Old-Fashioned Chicken in a Pot

Chicken.  It's my favorite.  I can't ever get enough of it.  Pork and beef I can easily do without, but chicken?  Nope.  

Another one of those holy grail-type recipes is fried chicken, and I am bound and determined to make that one day.  My grandmother makes the best in the entire world.  My mother fought with it for years.  And pounds and pounds of undercooked and/or burnt chicken later (and after a really, really bad burn on her hand and arm) she realized: You know what?  It's just not worth it.

But I must!  It's just one of those things.  If you can make fried chicken from scratch, in your own home, and without a real deep-fryer, then you can pretty much make anything.  I'd really have to mentally prepare for it.  The oil has to be really hot and the thought of trying to put a piece of chicken in the pot and scalding my arm scares me.  Just laying it out there.  It's scary.  Making fried chicken is scary.

But I'll get there.

I began with mentioning chicken because that's what I made today.  Last weekend my wonderful mother-in-law gave me Cook's Illustrated's American Classics.  It's this great book/magazine filled with recipes my grandmother used to make me: chicken-fried steak, ribs, fried fish, you name it.  Those good-ole' comfort foods.  It's also unique in that it provides a lot of the basic cooking know-how.  For example, I didn't know that if you don't pat meat completely dry before putting it in the pan that it won't brown correctly.  Or that browning is exactly what boosts flavor in meat.  Or that not letting meat sit for at least five minutes after you remove it from the oven or stovetop will make it dry and tough.  The book even goes into how to correctly clean and cut different types of vegetables and makes recommendations about especially good ingredients and cooking products.  It's great.  My husband likes it because it talks about all the science in cooking.  It's a winner winner, chicken dinner.  Funny!  That's what we had tonight.

THE MISSION: Old-Fashioned Chicken in a Pot

THE INGREDIENTS: 1 whole chicken (4.5 - 5 pounds) trimmed of excess fat, S&P, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 onion peeled and halved with the root end left intact, 1 celery rib halved crosswise, 1 pound carrots peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces, 6 medium garlic cloves minced, 1 cup dry white wine, 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, 1.5 pounds small red potatoes quartered, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives.    

I skipped the celery and here's why: I don't eat celery unless it's part of a dish.  And I wasn't going to buy a gigantic package of celery to use 1 piece of it.  Believe me, the dish wasn't missing a piece of celery.  The recipe has you throw it out after cooking anyway!  I also couldn't find a chicken as big as the recipe called for.  The one pictured above was just under 4 pounds and the cooking time was the same.  Use what you can find.

The beginning of the recipe notes that you'll need at least a 6-quart Dutch oven with a tight fitting lid and kitchen twine to make this meal.  Luckily, I found a whole chicken that had already been tied off by the butcher, so I didn't need to pick up any kitchen twine.  I have a feeling most whole chickens are already tied off, and the kitchen twine didn't really get in the way of flavoring the chicken before cooking it.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Pat chicken dry with paper towels.  Using fingers, loosen skin from breasts and legs of chicken.  Rub 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper all over the chicken and underneath skin.  Tuck wings behind back and tie legs together with kitchen twine.  

Behold.  That's my hand under the chicken's skin.  I'm not embarrassed to admit that this is my very first time handling a whole chicken, let alone sticking my hand under that poor (delicious) animal's skin.  I just kind of did it and tried not to think about the cute little gal walking around the hen house all happy-go-lucky.  Dealing with animal meat is just a weird experience.  My husband and I have a friend who skinned a whole lamb once.  Craziness.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Add chicken, breast side up, and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes.  

Here's why this cookbook is so great.  It explains why exactly you're just browning one side of the chicken for 4 minutes.  And it's really interesting (or at least I think it is) so I'm going to share it with you.  Dark meat (what's on the underside of the chicken - the side that's getting browned in the picture above) takes longer to cook through than the delicate white meats.  By browning it, you're getting the cooking process started early on that one side.  If you didn't do this step, by the time the dark meat was cooked through and tender, the white meat would be tough and completely dried out.  As you'll see from the rest of the recipe in just a second here, this chicken will eventually end up in the oven getting steamed away by a glorious combination of chicken stock, wine, and vegetable aromatics (the book's word, not mine).  Both the white and dark meat end up tender and delicious.  So now you know.  If you're going to roast or steam a whole chicken, brown the dark meat side for a few minutes first.

