Flemish Stew

I've just returned from vacation in Belgium, France and The Netherlands, and have come to this conclusion: The Flemish are my culinary kindred spirits. Their cuisine is based on meat, potatoes (mostly french fries), cheeses, waffles, seafood and beer - and it hasn't changed much in centuries. And BOY is their beer tasty. Like ALL of it. I wanted to learn to make some of the foods I'd enjoyed, so I purchased a lovely book called "Everybody Eats Well in Belgium" by Ruth Van Waerebeek with Maria Robbins. One of my favorite dishes was the traditional Flemish Stew (over french fries of course), and here is the version from that book, which came out really well when I tried it on Friday night.

-2 pounds beef stew meat (I bought a roast and cut it into chunks myself - I sometimes find the pre-cut meat too tough after stewing)
-1.5 large onions, thinly sliced or rough-chopped
-2 or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
-1/2 stick of butter
-1/2 cup flour
-2 bay leaves
-1.5 Tbsp brown sugar
-1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (red wine vinegar would also work)
-Salt & pepper
-12 oz of Belgian beer: I used Allagash Belgian-style stout for strong flavor - a Dubbel (brown/bruin) would do as well...for lighter beer flavor try a Tripel-style (blond). A good American substitute would be either New Belgium's 1554, Sweetwater's Georgia Brown, or a Sam Adams Black Lager.

Start by seasoning the flour with about a tsp each of salt and pepper, while about half of the butter melts in a large saute pan.

Dredge the meat lightly in the flour, shake off excess, and brown on all sides in the butter. Do this in batches (don't overcrowd the pan) - too many in the pan at once changes how they cook. Replenish butter as necessary - it will turn brown as it absorbs meat bits - this is good. Place finished meat into a stew pot or dutch oven.

Once meat is finished, brown the onions in the same butter - you want them soft and translucent, but not burned. Once complete, place these in the pot with the meat.

Add all of the beer to the saute pan, bring to a boil. Scrape all of the buttery/meaty bits from the pan into the liquid and add the bay leaves and thyme, then pour all of this over the meat/onions. Cover the pot, bring the mix to a simmer, and leave it for 1.5 to 2 hours, until meat is tender and stew has thickened.

Just before serving, add the brown sugar and vinegar, simmering for another 5 minutes. Also taste it at this point, and add any salt/pepper as necessary. I did find it needed extra salt, but then it was perfect.

The stew is served in Belgium over a serving of french fries (I used store-brand frozen steak fries, crisped in the oven for 20 minutes), with salad on the side. With a cold beer to drink, this meal is just about perfect.

I expected to love the scenery, culture and beer in Belgium, but falling in love with their food was a surprise - I just didn't know much about it, honestly. Discovering the world through food and connecting with people over shared tastes and meals is one of my favorite parts of traveling. I am so thankful to have had these experiences, and to be able to recreate that feeling at home through food whenever I want.

What are some of your favorite food/travel memories? It's never to early to start planning the next trip...

St. Patrick's Day - Not Just for Drinking!

I love celebrating holidays through food - and yes, that includes St. Patrick's Day. Irish food has never been as celebrated as Irish drink, but I think it should be. And boy, do I love Irish drink.

Irish cuisine is based on simplicity - the meats, fish and vegetables available on a small, rocky island. Today I'm celebrating the Irish with roasted herb-crusted lamb, colcannon (mashed potatoes with sauteed kale and Irish cheddar), and chocolate stout cupcakes with vanilla-Irish Cream frosting.

I bought a small rack of lamb ribs - 3 ribs each is enough for two people. I put 1/2 tsp each of dried sage, rosemary and thyme (sorry, no parsley) in a small bowl, with 1 tsp each of salt and fresh cracked pepper. To the herb mix, add 2 minced garlic cloves and just a bit of olive oil - just enough to make it a paste (probably about a Tbsp). I rubbed the paste onto both sides of the lamb, and roasted in a 325 degree oven for about half an hour - the temperature of the meat should be 160 for medium. The photo makes the meat look very red, but it was done perfectly.

Colcannon is a little bit of work, but worth it. You need about 2 lbs of potatoes - I used baby dutch yellows, cut in half, so they would cook quickly. Add the potatoes to a large pot of boiling water, then add about a Tbsp of salt. While they are cooking, grate some cheese if you want it (about half a pound is good) and saute your kale - trim the thick parts of the ribs off and rough-chop the leaves until you have about a cup. Put this in a pan with a splash of chicken stock, beer, water - anything liquid really. Just cook it down enough to wilt the kale without burning it (this takes away the natural bitterness). Once the potatoes are fork tender, drain them and add 2 Tbsp butter and a cup of any of the following: cream, milk or sour cream. Today I used about half a cup of light cream (had it in the fridge), and filled in the rest with reduced fat sour cream. Use more liquid if you like your mashed potatoes creamier. Mash it all together, then mix in the wilted kale (and cheese if using).

