Beef Stew with Mushrooms & Red Wine

It's not really what you might consider "stew weather" outside, but when you think about it, we eat nearly all our meals hot anyway--so why not?

I stuck to my favorite beef stew recipe for a long time, and it's a good recipe, but I really do prefer this new one that Chris found online this past winter. There are few things that smell better than this does when cooking, courtesy of the red wine and fresh thyme, and stew is just full of all kinds of nutritious goodness!

Mine is simmering right now with sourdough bread baking in the bread machine!

From Cooking Light, here it is:

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided (though I always end up using more to really get the beef brown)
1 pound cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, halved
2 cups chopped onion
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 cup flour
2 pounds bite-sized stew beef
salt & pepper
1 cup dry red wine
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
32 ounce box chicken broth (it calls for beef but I HATE beef broth!)
2-3 bay leaves
1 diced russet potato (2 cups or so)
1 1/2 cups sliced carrot


Directions:

1. Heat 1 tsp. oil on medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven and cook the mushrooms until brown, about 8 minutes. Place them in a large bowl. Heat another teaspoon (or even less) of oil, then cook the onions until soft, about 8-10 minutes. In the last minute, add the garlic, and stir constantly so it won't burn. Add all this to the bowl of mushrooms and set aside.

2. Heat another teaspoon of oil, and pour the flour onto a shallow plate and toss half of the beef in it to coat. Brown the beef on all sides, about 6-8 minutes, sprinkling lightly with salt while cooking. Repeat this process with the other half of the beef, and when it's browned, just drop it in the mushroom-onion-garlic bowl.

3. Now that your ingredients are precooked and your Dutch oven is empty, pour in the cup of wine and allow it to cook off for a few seconds (but definitely don't let it all evaporate!), then add the thyme, bay leaves and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in the beef mixture and cover. Simmer it for 1 hour.

4. Add the diced potato and carrots, stir, and bring the heat up to medium with the pot covered to jump-start the potatoes and carrots cooking. When it's bubbly, remove the lid and reduce the heat to medium-low again. Simmer it, uncovered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes (or until the sauce is thick and the potatoes and carrots are cooked thoroughly).

Roasted Pork Tenderloin & Spinach with Light Mustard Sauce

I found this recipe on Pinterest, but I'm always a little skeptical about those recipes because most pinners (myself included) just pin things that look good, willy-nilly, and we aren't really able to attest to whether it "works" or not. (Ever see the pin about dehydrating strawberries in the oven? I was pretty excited to try it since those delicious things are so pricey, but then, I saw all the comments saying that people tried it and it created a giant slushy, sticky mess in the oven... luckily, before I tried it myself. )

This one, on the other hand, is a keeper.  It is nice and easy, low on the use of oil and salt, and you can really bump up the spinach for added nutrition!

I've served this with roasted potatoes sometimes, and tonight--roasted carrots.

Pork 
1 pork tenderloin
4 garlic cloves (or more!), minced
salt & freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp. oil (olive, canola, etc.)

Sauce
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. cornstarch
several handfuls of spinach leaves

*You may choose to make more sauce if you use lots of spinach like I do! 


Combine the garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Pour the oil in a glass baking dish and roll the pork loin over in it to coat. Then rub the garlic mixture all over the pork.

Roast it at 425 for about 25 minutes. Test for doneness with a meat thermometer. It should reach 155 or higher on the inside!

In a skillet, combine the mustard and broth, then whisk in the cornstarch. It should thicken to a nice sauce consistency, although a bit on the thin side.

At this point, I like to drop my fresh spinach leaves in the sauce and let them wilt before plating my meal.  I want my spinach to be either crispy (in a salad) or wilted really well (hot on my dinner plate), and this ensures soft-but-not-soggy spinach to compliment your tenderloin!

And no... never, ever, ever use frozen spinach for this!  Gross.

Enjoy!

BBQ Pinto & Portabella Sandwiches

In December, my grandmother gave me a new cookbook I'd been wanting, Quick Fix Vegan. We've finally read through it and marked a lot of pages, and so far, this is my favorite!  To me, these are truly as good as the real thing, but I still feel good and not weighed down after eating them. Unfortunately, that first time, I made only a half recipe. I always seem to be really crazy about the stuff that I cut in half, and then on the other hand, I'm stuck with a full batch of lackluster recipes I've tried.

A word of advice, though: remove the seeds from your chipotle peppers, because I didn't, and I thought, hey, I'm also special enough that I can throw in double the chipotles for a little extra flavor, and then before we knew it, our mouths were on fire. So just seed those peppers and don't get too brave right off the bat!