Transfer chicken to a plate.  Add remaining oil, onion, celery, and carrots to empty Dutch oven and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  

Add wine and broth and bring to a boil.  Arrange chicken, breast side up, on top of vegetables.  Season potatoes with S&P and arrange around chicken.  

Here's another interesting piece of advice.  By placing the chicken on top of all of the vegetables, you prevent it from overcooking.  The vegetables keep the chicken away from the very hot bottom of the pan while letting it cook through from the steam of the liquids in the Dutch oven.  The vegetables also flavor the chicken while it's cooking.

Isn't this cooking stuff interesting?!

Transfer Dutch oven to oven and cook, covered, until thigh meat registers 170 to 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 50 to 70 minutes.  Remove Dutch oven from oven and transfer to wire rack.  Remove lid and tent Dutch oven loosely with foil; let rest 20 minutes.  

That's what it looked like when the foil came off.  She was all like: Eat me please.  I'm delicious.

Carefully transfer chicken to carving board.  Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to serving platter, discarding the onion and celery.  

 
Here's one thing I didn't get.  Onions are best when they're roasted.  I get that the recipe has you add one to the pot to add to the overall flavor of the chicken and vegetables.  But I think it would have been better to have some of the roasted onion in the vegetable mixture.

Let sit for 5 minutes, then strain and skim sauce (about 2 cups; if less, supplement with chicken broth).  Whisk butter and chives into sauce and season with S&P to taste.  

Carve chicken and serve, passing sauce at table.  

MISSION COMPLETE: 

DEBRIEFING: The chicken was the most tender chicken I've ever had.  I only had the white meat, but my husband said the dark meat was just as tender.  He actually said it was the best chicken he's ever had.  And if you don't know him, he's really not the humoring type.  It made my day.  And this is why I follow recipes so closely!  Everything (usually) pans out!

The sauce was buttery, like heaven.  It wasn't thick like a gravy, just a light buttery sauce that we poured over the chicken meat and all of the vegetables.

It was my first time handling a whole chicken and it was my husband's first time carving a whole chicken.  That-there Google and YouTube sure come in handy.  You can find anything and everything on there.  All he did was put 'carving a whole chicken' into the query field and there popped up hundreds of videos that walk you through step-by-step.  He did a really good job, too.

Another smashing success that only required 1 pot to make.  Splendid.  

The meal ended with this:

Carrot cake.  My favorite.

Tomorrow's Monday.  Back to the grind.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Rachel      

Cod & Shrimp Stoup w/Mashed Potatoes

It saddens me that I couldn't really update at all last week/this week.  We went J's parents' lake house last weekend and then on Sunday night we celebrated his uncle's birthday.  There went my preferred weekend cooking opportunities.  It was worth it.  We had a wonderful time.

TGIF, am I right?!  Long week, happy it's the weekend.  It's the official beginning of what my husband likes to call my 'birthday season.'  His family doesn't just celebrate one day for a birthday, oh no.  You get a whole season.  Mine begins today.  J and I are going out to purchase my birthday gift (which I still am not sure I know what it is) and then out for a nice dinner at a restaurant I've wanted to try.  Very exciting.  And I think I'm going to go see Crazy, Stupid Love tomorrow.  It looks so good.  And Ryan Gosling is in it so no matter how bad it is, it isn't that bad.  Woof.

I had a good day at work yesterday and was itching to make something new for dinner.  I whipped out Rachael Ray's Look + Cook and decided upon her Cod & Shrimp Stoup with mashed potatoes.  I think the word 'stoup' is a combo of 'stew' and 'soup.'  Basically it just means a thinner, yet hardy, stew.  I was inspired to try this by a meal I had with my mother when I was home in WI last time.  It was a seafood stew in a light tomato broth with hints of garlic, lemon, and white wine.  This recipe had all of those.  Bullseye!  