For the Stout Cupcakes: I made regular chocolate cake mix, replacing the required water with Guinness. Then I added 1.5 oz (one shot) of Irish Cream liqueur to a tub of regular vanilla frosting. I think this would have been even better with a buttercream or cream cheese frosting, but I already had a tub of vanilla I needed to use. As it was, it was great. I like to put the frosting into a zip-loc bag, cut the corner, and pipe the frosting on so I can pile it up better. Green sprinkles on top, of course.

To round your St. Patrick's Day meal, you should include some Irish whiskey of course. Choose your favorite - Paddy's, Jameson, Tullamore Dew, whatever you like. Drink it neat, or add a couple of ice cubes and swirl. Just whatever you do, stay away from that Bushmills stuff - it's Protestant whiskey.

Grill Time! Peach-Barbecue Pork

Daylight Savings Time started today...so I thought it was a perfect night to grill. Since it was also a Cobb Symphony weekend, I was playing a concert most of the afternoon. So, I made up a new marinade and left the pork loin to get flavor-licious while I was gone. I called Hal on the way home, and he threw it on the grill. By the time I got home, we had an awesome meal, all ready to go.

It was the easiest marinade I've done in a while! Only 3 ingredients: barbecue sauce (whatever you have), peach nectar (I bought a single can for $1 in the international section at Kroger), and hot sauce (whatever you have). If you feel like making homemade barbecue sauce to have on hand, I highly recommend the Neely's version. It's great on ribs.

I just mixed the 3 to taste, and make enough to cover the pork loin in a zipper bag (don't forget to take the tough membrane off the pork first). Cook the pork to 160 degrees - remember pork can still be pink inside if it's the right temperature. The meat went really well with instant mashed potatoes (flavored with dried rosemary) and some fruit. I finally felt like summer was on the way!

KILLER Shepherd's Pie

After a lovely peek at spring last weekend, today was colder, wet and nasty again. So what's for dinner? Shepherd's pie of course. It's warm and comfy, and very easy. Today I used a mixture of ground beef and ground pork since that's what I had. I've also used lamb (traditional). Notes: fattier meats will need to be drained, less flavorful meats (like the lamb) work better if you increase the garlic or black pepper. My Shepherd's Pie is full of awesomeness because I know a secret. (psst - here's the secret: you make the gravy with beer instead of water. you're welcome.) You will need:

ground meat - about a pound
onion - about half of a large one, chopped
garlic - about 4 cloves, chopped
mushrooms - about half a pound
brown gravy mix packets - 2 of the 0.87 oz size
beer - 2 bottles (an ale or dark lager works best)
frozen peas and/or carrots
salt and freshly ground pepper
shredded cheddar cheese (if you want) - about 2 handfuls
chopped fresh parsley if you happen to have some
instant mashed potatoes

Here's how easy this is: open one of the beers, and drink it while you're cooking. Preheat oven to 375. Brown the ground meat with the garlic, onions and mushrooms in the pan. While this is cooking, make the instant mashed potatoes and set aside. Once the meat is done, add the gravy packets and the other beer (1.5 cups, or a full 12-oz bottle), then the frozen peas/carrots. Simmer for a few minutes until the gravy is thickened and well mixed. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste, then the few handfuls of cheese if you want (no need to melt, they'll do that in the oven). Pour the mixture into a baking dish - I find an 8x8 works fine. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top, then sprinkle on the parsley if you have it. Bake for 15 minutes. And THAT IS IT.

The 3-Meat Super Bowl

Hal and I like to have a Super Bowl party every year - it prevents us from needing a designated driver. We love the big game, and the big food that comes with it. This year, a small plate of carrots and ranch dip was the only healthy option available. I decided to skip fruit/veggies, and go straight for the all-meat fiesta. It's only once a year, right?

So which three meats? Chicken, pork and beef. I made a beef vindaloo I saw on Aarti Party, another of Aarti Sequeira's recipes from her blog- Sriracha Pomegranate Chicken Wings, and an Asian-style honey barbecue pork that I made up. Yes, I'm obsessed with Aarti these days. I've made several of her recipes now, and they've all been fantastic. She's amazing.

The beef vindaloo was about medium-spicy the way I made it (just like her recipe, only I used a sweet onion instead of red). I cooked it on the stove, then transferred to a crock pot. I took the serrano pepper out of the crock once it came to the right spice level for me.

