Beef Stew

(The next time you cook bacon save the drippings for this stew, I promise using bacon drippings to brown this beef will make all the differnce in the world)

 

· 2 ½ pounds boneless beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut in 1-inch cubes

· ¾ cup flour mixed with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

· 3 tablespoons bacon drippings

· 1 large yellow onion, chopped

· 1 large whole bay leaf

· 1 small sprig fresh rosemary chopped

· 2 cups beef broth

· 6 golf-ball-size redskin potatoes, cut into cubes

· 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut in 1-inch chunks

· 2 medium celery stalks, trimmed and sliced

· 1 ½ cups  frozen yellow corn kernels

DIRECTIONSDredge beef in a large plastic zipper bag with seasoned flour and set aside.

Heat drippings in a large heavy Dutch oven over moderately high heat until ripples appear on pan bottom — 1 ½-2 minutes. Brown dredged beef in several batches in drippings, remove each batch to a bowl as it browns.  (Save some of the left over seasoned flour to add to the stew to thicken if needed)

Add onion, bay leaf, and rosemary to pot and sauté, stirring often, until onion is lightly browned.

Add potatoes, carrots, and celery, sauté for a few minutes.   Return beef to pot along with accumulated juices, add broth, and bring to a boil. (Add seasoned flour to thicken the broth, stir flour in until well combined)  Add Adjust heat so liquid bubbles gently, cover, and simmer until beef is nearly tender — about 1½ hours.

Add corn, cover, and simmer just until corn no longer tastes raw and flavors mellow — about 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf.  Taste for salt and pepper, and adjust as needed.

SOFRITO CHICKEN

I am posting this recipe on here because it turned out so fabulous I wanted someone else to try it, but I feel like I really need to give proper credit.  First most of the credit goes to Lisa and her MIL for the Bean Stew we had while we were in PR.  I made it when I got back because Ryan loved that dinner so much.  Afterwords I had sofrito left over.  So I searched for other recipies with that ingredient.  I found a recipe for Sofrito Chicken which I altered and this is what I came up with.....

SOFRITO CHICKEN

1. 1 tspvegetable oil
2. 4 whole chicken legs, separated into drumsticks and thighs
3. Salt and  black pepper
4. chili powder for dusting
5. 1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
6. 4 or 5 large heaping tablespoons of Sofrito**
7. 1 tsp thyme 
8. 1 med tomato, chopped
9. 3 cups chicken broth
10. 1 cup short-grain white rice
11. ½ teaspoon Salt

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and dust lightly with chili powder. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook over moderate heat until well browned, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add the onion, sofrito and thyme to the skillet and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened, about 8 minutes.  Add the chopped tomatoes, raise the heat to high and cook until bubbling. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to a simmer. Arrange the chicken pieces on the rice, skin side up. Bake in the upper third of the oven for about 25 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through and the rice is tender and has absorbed the stock.
3. Preheat the broiler. Broil the sofrito 6 inches from the heat for about 2 minutes, until the chicken skin is crisp. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Serve.

SOFRITO RECIPE

(Sofrito is a base ingredient in alot of Peurto Rican dishes)

1 tomato chopped

1 green pepper chopped into large squares

½  red pepper chopped into large squares

1 onion

½ head of garlic (I used about 5 or 6 cloves)

Big bunch of fresh Cilantro

Small bunch of fresh Parsley

Add all ingredients into a food processor or blender and pulse until it becomes a somewhat fine mixture. 

Apple Pear Crisp

4 large Granny Smith apples, pears or combination of both, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
1 cup white rice flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup chopped raw cashews

2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat over to 350. In bowl, mix flour and salt together. Mix in 1/4 cup maple syrup and oil until well combined. Add cashews and mix well (works best using your hands). In a separate bowl, combine the water, 1 Tbsp maple syrup and vanilla. Set aside. Layer apples, pears and any other fruit (blueberries work great) in a pie dish. Add liquid mixture to fruit and mix until all fruit is covered. Cover fruit with the dry crumble. Cover crisp with foil and bake 45 minutes. Remove foil then brown topping an additional 15 minutes, uncovered.

Buckwheat Pancakes

1 C buckwheat groats
2.5 C almond milk (or 1/2 C almond milk and 1/2 C almond milk yogurt)
Soak together overnight

In blender add
Soaked buckwheat groats and almond milk
1 egg replacer - 1 Tbsp ground flax meal and 2-3 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp Grade A or B maple syrup

Really good blog VEGAN

http://www.theppk.com/blog/

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf

1/4 cup applesauce

2 tablespoons coconut oil (or canola oil)

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons boiling water, divided (see note)

1 cup pumpkin puree1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly grease an 8 inch loaf pan. Also, boil some water in a tea kettle (no need to measure yet.)Put applesauce, coconut oil and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, spices, baking soda and salt.Measure out 1/3 cup boiling water and pour into the bowl with the chocolate mixture, mixing quickly to make a smooth chocolate sauce. Add pumpkin, sugar and vanilla and mix well.Dump about half of the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture and gently stir just to incorporate, then measure out 1 tablespoon of boiling water and stir again. Now add the rest of the flour mixture and another tablespoon of boiling water and stir just until smooth. Take care not to overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. It will be good and thick. You can smooth the top out with a spatula.Bake for 55 minutes to an hour. Stick a steak knife into the center of the loaf to check for doneness. A little bit of wetness is okay since it could be from a chocolate chip, but the knife should come out mostly dry.Let cool for 10 minutes, then invert pan and place loaf on a cooling rack to cool most of the way. It’s yummy a little bit warm, or thoroughly cooled. Slice and serve!

Vegan Thai Soup

In a pot and this is all "about"

Olive oil

garlic

cook. Add

carrots

celery broccoli

cauliflower

cook for a few minutes

add about2 cups vegetable oil

bring to boil add

rice noodles

boil about 5 more min

add chopped kale

chopped green onions

also add to your taste

red hot chili sauce

soy sauce