Beef and Barley Stew - Slow cooker

I have always preferred spring/summer to winter when it comes to vegetables.  But one thing I do love is a good Beef and Barley stew.  It's been a long time since I made one, but I just had a taste for it, so here is the recipe.

 

Beef Barley Stew for slow cooker (can be done on stove)

3 lb Chuck roast, fat trimmed and cut into ½ in pieces

2 Tbsp Olive oil

1 large onion

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 ½ cups red wine (may use broth)

2 sweet peppers, large dice (I used 1 red and 1 orange)

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

6 small stalks celery and leaves, cut into 1 inch pieces

8 cups beef broth

1 tsp dried thyme (use 1 Tbsp if fresh)

2 bay leaves

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup barley

 

1.      Trim chuck roast of fat and cut into bite-sized pieces.  Heat 1 Tbsp oil in large skillet over medium high heat and sear beef, in batches as necessary.  Place beef into base of slow cooker.

2.      Dice onions and and mushrooms (large pieces).  Heat rest of oil over medium heat in same skillet.  Add onions, cook until the onions start to look translucent.  Add mushrooms and cook another 5-8 minutes until liquid from mushrooms begins to evaporate.  Add garlic and cook for about a minute longer.  Pour vegetable mixture over beef.

3.      Turn off heat to skillet and pour wine into skillet to de-glaze pan (get all those good dark bits!).  Pour wine into slow cooker.

4.      Prepare peppers, carrots, and celery by cutting to large dice (bite-sized pieces).  Add to slow cooker.  Pour broth over all and add seasonings.  Mix well, then cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

5.      At end of cooking time, change to either SAUTE or HIGH to bring broth to a boil.  Add barley, cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Barley will continue to thicken the stew as time goes on.  Adjust seasonings and serve!

Note: I really prefer using my slow cookers for stews and soups.  However, this could be done in a Dutch oven by simmering for about 45 minutes to an hour after everything is added (except barley.  Test the vegetables and once they are cooked to taste, raise heat to bring back to boil and add barley.  

 

 

Sweet Corn & Chorizo

It has been SO long since I have blogged here.  I am not really sure why, other than the fact that my life has been in such a flux for the past couple years.  But I am finally settled for a little while, so I figured it was time to post a new recipe.  Our CSA started back up about a month ago.  I have been traveling so much that I have not managed to cook for a while, but tonight I needed to use up some corn.  I had already put up 12 ears a couple weeks ago, so I didn't want to freeze this batch.  So I decided it was time to give my slow cooker a workout too and make some chowder.  As I was putting it all together, I remembered that I had a beautiful Spanish chorizo, so I diced some of it and used it to flavor the chowder.

Corn & Chorizo Chowder

5 ears of corn*, kernels cut off
5 small red skin* potatoes
1 small candy onion*, chopped
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 oz Spanish chorizo, diced
1 cup evaporated milk or heavy cream

1. Cut corn kernels from the cob.  Set aside 1 cup kernels.  Add all ingredients into crock of slow-cooker.  Cover and cook on LOW until potatoes are cooked.

2. Remove half of the chowder to a blender.  Allow to cool slightly, then puree until smooth.  Return puree to crockpot and add evaporated milk or cream.  Cook on LOW until heated through.  Garnish with fresh corn, if desired.

*CSA ingredients

Caramelized Onions

The interesting part of this time of year is the availability of sweet onions at every farmers market, not to mention Vidalia onions at the grocery store. Now, in general, I am not an onion person. I cannot eat raw onions at all. I try, but it just makes me sick. But if you take a sweet onion and cook it long and slow over low heat, it becomes food candy. I adore caramelized onions and am especially fond of balsamic caramelized onions.

Yedterday, I woke up at 4:30 am and couldn't get back to sleep. I needed to make some breakfast for the week so I could get back on track after our vacation. I knew I didn't have a lot in my kitchen to work with, but I did remember I had a large sweet onion. While I didn't have bacon, I did have ham, so I decided to make a modified quiche lorainne.

Ham Quiche with Balsamic Onions

1 large candy onion*
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1-2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 thin slices smoked ham
6 large eggs**
1 1/2 cups milk
2 oz asiago/fontina cheese blend
Salt and pepper, go taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thinly and evenly slice the onion. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions ND cook, stirring until the onions become translucent. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking, stirring occassionally, until onions begin to turn golden brown. Cook, stirring frequently, until desired color.at the last couple minutes, add balsamic vinegar and finish cooking. This step deglazes the pan.

Chop the ham to small pieces (about 1/4 - inch dice). Add ham to the onions an cook until heated. Take this mixture ND place in the prepared baking dish.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until smooth. Continue beating as you slowly add the milk. The result should be a very smooth pale yellow. Season with salt and pepper. Pour eggs mixture over onion mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Note, when using strong cheeses, you need less, otherwise, they will overwhelm the other flavors.

