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.
  

He's her lobster!

Something you should learn about me right off the bat - I crave food. I can crave anything from Kozy Shack rice pudding to Wagyu garlic and green onion beef rolls. My stomach knows no bounds. If I want cream puffs - I want cream puffs from La Sem bakery and my craving will not be satisfied until I get exactly what I want [sadly, La Sem closed years ago so that ship has sailed :|] You can imagine how difficult or annoying it could be for those around me, who have to search high and low for what I want. But that's what makes life fun, right?!

So this leads me to today's post. Lobster. It all started Thursday morning when a co-worker described a dinner he made the night before that involved lobster. With the seed planted firmly in my head, I planned on having lobster sometime this weekend. Some would ask, did you go to Red Lobster? [this is where I would smack you] Fine, there is a time and place for Red Lobster. I've been known to go now and then, but not for lobster - they charge a fortune for substandard fare. DH loves shrimp so we go once a year so he can stuff himself.

No friends, when I want lobster, I usually want it freshly steamed with lemon and butter for dipping. Today I thought I'd try something a little different. I've had this recipe in my mental Rolodex for years. Ta da!


Turned out perfectly and was very simple to make. The hardest part was cutting the lobster in half. I bought a 2 1/2 lb lobster so it easily served two people. The original plan was to serve it with a baked potato and sauteed pea shoots. Unfotunately I fogot to buy potatoes. Oops.

Chef's treat: Original recipe said to throw out the tomalley. How wasteful! So instead I put the tomalley in a ramekin with a little bit of the topping. I cooked it in the oven along with the lobster. Tasty treat for me :)