I'll preface this with a price tag warning: Fresh fish and shrimp isn't cheap.  This recipe calls for 1.5 pounds of cod and 1 pound of shrimp and it made a nice little dent in my pocket.  But everything else was really inexpensive.  So if you have frozen versions of each of those, use that instead.  I splurged a little bit on some really nice, fresh seafood.

I never really realized how much 1.5 pounds of fish is either.  It's a lot of fish.  Mmmm goodness.

I don't know if you can tell, but those are two very large, and very thick, cod fillets.  I got them from the fish monger at the local fancy-lady grocery store.  Fish monger...monger...what a funny word.  The nerd in me must get a dictionary and find out the true meaning of the word 'monger.'

According to dictionary.com, 'monger' is 'chiefly British' and means 'a dealer in or trader of a commodity.'  Well, duh.  I got that from context.  But does that mean I'm a grants monger?  And my Mom is a dental insurance monger?  And my Dad is a garage door monger?  Yes, yes it does.  I think I'd better update my resume.  (Squirrel!)  

Before we get started with the cooking portion of this blog update (and I promise you, we will eventually get there), I want to introduce you to the newest members of my kitchen.

Aren't they amazing!?!?!?  They're little sumo salt and pepper shakers.  They're pretty much the most adorable thing in my house right now.  Outside of my little sous chef, Aldo.  More on him later.

THE MISSION: Cod & Shrimp Stoup with Mashed Potatoes  

The recipe in the cookbook is actually for salt and vinegar mashed potatoes, but I just couldn't decide how I felt about that.  I played it safe with regular, good ole' mashed taters.

THE INGREDIENTS: 4 large Idaho potatoes peeled and thickly sliced, S&P, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 onions thinly sliced, 3 to 4 celery stalks chopped, 3 to 4 garlic cloves finely chopped, 1 large fresh bay leaf, 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme chopped, zest and juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 cup dry white wine (Note: always an awesome ingredient because then you have 1 bottle minus 1/2 cup left to drink), 1 cup chicken stock, 1 15-oz can diced or stewed tomatoes, 1.5 pounds cod cut into thick chunks, 1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp, 2 tablespoons butter.

The only difference from the above list if you wanted to try the vinegar mashed potatoes is 1/4 cup white balsamic or white wine vinegar.  Just throw that in when you mash your potatoes.

Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil.  Salt the water and cook the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes.  Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large deep skillet over medium-high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the onions, celery, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and lemon zest.  Season with S&P and cook until the onions and celery are tender, 7 to 8 minutes.  

For this recipe I used a dried bay leaf and dried thyme.  They worked fine.  I'm getting to the point that unless an herb is a prominent ingredient, I use the dried version.  They don't go bad in 2 days.  Every time I buy fresh Italian parley, though it's not expensive, it comes in this HUGE bundle, I use a few stems and end up throwing the rest away.  I hate that.  Fresh rosemary stems are about the only things that keep well in the refrigerator for more than a few days.


While writing this I also just realized I make a lot of soup-y things.  Hmm.  Wonder why that is.


Deglaze the pan with the wine and stir for 1 minute.  


I love deglazing pans.  It's just fun.  It's like cleaning with a purpose.  And for those of you who don't know what 'deglazing' is, it basically just means scraping up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.  That's where all the goodness lies.


Add 1/4 cup of the stock and the tomatoes and bring to a bubble.  

Add the cod, cover, cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then stir in the shrimp, season with S&P, cover again, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes more.  Remove the lid, stir in the lemon juice, and remove the bay leaf.  

Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot pot.  Mash the potatoes with the butter and remaining 1/4 cup of stock.  Season with salt to taste.  

To serve, scoop the potatoes into mounds in shallow bowls, then ladle the stoup around the potatoes.  

MISSION COMPLETE:

DEBRIEFING: Easy and quick to make?  Check.  Lots of leftovers?  Check.  Hearty?  Check.  Lots of flavor?  Mehhhh....not really.  But lucky for you, I've made it already and can offer some pointers. 

