Slow-cooker Beef Stew with Barley

 My husband really loves beef stew with barley and it has been forever since I last made it.  So, while I was out shopping last week, I found some beautiful beef tips and decided it was time to make it again.  Now, I will admit, I love beef stew, but I am not usually the best at making it.  It usually comes out too thin, like a soup instead of stew.  But this time I found a different recipe that I thought might help me do it right, and BOY was I right.  Now, I will reference the recipe here, but I really only took the base out of the recipe.  The rest is all me and what I prefer in my stew. 

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Adapted from: https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/moms-slow-cooker-beef-stew/

2 ½ stew beef (I used beef tips for this batch)

2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

3 medium carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces

8 oz mini bella mushrooms, quartered

1 lg red pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces

4 cups beef stock

1 cup red wine (I used pinot noir)

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 sprigs fresh thyme

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1/3 cup flour

½ cup pearled barley

1.        In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over med-high heat.  Add beef in batches and sear until all sides are browned.  Remove to slow cooker.  Repeat until all beef is seared. 

2.        Add broth, wine, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, thyme. garlic, bay leaves, carrots, mushrooms, and red peppers to the slow cooker and mix well. 

3.        Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours (I needed 6 hours for the tips, probably need 8 hours for chuck stew meat).  After about 3 hours of cooking time, pull about 2 cups of liquid from the pot and mix in flour until smooth.  Then add that back to the pot and continue cooking on LOW.

4.        At the end of the cooking time, raise the temperature to HIGH and wait until the liquid starts to boil.  Add the barley and cook another 25 minutes, or until the barley is cooked through.

 

 

Crustless Asparagus and Mushroom Quiche

 Every week, I make a crustless quiche to have for breakfasts for the week. What goes into it depends what I have on hand. When I went shopping this week, I found a beautiful bunch of asparagus. Today, I felt like asparagus, mushroom, roasted red pepper and bacon. I admit, I took the shortcut on the mushrooms, but you could easily use fresh mushrooms. If you do, I would saute them in butter to cook off as much water as you can (plus give it a really nice flavor). As for seasonings, I just add what sounds good to me.

Crustless Asparagus and Mushroom Quiche

1 lb asparagus, cut in 1" pieces

2 4oz cans mushroom pieces, drained

1 lg roasted red pepper, diced

2 cups low-fat cottage cheese

2 cups cheddar/parmesan blend, divided

8 slices cooked bacon, diced

12 large eggs

3 cups 2% milk

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mixed ground pepper

1 tbsp chives

1 tbsp dried basil (fresh is better)

1 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 375⁰ F.  Place asparagus in a microwaveable bowl with 2 tbsp water. Cook for 4 minutes. Set aside. If using canned mushrooms, drain. Chop pepper and bacon. In a prepared baking dish (I use a half chafing pan), spoon in cottage cheese, vegetables, bacon and 1 cup cheese. Lightly mix to distribute ingredients. 

In a large bowl, whisk eggs with seasonings until uniform color. Slowly whisk in the milk until mixture is a uniform lemon color. Pour over filling and sprinkle with remaining cheese.   Bake for 40 minutes or until set in center. Allow to rest 10 minutes before serving.

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.  

 

 

Zucchini & Corn

The one thing that I have gotten a lot of this summer so far is zucchini and summer squash.  And this week, we got our first ears of corn.  So, I looked around and finally decided to make a quiche using these two ingredients.  The corn, when I cut it from the cobs was super sweet, a nice surprise so early in the season!

Zucchini Corn Quiche

This is not an original recipe to me.  It is an adaptation of this recipe: http://pinchofyum.com/sweet-corn-zucchini-pie

• 4 tablespoons butter
• Whole sweet onion, diced
• 2 ears sweet corn*
• 1 large zucchini*, sliced very thinly (about 2 cups)
• 1 large yellow summer squash*, sliced very thinly (about 2 cups)
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1 tsp fresh basil*
• 1/2 tsp fresh oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
• 4 eggs*, beaten
• 1 cup 1% milk 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. While the veggies saute, cut the corn kernels off the cob. Add them to the pan and continue to saute until the veggies are soft, 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat to a bowl lined with cheesecloth.  Once cooled enough to handle, twist cheesecloth to press out as much liquid as possible (this will prevent the quiche from being too wet.

