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Beef Stew with Olives and Onions

The first day of spring was a week ago. Yet when I look outside, despite the blossoms on my cherry tree, it looks like it's still winter. Just a bit too rainy and dreary for my taste (and I usually really enjoy the rain).

I thought a nice stew might be just the ticket. There is just something I find quite soul-satisfying about a big bowl of stew.

I've got a few ingredients left over from my brisket testing (beef stock, red wine and sun-dried tomatoes). I took a look in my freezer, fridge and pantry and found a few ingredients to build the rest of my stew.

Here's the ingredients

1 pound stew meat
1/2 cup flour seasoned with 1 Tbls minced fresh rosemary, salt and pepper
4 clove garlic, minced
2 cup red wine
2 cup beef stock
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tbls fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 bag frozen pearl onions, thawed
3/4 cup kalamata olives
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
2 Tbls capers
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

I started by preheating the oven to 325 degrees. In a Ziploc bag I combined my flour with the seasonings, then added my stew meat, giving it a good shake to coat the meat completely.

I heated some olive oil in my fancy new dutch oven, then added the flour-coated stew beef. I cooked this, stirring occasionally until the beef was browned on all sides.

I added the minced garlic and let it saute for a few seconds before adding the rest of my ingredients (except for the parsley). I did not add any salt at this point because the stew contains a lot of really salty ingredients and I wasn't sure how much the broth would reduce (you can always add salt, but you can't take it away). I brought the liquid to a simmer, put the lid on the dutch oven and popped the pan into the oven to braise. After two hours I took the pan out of the oven.

Then I stirred in the fresh parsley and dished it up.

To accompany the stew I made a salad that features one of the quintessential spring ingredients, strawberries. Which is kind of ironic since my stew is a "why won't spring get here meal". I created this salad for a client last week and it looked very tasty. I wanted to add nuts to her salad but one of the family members has a nut allergy (but I don't, so let's get nuts).

Here's the ingredients

2 Tbls pear-infused vinegar (I made this at Christmas time, sherry vinegar would be a good replacement)
2 Tbls olive oil
salt and pepper
sugar or honey to taste
mache lettuce
strawberries, quartered or sliced
3 Tbls pecans, toasted
2 ounce goat cheese

I whisked together the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Tasted it for seasoning and added a pinch of sugar. I added the mache and tossed it to coat. I put this on the plate and topped it with the strawberries, pecans and goat cheese.

Pretty, no?

Alongside, I toasted up some sourdough bread which had been seasoned with olive oil, sea salt and pepper.

The stew didn't thicken up quite as much as I expected it to. I should have added a bit of flour when I added the garlic to the pan. However, the flavors were really nice. The strawberry salad was wonderful. Really good. Plus, the strawberries in the salad helped to remind me that spring weather will get here ... eventually.

Lunch Math

roll + mayonnaise + leftover brisket = awesome

awesome + pear + salt & vinegar chips = lunch

Brisket with Thyme and Garlic Smashed Potatoes

When we last left, I had made really good brisket as a test for an event at my church.

Before I started my recipe testing, I had done some reading about brisket cooking methods. One method that seemed to be widely shared was to cook the brisket one day then cool it and stick it in the fridge for a night or two. Then, while it was cold, it can be more easily de-fatted, then sliced and put back in the gravy to be reheated. The theory here is A) roast is better when it sits for a day or two B) it's easier to slice when it is cold and C) in theory you can't over cook it while reheating because the beef is already cooked to well-done.

So, after eating some of the brisket on Monday, tonight I reheated it using the method above.

Here's the roast straight out of the fridge.

Here it is with the fat removed

I took the beef out of the pan, sliced it and then put it back in the pan, spooning most of the onion mixture on top of the beef. It didn't seem like there was quite enough gravy in the pan, so I mixed together 1/3 cup each of beef stock and red wine and then added this to the pan. I put the lid on the dutch oven and then popped it into a 350 degree oven for an hour.

While this was cooking I started on my side dishes.

Here's the ingredients for the Thyme and Garlic Smashed Potatoes

1 pound new potatoes (these are ruby crescent potatoes which are a beautiful shade of pink when they are done)
1-2 Tbls olive oil
1 Tbls fresh thyme, chopped
4 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper

I placed my potatoes in a large sauce pan, covered them with water and brought the pan to a boil. I let the potatoes boil until they were fork tender then drained them. I put the pan back on the stove over medium heat, added the olive oil, then the garlic, thyme and salt and let this cook for about 30 seconds. Then I tossed the potatoes back into the pan and gave them a good smash with my flat-bottom whisk (I don't own a potato masher, multi-taskers only in my kitchen). I added some pepper, gave it a good stir and it was ready to go.