Don't get me wrong, it did taste really good.  I just wanted more flavor.  So here's my advice.  

1) Use at least another 1/2 can of the tomatoes.  

2) Use another splash of wine.

3) Add more fresh lemon juice.

4) Give it a little kick by adding in some crushed red pepper flakes.  

I'm not a big spice person, but I thought just a little hint of spice would have been really good here.  Also, we're big broth people.  (Big broth people exist...who knew?)  There was way more fish, shrimp, and vegetables than broth.  That's why I think adding the 4 things listed above would not only add to the flavors, but also provide more broth.  It was way too heavy on the fish and shrimp.  And I'm all about the seafood.  

Nix the potatoes all together.  They didn't add anything to the dish and I didn't like the two together.  Replace with crusty bread.  Yum.  Can't ever have enough bread.  And wine.  

The funny thing was that it tasted better the next day.  I don't know if it's that the ingredients had more time to kind of stew together (no pun intended) or what, but it really did.   

I think I'm going to try something else tomorrow so expect another update soon.  

Sous Chef Lt. Aldo Raine is now tweeting somehow.  I know nothing about it.  All I know is that my husband sure spends a lot of time on his iPhone giggling.  

Here's a message from Aldo himself.  He wants you to follow him here: http://twitter.com/#!/AldoTheDog

 Aldo says: I'm sad.  Where's my tennis ball?

Aldo says: Oh!  There it is!

Aldo days: It's mine!  And you can't have it, woman.

He's got such an attitude.  Those rebellious teenage years, I suppose.  

It's now Saturday.  This post took 2 days to finish because of my oh-so-busy schedule.  Starting a new book for my old lady book club tonight. With Dirty Shirleys.  Well, to be honest, the Dirty Shirley part has already started.  

Cheers!

Rachel  

Smoky Corn Chowder

Finally.  Tomorrow is Friday.  Two weeks into the new job and I'm mentally exhausted from learning all of the new things I have to learn.  The job is great, I'm always busy, but even just into the second week I've been putting in really long days.  Yesterday I worked 6:30 to 5:30.  I've been joking with J and my Mom that my company is really getting the better end of this deal.  But, alas.  Work is work and I'm so fortunate: I got a job right after finishing school, it's a job I love, and with this economy?  Lucky girl, I am.

Though it has been in the 90s again all week, I felt like my Smoky Corn Chowder last night.  I really like to make things that have lots of leftovers.  And I thought J had taken it for lunch today but he hadn't.  So I had a delicious dinner again tonight!  Tonight is the season finale of "The Real Housewives of New York City."  In their honor I'm enjoying some Skinny Girl margaritas.  A good end to a looooooong day.  Let's make some chowda'!

THE MISSION: 

This recipe comes out of Real Simple's Easy, Delicious Meals.  I chose it last night for 3 reasons.  1) It gave me a reason to use my immersion blender!  2) It gave me a reason to use my Mario Batali soup pot!

I get all happy just looking at it!  And 3) Bacon + corn.  I'd like to add here that I don't eat bacon in every meal.  I was scanning the last few posts and it really appears that I do, but that is not the case.  I actually eat really healthily every day.  For lunch I always have a low-fat yogurt, carrot sticks, a piece of fruit, and turkey on whole wheat sandwich thins.  I'm all about eating right and exercising.  And if you do those two simple things, you can enjoy bacon once in a while!  Or once in a week, depending on your personal bacon inventory.

THE INGREDIENTS: 8 ounces bacon cut in 1/2-inch pieces, 1 large sweet onion chopped, 2 cloves garlic finely chopped, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 2 10-ounce packages frozen corn, 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, 1 cup half-and-half, S&P.

I usually make a lot more than I made last night, doubling every ingredient.  It freezes really well.  Also! That onion in the picture there?  I cut into it last night and more than half of it was rotten!  You couldn't tell from the outside and it was firm when I picked it up.  I was able to get enough out of it and chopped the good stuff up into really small pieces.  But I was more than annoyed.  Lunds, I want my money back.