Bake at 350 about 40-45 minutes until top is golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to set 5 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Note: I am in the habit of making crust less quiches. But I always regret not putting quiches like this in a crust. The savory crust is a nice contrast to the sweet onions. Consider using a crust for this recipe.

Pork, Heirloom Tomatoes and Apples

I am going to combine recipes on this post because I have been making all of these things at the same time.  My cousin, Chris Douglas and her husband, Don, were in town this weekend and asked if I was going to the farmer's market this morning.  Of course I will go to the farmer's market for the chance to catch up with them!  While I was there, I found (well, she found) my favorite heirloom tomatoes.  This is the solid orange ones.  The seller said they were valencia, but when you look them up online, they come up amana.  Either way, I have discovered that I really like these for making slow-roasted tomato sauce.  So, I bought two quarts (at least, that's the size container they put them in). 

On Thursday, after mom and I went to pick up the CSA, she wanted to go get some meats at Jack's Market.  While there, I decided to get a pork shoulder.  I ended up with twice what I intended to get, but today was the day to braise it and make pulled pork. 

And finally, at the farmer's market near school, I picked up some Paula Red apples.  They are a bit tart, so I stopped at Bayne's Apple Farm and picked up some Gingergold (I think), which are a bit sweeter.  Today, I am making applesauce out of them in my crockpot.  So, without further ado, here are my recipes:

Oven-Roasted Heirloom Tomato Sauce

• 10 medium valencia (or amana) heirloom tomatoes**
• Garlic cloves (I used 4)*
• Italian Seasoning
• Salt, as needed

Preheat oven to 250F.  Wash and dry the tomatoes.  Cut them in half and remove stem end.  Place cut side up on cookie sheet covered with foil.  Peel garlic cloves and intersperse them between the tomato halves.  Sprinkle all with Italian seasoning.  Roast in slow oven for 3 hours or until tomatoes are cooked through.  Remove from oven and transfer everything to blender bowl.  Puree until smooth.  Taste sauce and season, as needed, with salt.

*CSA Ingredients
**Farmers market ingredients


Braised Pork Shoulder
Adapted from: http://csafoodie.blogspot.com/2011/04/pork-shoulder.html

• 1 9-lb pork shoulder roast
• sea salt and pepper, to taste
• cayenne pepper
• 5-6 sprigs fresh lemon thyme
• 1 ancho chile, sliced*
• 1 med candy onion, thinly sliced*
• water

Season the roast with sea salt, pepper and cayenne.  Place in a large Dutch oven.  Add thyme, ancho pepper and onion slices.  Fill the Dutch oven halfway with water.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 4-5 hours or until thermometer inserted into the center reads 160-180F.  Remove roast to plate; cover and allow roast to sit at room tempurature for 10 minutes.  Drain onions and peppers and place in a large bowl. Skim fat off cooking liquid and save to use as pork stock.  Pull the pork, mix in the peppers and onions and then mix with BBQ sauce (I used my homemade sorgham bbq sauce).

 *CSA Ingredients


Slow-cooker Applesauce

• 4 Gingergold Apples
• 6 Paula Red Apples**
• 2 Tbs water
• Sugar (optional)

 Wash and dry the apples.  Peel the apples, remove the cores and then slice.  Place all apple slices into crockpot.  Sprinkle with water and mix until apples are all coated.  Cook covered, on LOW, for 4 hours, stirring periodically.  If needed, break up apples with potato masher.  If you prefer sweet applesauce, add sugar or sweetener.

   
 **Farmers market ingredients

Bread & Butter Pickles

They had some beautiful pickle cukes at the Saginaw farmers market this week, so I bought some with the intention of making refrigerator pickles.  As I was looking in my cupboard for vinegar, I realized I only had cider vinegar, which they don't recommend for regular pickles because it can discolor the pickles.  So, I searched refrigerator pickle recipes using cider vinegar and was reminded that I love bread and butter pickles, but had never tried to make them.  Thus, the recipe today.  As I was looking through my spice stash, I realized that while I did have mustard seed, I didn't have celery seed.  I did, however, have cumin seed and decided to see what would happen if I substituted.  I chose to use about half the amount and now that they have marinated some, I am glad I made that decision.  While it doesn't taste bad, it is different, and it could have been a little overwhelming.

Refrigerator Bread & Butter Pickles

• 8 pickle cucumbers**
• 1 medium candy onion**
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1.5 tsp yellow mustard seed
• 1/4 tsp cumin seed (recipe recommended celery seed)
• 1/8 tsp tumeric

Wash and thinly slice cucumbers.  Thinly slice onion and mix with cucumbers.  Mix remaining ingredients in medium bowl until sugar is dissolved.  Pour over vegetables and mix well.  Refrigerate stirring once a day for about 10 days.  Will keep in refrigerator for about a month.

**Farmers market ingredients