Simply Recipes: Irish Beef Stew

My mom has been making beef stew for years, mostly in the colder months, but it always has kind-of a bland flavor to it. I've longed for something punchier, with more flavor, more oomph. When I saw the recipe for Irish Beef Stew, with Guinness and tomato paste, I decided I might have hit the jackpot. The result? Rich, flavorful, and satisfying.

Irish Beef Stew
From Simply Recipes, based on a recipe from Fidel Murphy's Irish Pub on Grand Cayman Island

¼ cup olive oil

1¼ pounds stew beef (1-inch pieces)

6 large garlic cloves, minced

6 cups beef stock

1 cup Guinness beer
1 cup red wine

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped, or 1 bag pearl onions

2 cups carrots, peeled and cut in ½-inch pieces

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley

Heat olive oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and sauté until brown on all sides, about five minutes. Add garlic and sauté one minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

While meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onions, and carrots. Saute vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew has simmered for at least one hour.

Check beef meat for doneness. If beef is still tough, cook for additional half hour. When beef is tender, add vegetables to stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Salt and pepper to taste. Top individual servings with parsley.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook: Classic Blondies

I am looking for a blondie recipe.  Maybe I should post a wanted ad.  Wanted: one blondie, halfway between a cookie and a brownie, preferably with lots of sweet goodness folded inside.  While this one works on some levels, and is obviously delicious in its own right, it's not quite there.  The search will continue.  And no, I'm not particularly sad about that fact.

Classic Blondies
From The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook

8 ounces White Chocolate baking bar, broken or chopped into 1-inch pieces
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 large eggs
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips or Milk Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.  Grease the paper.

In the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, melt the white chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the eggs until foamy.  With the mixer running, add the sugar in a slow, steady stream.  Add the vanilla.  Add the melted chocolate and butter in a thin stream.  With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour, salt, and chocolate chips until well combined.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the center.  Let the brownies cool for at least 10 minutes.  Cut and serve warm or at room temperature.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes 16 bars

Semi-Homemade Cooking 3: Fried Pork Chops and Cajun Mashed Potatoes

When you review cookbooks, sometimes you don't get to decide what comes in the mail.  Sometimes it's something that you would rather not mess with.  Like all this convenience cooking stuff.  But then you try a recipe that has promise, and it's actually good.  Like this pork chop.  With the fabulous crunchy coating.  But the purchased tub of potatoes still get a thumbs down.  How hard is it to boil some potatoes?

Fried Pork Chops
Adapted from Semi-Homemade Cooking 3 by Sandra Lee

4 bone-in pork chops, cut 1-inch thick
1 cup Bisquick baking mix
1 (1.6-ounce) packet dry ranch dressing mix
2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons canola oil

Rinse pork chops with cold water; do not pat dry. In a shallow bowl, stir together baking mix, sauce mix, and paprika. Dredge pork chops in coating mixture and shake off excess.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown pork chops on all sides in oil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until done, about 10 to 12 minutes, turning occasionally. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

Cajun Mashed Potatoes

From Semi-Homemade Cooking 3 by Sandra Lee

1 (24-ounce) container mashed potatoes
¼ cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

Heat mashed potatoes, in container, uncovered on HIGH for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring once. Transfer mashed potatoes to a medium bowl. Add buttermilk and Cajun seasoning. Stir thoroughly. Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings

Semi-Homemade Cooking 3: Niçoise on a Roll (Nice-Style Tuna Salad Sandwich)

As part of cookbook reviews that I do, I was tapped to review a Sandra Lee cookbook. Now, I'm not normally a big Sandra Lee fan, but I did find a few recipes in the book that were tasty and fast and semi-nutritious. My favorite has to be the Niçoise on a Roll.  It's got canned tuna, nicoise olives, capers, and hard-boiled eggs, and when served ice cold on a potato roll with plenty of lettuce, tomato, and onions, it's heavenly on a hot summer afternoon.

Niçoise on a Roll (Nice-Style Tuna Salad Sandwich)

From Semi-Homemade Cooking 3 by Sandra Lee

1 (6-ounce) can oil-packed tuna, drained

2 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon capers

10 niçoise olives

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon fines herbes

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 round potato buns

2 Bibb lettuce leaves

6 slices Roma tomato

¼ red onion, peeled and thinly sliced into rings

Combine tuna, eggs, capers, olives, mayonnaise, fines herbes, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl.  Mix thoroughly.

Open potato buns and place one lettuce leaf on the bottom half of each bun.  Divide tuna mixture between the two sandwiches.  Top each with three tomato slices and red onion rings.