Cook the bacon in a large saucepan/Dutch oven/soup pot over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.  

I really never understand cooking times in recipes for anything on the stove top.  The bacon takes far longer than '6 to 8 minutes.'  If you try making this at home, let ye be warned: when the recipe says 'crisp,' it means it.  If you leave the bacon at all chewy, you will have chewy bacon in your soup.  And trust me, that isn't as good as it sounds.  Think crispy.

Spoon off and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings and return the pan to medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes.  Add the garlic, paprika, and red pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.  

If you use a Dutch oven or soup pot, this is the time to scrape up all those yummy brown bits on the bottom.  If you use a non-stick saucepan it's not necessary because...well...the bacon doesn't stick.  (Hence the name.)

Stir in the corn, broth, and half-and-half and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth.  Return to the pot and stir in 1/2 teaspoon S&P.  


This is where I got to use the immersion blender.  I can't wait until fall so I can make butternut squash soup.  Anyway, before I got the immersion blender I just used a good old fashioned blender and it works perfectly.  But now that I have an immersion blender...

If you have one or it's your first time using it, keep in mind that if you don't place the blender low enough in the liquid, it will splatter everywhere and destroy your kitchen.  If you place the blender too low in the liquid, it will potentially scratch up your pot.

MISSION COMPLETE: 

It's hard to tell, but the soup has a cool corn-yellow color.

DEBRIEFING: I've made this soup many-a-time and I've played around with different ingredients.  Once I used canned potatoes and threw them in when you add the corn.  That was awesome because not only do some of the potatoes get blended up and make the soup extra thick, but you get chunks of potatoes in every bite, too.  Can't go wrong with potatoes.  Another time I added in pieces of rotisserie chicken (the kind that you buy all ready-to-go at the grocery store).  

Eat it with cut up pieces of a baguette.

The soup always comes out 'smoky' but you can adjust the crushed red pepper according to how spicy you like your food.  I know my Dad would throw in some Frank's Red Hot.

Going to the lake this weekend!  I am crossing my fingers that the weather will be nice.  I need some serious on-the-lake time, sitting on the pontoon with my boys.

Cheers,
Rachel

Parker's Beef Stew

Okay, so first things first: I've noticed that people I don't actually know are following my blog.  I can't even begin to describe how exciting that is for me.  I started out doing this thinking it would simply be something for me, learning to cook, keeping up those writing chops.  So thank you to everyone for going through this adventure with me.

My in-laws came over for dinner tonight and I always like to make something a little bit special when we have family and friends over.  Nothing says 'love' like a home-cooked meal, that's for sure.  I was flipping through one of my newer cookbooks, Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics, and noticed a recipe for beef stew.  Though nearly 100 degrees outside, it was just what I was looking for.  1) My husband and his family are big into beef and 2) I mentioned last night after watching Julie & Julia that I wanted to try my hand at Beef Bourguignon.  This is as close as I'm getting to that this early on in my cooking career.

As I read the recipe over last night, I noticed that the meat needs to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.  Well, it was 9 o'clock or so last night and my husband and I had both been drinking so there was no driving to the liquor store to pick up a bottle of the required red wine.  We never have red wine in the house, we're more white wine and/or Mai Tais kind of people.  And if you live in one of the fourteen states that don't allow you to purchase liquor from a liquor store on Sundays, you know how frustrating that can be when a recipe calls for wine and you're fresh out.  Luckily, our grocery store sells non-alcoholic wine, so that just had to do.  I ran and did my shopping at 8 am this morning (another early, but productive morning) so the beef had nearly 8 hours to marinate before I got started cooking.  That pretty much equals 'overnight.'  Winning.

I also had to go to Target today to grab a couple of things.  I hate Target.  My husband says that I throw the word 'hate' around too much, but it's true.  Just thinking of having to go to Target makes my skin crawl and my palms get all sweaty.  I have a tirade I'd like to write out here, but I'm going to save you all from that.  If you want to know why I hate Target, I'd gladly share it with you.  Just ask.  Just be prepared for the wrath that will undoubtedly be unleashed.  You have been warned.  :)

Let's cook!