For 4 sandwiches, you will need:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup very finely chopped onion
3 cloves of minced garlic
2 large portabella mushrooms, finely chopped or shredded (as suggested, I used the shredding disc on my food processor)
1 15 ounce can of drained & rinsed pinto beans
 2 seeded chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
1 Tbsp. yellow/brown/dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. agave nectar or maple syrup
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. paprika (smoked, if you can find it)
salt & pepper
4 sandwich rolls, split & toasted

Instructions:

Heat the oil over medium heat in a saucepan, and add onion & garlic to cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the shredded mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes, then all the other ingredients. Stir it occasionally and let it cook for 7 minutes or so.

That's it! These are very easy and quick--as the cookbook title promises. Serve them on the toasted rolls with roasted potatoes or whatever side you like.

Pork, Black Bean, & Plantain Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa

To borrow from a former sports TV show, these are the BEST DAMN ENCHILADAS, PERIOD. I thought they were interesting when I saw them in my favorite magazine (which Chris marks with Post-its when it arrives every month), Cooking Light, but I had no idea of how good they'd really be.

This is not the simplest or fastest recipe, but I have two shortcut suggestions that will make these a bit easier and more feasible for weeknights: jarred tomatillo salsa and using refried beans rather than hauling out the food processor. You'll probably spend about 45 minutes, hands-on time.

Here's the original recipe in case you want to make your own tomatillo salsa, but again, I don't personally think it's necessary if you have a good ready-made brand.

Step one: Buy a plantain about 10 days before you want to make these. It needs to blacken.

Go on. I'll wait.















Step two: Now, you gather the rest of the ingredients to go with your lovely, soft, blackened plantain.

Pork mixture:
**Hey Texans-- HEB store brand Roasted Salsa Pork Tenderloin is the ideal for these enchiladas!

1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed  
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons canola oil

Combine cumin, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper, and salt; rub evenly over pork. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add pork, and cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Place pan in oven, and bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until pork is done. Remove pork from pan; let rest 15 minutes. Cut pork into 1/2-inch pieces.


Black bean mixture:

1 teaspoon canola oil
2/3 cups chopped onion

1 garlic clove, chopped
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained; or 1 15 ounce can of refried, fat free black beans
1/3 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 350. Place skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add the 2/3 cup onion; cook for 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the cup of broth, and cook for 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add black beans; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Cool slightly. Place black bean mixture in blender. Pulse 15 times, scraping occasionally until mixture is a thick puree.

**For a shortcut on step two: Saute the onion & garlic, and then stir in a can of fat-free refried black beans. This will save you from needing the food processor at all, and therefore less clean up.


Plantain mixture:

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 blackened plantain, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Cooking spray

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Combine remaining 1/8 teaspoon red pepper, brown sugar, and plantain in a medium bowl, tossing to coat plantain. Add plantain mixture to pan; sauté for 3 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Cool slightly.


Assembly:

12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 jar of good quality tomatillo (green) salsa
1 1/2 cups (or 6 ounces) shredded pepper jack cheese

Combine pork and plantain mixture in a medium bowl. Spread 1/3 cup tomatillo mixture in the bottom of a 13 x 9–inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Heat tortillas briefly in microwave to make them pliable.

In each tortilla, spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons black bean puree down the center, and add about 2 tablespoons pork/plantain mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese; roll up. Place seam-side down in baking dish. Pour remaining tomatillo mixture over filled tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until cheese melts and filling is thoroughly heated.

Top with lots of sour cream and jalapenos, and enjoy!
 

Roasted-But-(Sort-Of)-French-Fried Potatoes

I've roasted quite a few potatoes (and just about every other vegetable) as quick sides for our dinners, but I have stumbled upon what I believe is the best method out there if you like your roasted potatoes nice and crispy like French fries.

For my mom--I call these PNG potatoes (in honor of her high school's colors).
I made this batch the night that she performed in the alumni band...by coincidence...
I don't color code my meals to match my family's leisure activities, or even my own, I swear.

I was in a hurry one night and decided to precook them in the microwave to get the ball rolling. That saved time and, I suppose--though this isn't America's Test Kitchen, so I'm not 100% sure what scientific role it played in the ultimate result--it helped with the crispification of the taters.

You will need:

Potatoes, of course! (You'll need about 2 red potatoes, or about 6-8 ounces, per person. Use reds, Yukon golds, multicolored fingerlings, or whatever you like; however, I haven't tried with Russets, but it's worth a try.)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper (or any other seasonings you'd like)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425. Place the rack in the next-to-top position. Dice the potatoes quite small, about 1/2 inch cubes. Place in a microwaveable bowl and cover them with water, leaving room for it not to boil over. Microwave for 7 minutes.

