Slow food Sundays

On Sundays, I like slow food. I usually spend Sundays doing chores around the house, catching up on some work and watching some trashy tv. That's why Sundays are the perfect time to make something special, something that takes a little longer to make but is well worth the wait. So today I started off with breakfast - a puffed apple pancake baked in the oven. I picked up some wild blueberries at the market yesterday so I sprinkled some on top before putting it on the oven. I think next time I'll try making it with pears - we have a pear tree in the backyard which means I have lots of pears on hand.
After breakfast, I started dinner. Cooking is easy, as long as you're prepared. Mise en place - get all your ingredients ready and prepped before you start. I know it sounds easy and I'm sure you've heard it before, but its the secret to cooking. Since I had extra Guinness on hand after yesterday's Chocolate Guinness cupcakes, I decided to make some stew. Braising is one of my favorite cooking methods - slow cook in a low oven until tender. And stew is so easy and versatile, you don't even need a recipe. DH loves veggies so I usually use 3x as much vegetables to protein. I served today's stew with mashed potatoes made with cream, chives, butter & garlic. A heart healthy meal this is not. But hey, I don't eat like this every day! This stew would be just as good made with lamb or veal shanks.

Beef stew
Feel free to substitute veggies or meat as you prefer. Can be served with mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, rice, or crusty bread.

Ingredients:

• 3lb short ribs (cut into 1 inch pieces)
• 2-3 chopped carrots
• 2-3 ribs of celery, chopped
• 2 red peppers, chopped
• 2-3 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2C cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2C flour
  
• 2C red wine
• 2C stout (e.g. Guinness)
• 1C beef stock
• 1T grainy mustard
• 2 tsp dried rosemary & thyme
• 2 bay leaves
  
• a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce
  

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325F
• In a plastic bag, mix flour & salt+pepper
• Add meat and shake to coat
• In a Dutch oven, add 3T oil and heat to medium high. Add a few pieces of meat and brown. Remove browned meat and set aside. Continue until all meat is properly browned.
• Once all meat is browned, lower heat to medium and add onions to the pot. Cook until translucent and add garlic and rest of vegetables.
  
• Add red wine and bring to a simmer. Add the meat back to the pot, along with the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer.
• Move pot into oven and braise until tender, 3-4 hrs.
  

Let them eat cake (and ice cream)

Its been a while since I've been inspired to cook. I think its because I haven't been entertaining much lately. Our house is in a constant state of flux - renovation madness. That coupled with the slew of house guests we've had, I've been burnt out.

So when we decided to have a gal's day yesterday, I was excited to get in the kitchen! Mo_par & Blarkness both have a sweet tooth, which gave me the perfect excuse to put my ice cream maker and oven to work. I've been meaning to make David Lebovitz's caramelized white chocolate so this was a perfect opportunity. For some reason, it took almost 3hrs for the white chocolate to caramelize (I blame it on my oven). I'm not a huge white chocolate fan but caramelizing it definitely punched up the flavor very similar to dulce de leche. Yummy! I ended up making it into Caramelized White Chocolate ice cream. I also made some Mint Chocolate ice cream, since this is DH's favorite flavor. To go along with the ice creams, I made some cupcakes - Chocolate Guinness cupcakes w/ Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting.




Mo_par & Blarkness have never been to St. Lawrence Market. So we decided to start our day with a trip to the market. I [heart] St. Lawrence Market - its very easy to find inspiration when you're surrounded by pints of wild blueberries, purple peppers, patty pan squash and slabs of smoked bacon [sadly, no zucchini flowers for sale...the search continues]. We started off with chicken & eggplant sandwiches from Mustachios [I prefer these to any sandwich from Calfornia Sandwiches...I really don't understand what the hype is all about], then walked around the market buying ingredients for Sunday dinner.

Afterwards they came to back to my place and watched an FNL marathon while playing video games and eating ice cream & cupcakes. Glad they came over, can't wait for the next gals day!

Where's the beef?

I go through phases when I cook. I can spend a week making Indian dishes every night and then the following week its all about pasta. Sometimes Southern, sometimes Polish, maybe Korean. Who knows where my mood will take me. I like variety. This is evident if you look into my fridge - I have everything from Korean fermented soy bean paste to mint sauce. And believe it or not, I do use it all!

More often than not, I go back to my childhood and cook the dishes I ate growing up. Chicken adobo, pancit canton, longanisa, mechado, corned beef, the list goes on. When I get the urge to cook these things, I do the logical thing and pick up the phone to call my mother. Like most mothers, her recipes include "a little bit of this", "some of that". Everything is "to taste". So its up to me to guess at measurements.

Today I decided to make bistek - marinated beef slow cooked with onions. My mother made this often during the week, when she was short on time. (honestly, how she managed to work every day and get dinner on the table every night at 6pm is beyond me!) Enjoy!

Note: Quantities are approximate and "to taste"



Filipino Bistek
serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 lb thin sliced eye of round, cut into portions
  
• 1/2C dark mushroom soy sauce
• 2T calimansi juice (can substitute lemon and/or lime)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
  
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2C water
• 2 medium onions, thickly sliced
• 3T oil
  

Instructions:

• In a bowl, add beef, soy sauce, calamansi juice, garlic, salt + pepper. Marinate in the fridge, up to 4hrs.
• In a saute pan on medium high heat, add oil.
• Quickly brown slices of beef on each side, set aside.
• When all beef slices have been browned, add it back to the pan along with leftover marinade and water.
• Simmer on medium low until beef is tender. If it happens the sauce has reduced too quickly and the beef is still tough, add a little more water and continue to simmer.
  
• Once the beef is tender, add the sliced onions and cook until they're just translucent
• Serve with rice