I changed up the chicken a bit more - for starters, I didn't make wings. I made the sauce just like the recipe, using her idea of cooking down pomegranate juice since I didn't find the molasses. Then I used the rub (made with ground cardamom instead of pods - I can't find those anywhere) on some regular chopped up chunks of chicken breast. Once again, I let it cook on the stove after the chicken sat in the rub for a while, and kept warm in a crock pot. Yes, I have two.

I had to borrow the third (thanks Lindsay!). In that one, I put the Asian pork I made. For that, I chopped up a pork tenderloin and cooked it up in a mixture of equal parts hoisin sauce and plum sauce with generous drizzles of soy sauce and honey - I just played with those until I was happy. I didn't want it too sweet. This took about 20 minutes total, including chopping the pork.

The whole meat-topia took about 1.5 hours to create, which I didn't think was bad at all considering the amount of food and things like curry made from scratch. Woot!

There were also 3 great dips. We had my homemade guacamole (original recipe courtesy of my sister Kristin's Cuban sister-in-law), a corn and cheese dip I learned from my sister Shannon, and a killer salsa dip my friend Amanda brought. My guac is just avocado, finely chopped onion and garlic, lots of cilantro and fresh lime juice. The Cuban secret is that you don't mix it - you cut through it with a knife repeatedly until it is well mixed and you still have some great chunks of avocado. It only takes a minute, and it's totally worth it.

Here is the magic corn and cheese dip: 14 oz of fiesta corn (with the peppers in it), 1.75 cups of good lite mayo (trust me, the store-brand stuff makes it weird), 2 cups shredded colby jack, half cup shredded parmesan, and 2 heaping Tbsp finely chopped jalapeno. Stir all of that together, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. That's it. And you can save the world with that dip.

There were also brownies, chips, the poor, out-of-place carrots, a mini-keg of Newcastle and a lovely bucket of sangria. Okay it wasn't actually in a bucket. I feel horribly full again just thinking about all of this. Maybe that's why it took me a week to write about it - I had to let my tummy heal a bit. Or maybe I just didn't want to admit that football season is actually over. Sigh...see you next year, meat-topia.

Christmas Dinner

Merry Christmas!! I am thankful to God tonight for the ability to provide my family a holiday feast, to be shared in our wonderful home with so much love at one table. Tonight, I'm praying for those who have no feast, who have no home, or who are lonely/far from loved ones. We celebrate Christ's birth as the birth of light and hope for all the world, especially those who most need it. My New Year's Resolution is to further endeavor to deserve the abundant blessings I have been given. Now for the food. :)

I made slow cooker butternut squash soup for an appetizer, from this blog: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/10/crockpot-butternut-squash-soup-recipe.html. The only changes I made were to add some cream and use chicken stock instead of broth. I served it in miniature martini glasses so we could walk around with it - I think it came out really tasty.

Duck Burgundy: (I do this every year - so hard to screw up a duck)- Hal cleans out the innards, then I rub the bird with a bit of oil/salt/pepper and stuff the cavities with chunks of onion, apple and orange. Then I douse the bird with Burgundy wine, leaving plenty in the bottom of the roasting pan, to baste with every 20 minutes or so. Always tender and flavorful. I used some of the pan juices, a shot of brandy, a cup of cider and a few tablespoons of cornstarch to make gravy.

I also made a scalloped potatoes recipe I got out of an old Irish cookbook I have called The Irish Isle. Start with 3 lbs of potatoes, sliced thin. Bring to a boil with 4 cups of milk, 1 tbsp butter, salt/pepper, 1-2 sprigs of thyme and some fresh grated nutmeg. Once it boils, simmer for 10 minutes until potatoes are tender. Stir frequently to prevent a film forming at the bottom. Once tender, use a slotted spoon to pull out half potatoes, spread across a casserole dish. Top with a drizzle of cream and 1/2 to 1 cup of white or marbled cheddar. Repeat with remaining potatoes. Bake at 375 for 1 hour or until browned on top. These were awesome - everyone had multiple helpings.

I also roasted some asparagus in garlic and olive oil (with a bit of lemon zest over the top), and my mom made a salad with pears, walnuts and bleu cheese. Mmm-mmm.

For dessert, I made my first cheesecake! It was a pumpkin cheesecake recipe that I got from my sister's mother-in-law. I made a gingersnap crust and topped it with a cream cheese/sugar/hazelnut spread. The crust was good, but it was really crunchy - not what I expected. I may not have used enough butter. And the cheesecake fell a little more than I would have liked, but it was still incredibly tasty. It may not have been perfect, but it was still delicious.

Overall, I was thrilled with how dinner went. We had a semi-full house. Only 9 people, instead of the 16 (!) I'm having for brunch on Monday morning. Thanks as always to Hal, his parents, my sister-in-law Ginna and nephew Zane, my parents, and Granddaddy Stokes for making me feel like the Santa Claus of the kitchen. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!