THE MISSION: It's called Parker's Beef Stew because the recipe belongs to one of Ina Garten's chefs at her restaurant.  If I could cook at one-thousandth of the level that Ina could cook, I'd be happy as pie.  I unfortunately don't have an image of what this recipe is supposed to look like at completion because the cookbook doesn't offer one.  But I think we all have an image in our minds of what a beef stew should look like.  Let's roll with that.

THE INGREDIENTS: 2.5 pounds good-quality chuck beef cut into 1.25-inch cubes, 1 bottle good red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon (Or cheap non-alcoholic red wine if you can't get to a liquor store on a Sunday, lol!), 3 whole garlic cloves smashed, 3 bay leaves, 6 ounces bacon cut into 1-inch pieces, 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, S&P, 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions), good olive oil, 2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves), 1 pound carrots peeled and cut into 1.5-inch chunks, 1 pound small potatoes halved or quartered, 1 14.5-ounce can beef stock, 1 large branch fresh rosemary, 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil drained and sliced, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce.

There is no meat or wine in this picture because the beef was marinating prior to when this picture was taken.  I apologize.  I think we all know what chunks of beef look like.  And we definitely know what a bottle of wine looks like.  Hey-o!

And before we get started with the actual recipe, know two things: From start to finish, carve out a good three hours to make this stew.  Yes, there are two of those three hours that require no work but just know that it's a good Sunday afternoon kind of meal.  Also, it makes plenty, plenty, plenty.  We ate to our hearts' content and J and I have enough leftovers for lunch for at least the next two days.  I image this will be a go-to meal in the winter time when there's snow up to our windows and we need something warm and comforting.  Soooooo good.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Place the beef in a bowl with the red wine, garlic cloves, and bay leaves.  Cover the bowl and marinate the beef in the refrigerator overnight.

As I mentioned, I was really successful at that whole 'overnight' part.  But the 8 hours during the day it sat in the fridge seemed to do the trick just as well.  The meat turned out tender and flavorful.  So just ensure that you give the meat at least 8 hours, regardless of when it happens.

Brown the bacon in a large saute pan for 5 to 7 minutes, over medium heat.  With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a Dutch oven.  Combine 2 cups of the flour, 1 tablespoon each of S&P in a bowl.  Lift the beef out of the marinade and discard the bay leaves and garlic, saving the marinade.  

It was really cool.  The beef had turned a purple hue and, even raw, was so aromatic.  It actually brought back very vivid memories of visiting my grandfather who used to make his own red wine.  I smiled.

In batches, dredge the beef cubes in the flour mixture and then shake off the excess.  

I need to add an important note here.  Two and a half pounds of beef cubes is a surprisingly large amount of beef cubes.  If I had sat there and dredged a couple of pieces at a time, I'd still be doing that instead of writing to you fine people.  I came up with a short cut.  I put all of the beef in one big bowl, poured the flower mixture on top, tossed it, and used my hands to make sure every piece was sufficiently covered in flour.  It took one minute.

In the same saute pan, brown half the beef over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, turning to brown on all sides.  Place the browned beef in the Dutch oven with the bacon and brown the remaining beef.  Add the second batch to the Dutch oven.  

I used a fairly large saute pan to brown the beef and it still took me three batches rather than two.  I used tongs to turn each piece over and make sure all of them were equally browned.  But in all honestly, once two sides had been browned, I just did that little chef trick where you shake the saute pan back and forth and flip everything that way.  I don't know what that technique is called...Anyway, it worked well and saved me time.  Also, I had to add olive oil to the pan between each batch.  The bacon didn't really yield a lot of grease (which is probably a good thing).  So just be aware that you might need to oil the pan once in a while while browning the beef to prevent it from sticking.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Lower the heat under the saute pan to medium-low, add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, adding olive oil as necessary.  Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute.  Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.  Place all the vegetables in the Dutch oven with the beef.  Add 2.5 cups of the reserved marinade (discard the rest) to the saute pan and cook over high heat to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon.  