Stir in the basil, oregano, salt, cheese, and the beaten egg. Line a pie pan (9-inch or larger) with parchment paper or just grease a pan with nonstick spray. Transfer the mixture to the pan. Arrange the top so the zucchini slices lay flat and look nice. Top with a little extra cheese for looks and bake for 40 minutes. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before cutting into slices.

*CSA ingredients

Tomatoes & Beef

I love productive days.  Today it was productive because I managed to get caught up on most of my school work.  But I also got a bunch of cooking and baking done.

So, lets start with the cooking.  I am from a Sicilian/Irish family (with some other UK islands mixed in there).  Because of that, Italian was a staple in our house.  But since my gastric surgery, I don't really eat pasta, so Italian is rather non-existent.  I did, however, have a couple pounds of ground beef to use up and really had a taste for my mom's meat sauce, so I recreated it in my new crockpot.

Meaty Mushroom Spaghetti Sauce

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 8 oz sliced button mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbsp mince garlic
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes, broken up
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until just translucent.  Add mushrooms and continue cooking until moisture is evaporated.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Pour into crockpot.

Return pan to heat and saute beef, breaking up as cooking, until no longer pink.  Add this to the crock pot.  Add the tomatoes, seasonings and cheese.  Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on LOW.

Gearing Up For CSA!

I know it's been forever since I have regularly posted here.  You should know that a lot has happened in the last year.  I started my first year as assistant professor of accounting at Saginaw Valley State University and it was so much more than I could have asked for.  Not only did I have a successful year teaching, but I managed to get a paper submitted for publication and was written up in the Interior newsletter.  They only highlight a couple professors/staff member a month, so I am humbled by this and happy that this wonderful honor will appear in my PPC folder for my first year of being faculty.  I have been to India and a meeting in New Orleans.  I have worked on important committees and just had a really great year.

Last week, they replaced my left knee, so I am in the process of recuperating from that.  It is going very, very well. I am already graduated from walker to cane.  My range of motion is already better than it was before surgery.  I couldn't be happier with my progress.

I did cook the other morning, making a quiche, but did not get a photograph of the finished quiche.  But I don't think that means I shouldn't post the recipe, so I will do that now.  Mom had spinach, mushrooms and onions in the refrigerator, as well as a selections of meats.  I chose ham for my protein and used sharp cheddar for the cheese.  Mom helped a lot because I am still restricted in my movements, but I put it all together for them to bake.  Here's the recipe:

Cheddar Ham Spinach Quiche

• 5 large farm fresh eggs*
• 1 1/4 cup 1/2% milk
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach, torn
• 4 oz thinly sliced ham, torn
• 1/2 cup button mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1/2 tsp freeze-dried basil
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Dice onions and mushrooms and saute them until onions begin to become translucent. Tear spinach and ham and put in bottom of prepared baking pan (9" round baking pan).  Sprinkle with mushrooms and onions.  Then sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs; add milk and continue to beat until mixed well.  Add seasonings; pour carefully over the filling.  Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 35 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.  Allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.


I didn't mention that my egg CSA has started.  Each week, I will received 1 dozen farm-fresh eggs.  It was interesting that the range of sizes were great within the dozen and some were white while others were brown.  It doesn't matter that there is such a difference, but I found it fascinating because the eggs that I received from my CSA in Cleveland were always uniform in size and the same color.  I am guessing that the farm we received them from in Cleveland was a much bigger farm that my current CSA.