2.  Drain the potatoes very well in a colander. Shake the colander to get them as dry as you can.

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the potatoes on the paper and drizzle with olive oil. Use your hands to toss and coat the potatoes. It's important that you do not season or salt the potatoes at this step... only oil! Patience!

4.   Roast the potatoes at 425, checking and turning them with a spatula frequently. If you keep them moving and turning every so often (say, every 3-5 minutes after the first 10 minutes), you'll get even, nice golden color.  It's really not possible to say how long it will take, but I'd say about 20-25.  Watch your potatoes! Ovens and preferences differ, so keep your eyes peeled.

Get it?

Ha!

Magically Delicious Key Lime Bars

We are still waiting on (consistently) warmer weather to arrive to Colorado. Although we had tiny snow flurries earlier today, it's not stopping us from eating up these key lime bars from Cooks Illustrated. I believe they're locked in a tie with the Salted Dark Chocolate Truffle Cookies that I discovered back in December (and will post later) for my absolute favorite dessert.

These have been a big hit with my friends previously, so we left a few out for the prospective buyers who came to see our house the other day.  In the home showing feedback, they said they loved them, so here's hoping they loved the bars enough to make an offer on the house!

I've found the easiest way to prepare these is in the food processor. You really need one to make the crust, unless you substitute graham cracker crumbs. After that, there's no reason to dirty another bowl and your electric mixer, so use it for your filling as well.

You will need:

Crust: 
5 ounces animal crackers
4 Tbsp. melted butter
3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Filling:
2 ounces room temperature fat-free cream cheese
1 Tbsp. lime zest
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup fresh key lime (or regular lime) juice...NOT bottled juice--don't bother!

Instructions:

1. Preheat to 325 and place the oven rack in the middle position. In the food processor, pulse the animal crackers to crumbs. Add the melted butter and brown sugar.

2. Line a 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil. Pull off two pieces of foil slightly longer than the pan and fold the sides to the exact width of the pan. Then lay them in a crisscross manner so that the excess forms "handles" on each side. (You'll later use this to pull your cooked treats out of the pan in one piece.)

3. Spray the foil lining the pan and pour the crumb mixture in. Use your fingers or a fork to press it into a nice packed crust.  Bake it for 18-20 minutes, then let it cool for a few minutes before adding the filling.

4. In the empty food processor, mix the cream cheese and lime zest. Use the opening on top of the processor to slowly stream in the milk, then the egg yolk, and finally, the lime juice. Be sure that as you do this, you're stopping periodically to clear the sides of the processor with a spatula.

5.  Pour the filling into the crust and smooth it out. Bake it at 325 for 15-20 minutes. The edges should begin to slightly pull away from the sides of the pan.

6. Cool them on a wire rack until they are cool enough to refrigerate.

They're intended to be served cold, but they're incredible at any temperature if you can't wait!

Perfected Pumpkin Sunday Morning Pioneer Woman Muffins

Every Sunday since we moved to Colorado, Chris and I have muffins for breakfast. I admit that we do the Martha White mixes many days, but through the cold months, we have had these delicious, made-from-scratch muffins that aren't quite as easy as mix + milk, but soooo tasty and even nutritious. 

Ree Drummond, AKA The Pioneer Woman, published this original recipe, but I changed it up a bit--partly out of necessity (no evaporated milk), and partly to healthy-fy them a bit (more pumpkin, using agave instead of sugar). I've tried a few different variations, including the original, and I think this is the winner:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoons nutmeg
½ teaspoons salt 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1 can pumpkin puree
1/3 to 1/4 cup agave nectar (I like 1/3, Chris says it's too sweet, so you take your pick. )
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1-½ teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a 12 muffin pan.

Use a sifter to combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Drop the butter pieces into the dry mixture and combine them using your hands: pinch the butter pieces and work them into the dry mixture until it has the texture and appearance of damp sand. (I don't have a pastry cutter and the two knives method didn't work for me, but this came out perfectly, so I won't be buying one!)

In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, agave nectar, sweetened condensed milk, egg, and vanilla extract with a whisk until smooth.  Add the pumpkin mixture to the first bowl, and stir to combine.

Distribute the batter and top with an extra sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar (if you like) and the chopped hazelnuts. Bake for 25 minutes and check for doneness with a toothpick.  Enjoy!

(The Pioneer Woman mentioned that she usually has trouble filling all twelve cups with batter, but I haven't found that, especially after upping the pumpkin.)