Add the beef stock, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 tablespoons pepper.  Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables in the Dutch oven and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  

While I was sauteing (PS: Does anyone know how to get that little French thing into words when you're typing?) all of the vegetables I had a little (excuse my French) oh-shit moment thinking that all of it wouldn't fit in my Dutch oven.  As you can see from the picture above, it all worked out.  Phew!


Cover the pot and place it in the oven for 2 hours, until the meat and vegetables are all tender, stirring once during cooking.  If the stew is boiling rather than simmering, lower the heat to 275 degrees.  


I actually did lower the heat to 275 degrees.  Luckily I checked it after about 15 minutes and it was boiling a little too heavily.  Maybe just shoot for 275 instead of risking the health of the inside of your oven.


When the stew is done and the meat is tender, discard the rosemary branch.  Ladle 1 cup of the pan juices into a bowl and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.  Pour it back into the stew, stir gently, and simmer for 3 minutes, until thickened.  


The stew was already pretty thick when I took it out of the oven at the two-hour mark.  I still whisked in the flour and it when from thick to heavenly.  


MISSION COMPLETE: 

DEBRIEFING: I served the stew with French bread for dipping and those Sweet Onion Au Gratin Potatoes I did a blog post on last week.  Together, separate, however you want to eat it, I can't write enough good things about this stew.


I've made a lot of recipes over the last year and this one was - BY FAR! - the best.  I've never been a beef person.  I've never been a stew person.  This beef stew was one of the best things I've ever eaten.  You take a bite and it's like all of your worries and stresses disappear.  It's like magic.  Wondrous magic. Luckily there's plenty of leftovers to tide me...well...over.

Everyone really seemed to enjoy it and J's parents took some home.  That's always a good sign when your guests ask to take extras home.

I will admit that coupled with the 100-degree weather, the sweat, and the amount of time it took to make the beef stew, I was praying to every Flying Spaghetti Monster that this thing would pan out.  And it did.  And I couldn't be happier.

I think I'm going to warm some up for a snack right now.  Mmmm!

Cheers to good eating~!
Rachel

Dreamy Oreo Brownies

Funny thing, this working for a living.  As the weekend got closer and closer I was excited about the prospect of sleeping passed 6:30 in the morning and that was my plan as I went to sleep last night.  I made it all the way until 7 am and woke up wide awake.  It's amazing how productive a weekend can be when you get up before 11.  I got up, showered, did all the laundry, cleaned the kitchen and the rest of the house, went grocery shopping, to the bank, and finished the third Harry Potter.  J worked until five and said he wasn't having the best day.  It was officially time for the Dreamy Oreo Brownies.  And not only did the brownies provide me with an opportunity to use my beautiful apple green stand mixer, I got to use my adorable mini food processor as well.  Oh, I am just having the best day!

THE MISSION: 

These Dreamy Oreo Brownies come courtesy of another cooking blog I follow, Cookies and Cups.  Check it out here: http://cookiesandcups.blogspot.com/.  Can I also just say: Does anybody actually eat a brownie that small?!  If you do, good for you.  You'll probably live far longer than I do.  

And this blog makes the spacing of everything that I type all weird.  It drives me crazy.  I'm far too much of a perfectionist to be okay with that.  Just an FYI.

THE INGREDIENTS: 1 box Pillsbury Fudge Brownie mix + ingredients to prepare them according to the box directions, 1 16.6-oz package of Oreo cookies divided equally into thirds and all coarsely chopped, 1 8-oz tub of Cool Whip thawed in fridge, 1 8-oz block of cream cheese softened, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.  

The ingredient list is another winner.  I had most of the stuff to begin with and you use everything up - the whole tub of Cool Whip, the whole block of cream cheese, a whole bag of chocolate chips.  And wow, does this recipe make a lot of brownies.  It'll definitely be a Rachel-brings-treats-to-work kinda' Monday.  