The buerre blanc sauce was so good with the snap peas on Monday that I decided to make it again.

Here the ingredients.

10 cute carrots
1 Tbls white balsamic vinegar
2 Tbls butter
1 Tbls lemon zest
a couple of pinches of kosher salt

I started by steaming my carrots until they were almost cooked. While they were cooking I started the buerre blanc.

Now, people seem to think that buerre blanc is had to make, but really, it's easy, it just needs a little attention. I started my buerre blanc with vinegar (because I want the tang) but any liquid (even water) can be used. And no matter how much sauce you want to make (whether it is two tablespoons of butter or two pounds), you only need to start with about a teaspoon of liquid (I'm using more because of the aforementioned tang).

I started by bringing the vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan.

Then I whisked in my butter one tablespoon at a time (that's important) waiting until each addition melts before adding another.

Once all my butter melted I added my lemon zest and salt to taste. Then I poured this over my steamed carrots.

So now, everything is done and/or warmed. So I plated it up.

So now, which dish will reign supreme?

While the flavor of the brisket improved (and it was easier to slice while cold), both the husband and I thought it was a bit drier rewarmed. The husband said that he actually likde the texture better, but I didn't think that the improved flavor was worth the dryness (because it was really good the first day).

The potatoes were really good, but both the husband and I thought that the flavor of the brisket completely overwhelmed the potatoes. The corn pudding was a better match in both flavor and texture.

The carrots and the snap peas both had the same sauce. The husband and I were split on which was better, he liked the carrots while I liked the snap peas. Since I'm the chef, my vote wins.

So the meals for the Seder meal will be:
Mediterranean Brisket
Savory Corn Bread Pudding
Snap Peas with White Balsamic Vinegar and Lemon Buerre Blanc

I still need to figure out dessert. But that is a project for future Jennifer.

Meanwhile I've got a lemon with no zest, which means I need to use that lemon right away. Cocktail time.

I was thinking lemon drop (because I've got a lemon, duh). But I wanted to give it a little twist, so here is what I came up with.

This Drink Needs a Name (Suggestions Welcome)

juice of one lemon
4 teaspoons sugar (plus additional for rim)
4 ounces gin

I ran the lemon around the rim of the glass and then dipped it in a shallow plate of sugar. Then I put it all the drink ingredients in the shaker with a couple of cubes and gave it a good shake. This makes enough for two drinks (or one really big one!).

Brisket with Savory Corn Bread Pudding

I have been asked by my church to create a Seder meal to be enjoyed by 80 or so congregation members the week before Easter. The good things about being Lutheran at Easter time are A) I don't have to give up anything for Lent and B) I don't have to keep the meal kosher (which provides many more options).

Last year I made braised lamb with couscous for the meal. Braises are great for a group because once you get them started you can just pop the pan in the oven to cook for a few hours while you work on the rest of the meal. Plus, they are really hard to ruin. And couscous is the easiest thing on the planet to cook (pour couscous in pan, add seasonings if desired, add boiling water to just above the couscous, cover for five minutes, fluff).

I obviously can't make the same things two years in a row but I think I've got a plan for a fairly low stress, really tasty meal.

I definitely want to stick with a braise (see above for my reasons) so I decided to do a brisket. I asked some friends if they had any great brisket recipes and this was my first response. It sounded really good so I decided to give it a test. I'd like to give credit to the author of the recipe but my friend said that she got it from her mom who probably got it from a magazine, or a Web site, so the origins of the recipe are unknown.

The original recipe calls for an 8-10 pound brisket. However, since this is just for husband and myself I halved the recipe for testing purposes. I know I will still have tons of leftovers, but I am not mad about that.

Here's the ingredients for the brisket

4-pound brisket
salt and pepper
1 Tbls oil from sun-dried tomatoes (see below)
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and sliced (oil reserved)
2 bay leaves
8 sprig fresh thyme (the recipe called for dried thyme but I had the fresh in the herb garden so I used it instead)
1 cup beef stock
1 cup dry red wine

Plus my brand-spanking new dutch oven (it was on clearance at the grocery store for $34.99, I had to buy it)

The brisket was pretty big so I cut it in half so that I could brown it in the dutch oven (plus I have a plan to try a method of reheating the brisket in a couple of days and I wanted to be able to split it evenly). I seasoned it really well with salt and pepper and then browned both pieces on both sides one at a time (I didn't want to crowd the pan because that leads to boiling not browning). I took the meat out of the pan then deglazed the pan with a little bit of the beef stock.