So, now, it is time for me to give a shout-out to my new CSA.  I finally decided to go with Middleton Farm CSA out of Coleman, MI.  I have gotten to know them over the last year because I bought much of my meat from them each week when I went to the farmers market last summer.  I purchased the egg CSA, which started at the beginning of may and a quarter share of the Harvest Share CSA, which will start sometime in June.  I think the beginning is up in the air because of the cold wet weather we have been having this spring.  However, they did send an email last week saying that they were starting planting, so hopefully, we will start close to the scheduled time.  This group also offers several meat CSA plans, which, at some point I should be able to afford.  But for now, I will continue to buy my meats from them at the market as needed.  Oh, the interesting thing about how they do their Harvest Share CSA is that you go to the market and they hand you the proper size container for your share.  You then can fill that container with whatever you would like from the produce available that week.  Both my mom and I really like this idea as we will get what we want and will use.  I hope I am brave enough to try different things as they are available (one of the reasons I was attracted to CSAs in the first place), however, I will enjoy being able to control the amount of greens and items like turnips that I receive.

Middleton Farms CSA delivers in Midland and Mt. Pleasant and has pick up at the Midland Farmer's Market as well.  The shares include being able to go to the farm to pick up additional items as well.  It looks to be the beginning of a great relationship!  For information on the CSA, you can go to their website: http://www.middletonfarmcsa.com/.

*CSA ingredients

Mulligatawny Stew

I have seen recipe after recipe for Mulligatawny stew.  I don't know why, but when I was much younger, I thought this stew came from Australia, but I now know that the origin is actually Anglo-Indian.  The name, Tamil in origin, literally translates to pepper water.  While there is no traditional form, the recipe I followed today gets it's color and flavor from curry powder.  I have added mushrooms because I needed to use them up.  And I chose to use leeks instead of onions.  But it smells lovely and looks quite yummy.  Oh yeah, the thing that has always intrigued me beyond the curry base is the fact that almost every recipe calls for a tart apple.  I love curry and apples!

Mulligatawny Stew
Adapted from: 1001 Low-carb Recipes by Dana Carpender, pg 190

• 2 quarts chicken stock (I used homemade)
• 2 cups shredded chicken (leftover rotissierie)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil (original recipe calls for butter or ghee)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 leeks, sliced
• 1 small carrot, shredded
• 2 ribs celery, diced (include leaves)
• 1 1/2 heaping tbsp curry powder (adjust this to taste)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tart apple, chopped fine
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dehydrated lemon zest
• 1 cup evaporated skimmed milk

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.  Add the leeks and sweat until softened.  Add the mushrooms, carrot, celery and curry powder.  Cook until the vegetables are fork tender.

Add stock, chicken, cooked vegetables, bay leaf, apple and seasonings to the crock of a slow cooker.  Cook on HIGH for 2 hours.  Then reduce heat and cook overnight on low.  Just before serving, add the evaporated milk and remove the bay leaf.

Carbonara (Low-carb)

I know it's been a really long time since I posted a recipe. It's been a crazy few months! I haven't actually been doing much cooking. But now that my life is straightening out I'll try to get on here more often. Tonight, I needed to use a spaghetti squash (my now favorite pasta substitute). I was thinking tetrazzi but it took to long for me to figure out the recipe, so I settled for carbonara. (yeah, right, settled). I am a purist when it comes to carbonara. I does NOT have cream in it. It is a hunter's dish and dairy wouldn't survive hunts. So, be aware that it has slightly undercooked eggs in it and that is always a risk. (there's my disclaimer) But I've been making similar versions for decades and never had a problem. You may choose to cook it longer, but know it will resemble scrambled eggs if you do, instead of a nice creamed sauce.

 Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

•  4 slices thick-cut bacon*
•  8 oz sliced porcini mushrooms 
•  1 cup frozen peas
•  1 medium spaghetti squash*, cooked
•  1 medium onion*, diced
•  2 cloves garlic*, minced
• 3 eggs*
• salt and pepper
• 1/2cup parmesan, shredded

Cook bacon in skillet until crispy. Remove bacon, cool, and break into bite-sized pieces. Add mushrooms, onions and garlic to bacon fat. Cook until onions and mushrooms are soft. Add spaghetti squash and heat through. whip eggs with salt and pepper; add parmesan. Remove vegetables from burner. Pour eggs over vegetables and mix well. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, until parmesan is melted. Serve with additional parmesan.

*CSA ingredients