I added half the onions, half the sun-dried tomatoes, a couple of sprigs of thyme, the garlic and the tomatoes. Then I added the brisket and topped it with the remaining onions, sun-dried tomatoes and a couple more sprigs of thyme. I poured the rest of the beef stock and the wine over the top and then pushed the bay leaves down into the liquid.

I brought this up to a simmer, covered the pan with foil, added the lid and popped it all in a 350 degree oven for 4 hours.

While this was in the oven I started on the Corn Bread Pudding. I had some leftover corn bread in the fridge and this seemed like a very good use of it.

Here's the ingredients for the Savory Corn Bread Pudding

1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
6" x 9" square of cornbread, cut into large cubes
3 eggs
1 cup milk
8 cherry tomatoes, halved

I started by sauteing the onion and red bell pepper. Once they were done I combined them with the cornbread in a large bowl then poured this into a 9" x 9" dish. I whisked together the eggs with the milk and poured this over the cornbread. I then arranged the halved tomatoes over the top then popped this into the fridge for a couple of hours. When there was about an hour left in the cooking time of the brisket I drizzled a bit of olive oil over the dish, seasoned it with salt and pepper, then added the dish of corn bread pudding to the oven.

Smellovision would be good here because the smells coming out of the kitchen were so good. The brisket was falling apart and the onions and sun-dried tomatoes had kind of melted together into a tasty gravy.

The corn bread pudding was a really good accompaniment (and I think it would be really easy to prepare for the group).

The pudding had a nice crispy top which was good texturally with the brisket. My leftover cornbread happened to have corn and chipotle peppers in it. I think I will probably keep the corn but I will get rid of (or at least reduce) the chipotles (a lot of people really don't like spicy food).

The vegetable on the plate is steamed snap peas with a champagne vinegar and lemon buerre blanc sauce.

Tonights dinner was really good. On Wednesday I'm going to experiment with a method of reheating the brisket and a couple of different side dishes (so I can compare and contrast). I can hardly wait.

Chicken and Garbanzos over Lemony Chard and Tomatoes

A lot of the time I walk into the kitchen with no idea what I plan to make for dinner. This was one of those time. I basically just started pulling things out of the fridge (looking especially for things that were about to go wrong) trying to find items that would go nicely together.

I settled on a dish that took advantage of the one chicken breast and the half can of garbanzo beans that I had left over from earlier in the week. I also got some chard in my CSA box this week that I was ready to use and I had some cherry tomatoes that were starting to get wrinkly. For good measure I also decided to add a few sprigs of asparagus.

For the Lemony Chard and Tomatoes

1 bunch rainbow chard, stems separated, leaves and stems chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp red pepper flakes


For the Chicken and Garbanzos

4 slice center-cut bacon, diced
2 small shallots, sliced
1 chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
8 or so marinated artichokes
1/2 can garbanzo beans
2 Tbls fresh parsley, minced


For the Sauteed Asparagus


12 sprigs Asparagus
olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper

Now, I wanted all of this to finish up cooking at the same time, so that meant a bunch of pans and a bit of attention to timing.

In the chicken pan I sauteed the diced bacon, then removed it from the pan. Next I added the chicken and shallots to the pan and started them cooking. Meanwhile in the chard pan, I heated some olive oil then added my chard stems, tomatoes and red onion. Then, I heated olive oil in a third pan and tossed in the asparagus which I seasoned with salt and pepper.

Just as the chicken was finish cooking through I added the garlic, then I turned the pan down and added the artichokes and garbanzo beans to heat through. In the chard pan, I added a clove a garlic and the red pepper flakes let that saute for a few seconds and then added my chard leaves and the lemon juice. I let this saute until the greens were cooked through. While doing all this, I was tossing my asparagus occasionally so that it cooked evenly.


I added the cooked bacon and parsley to the chicken then checked everything for seasoning and plated it up. I started with a bed of Lemony Chard and Tomatoes, topped this with the Chicken and Garbanzos, then finished up with a few sprigs of asparagus and a sprinkle of parsley. I also made a bit of toast (buttered and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper) to accompany the meal.


The meal took on a definite Mediterranean feel. While I love bacon, in this dish it kind of vanished among all the other flavors, so I probably would leave this out and save the calories next time. I loved the flavors of this dish. The chard had a bit of warmth from the chile flakes and a great tang from the lemon which contrasted nicely with the creaminess or the garbanzo beans. The husband said it was really good, but that it would have been "better without the leafy green stuff". Fair enough, but I like the leafy green stuff and it's good for us, so that's what he is going to get. It pays to be the chef.

What the Husband Likes to Eat

At least he has pretty good presentation skills.