I started off by chopping up the Oreos.  I used my mini food processor and did it in small batches of six or seven cookies. 

It saved a lot of time.  If you don't have a food processor, a good trick is to put them either directly on a cutting board or in a big Ziploc bag and crunch them up by rolling over the Oreos with a rolling pin.  My way was less messy and a lot quicker.  A blender might actually work on a low setting, too.  Let's get to work on the rest of the recipe!

Prepare the brownie batter according to the package directions, folding in 1/3 of the chopped Oreos.  

Bake according to the package directions, until a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean.  Let brownies cool completely.  

Meanwhile, in your mixer bowl beat the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined and smooth.  

This is how it looks right when you add both ingredients into the mixer.  I took a picture of the finished, creamy product but the image came out fuzzy.  I need a camera with a better zoom function.  It would make the blog's photos look a heck of a lot nicer, that's for sure. 

With a spatula fold in the Cool Whip and another 1/3 of the coarsely chopped Oreo cookies.  

Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the cooled brownies.  Then, in a microwave safe bowl melt the chocolate chips and the vegetable oil on medium for 1 minute.  Stir and repeat in 30-second increments until melted.  When the chocolate is melted, spread evenly over the cream cheese/Cool Whip layer and sprinkle with the remaining Oreos.  

As you can see, the recipe makes so many brownies that it could have used quite a few more chocolate chips to cover the whole thing.  I ran out unfortunately.  If you make it, better up the chocolate chip ante to 2 cups.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Cut into squares and enjoy!

MISSION COMPLETE: 

Yeah, and they taste even better than they look.  

DEBRIEFING: The verdict?  The aptly-named Dreamy Oreo Brownies are, in fact, dreamy.  They are very rich and very thick and it's very good to eat just one.  My hips will be thanking me later.

This recipe is a non-baker's baking dream.  You take little shortcuts - premade brownie mix, for example - and basically just mix together the ingredients.  Foolproof and exactly the way I currently like to bake.  I do think the next thing I make will be from scratch.  I have a wonderful baking cookbook courtesy of one of my best friends and all the baseline baking necessities (baking soda, corn starch, those types of things).  I went through and flagged recipes I'd like to try so now all I have to do is narrow it down to one.  That might actually be the most difficult part.  

There's a new show on The Speed Network with Adam Carolla called "The Car Show."  That's my big plan for the evening: watching a car show with my husband and dog, drinking Mai Tais, and eating brownies.  That actually sounds like the best night ever.  

I'm actually watching Julie & Julia right now.  I've heard that this blog reminds people of Julie's blog in the books and movies, so I thought I'd watch it. It's adorable.  I remember watching old television episodes of Julia Child when I was little.  What a special, kind of crazy lady.  She sure loved her butter.  But who doesn't?  Right now Julie is making Julia's Beef Bourguignon.  I need to make that.  If anyone has the recipe, please share it with the rest of us.  

I'm happy tomorrow is Sunday but I'm actually looking forward to work on Monday.  Ask me how I feel on a Saturday five years from now.  I truly hope my answer is the same.  

Cheers,

Rachel

Cheese & Bacon Biscuits

Well, three full days into my job and I'm still here!  Everything is going so well.  I can tell it will be challenging and interesting which is just what I was looking for in a job.  I feel like I'm going to be really happy there for a long time.  But work is work and I'm tired, enjoying a celebratory glass of wine, and gearing up for a new episode of Rocco's Dinner Party on Bravo.  (When did I get into so many horrible trashy TV shows?  Or maybe the real question is, why did it take so long?!)

Last night  I was making some chicken and realized I had all the ingredients for some Cheese & Bacon Biscuits, so why not make those too?  I didn't even think about putting it on the blog - I was really just making us dinner.  But once I got the bacon in the pan I remembered I had a cooking blog so here we are.

THE MISSON:

This is another recipe from Rachael Ray's Look + Cook.  I made it once with the glazed chicken shown in the picture above and that was awesome, too.  Note to readers: chicken + peach preservers + chicken stock + Worcestershire sauce + hot sauce = delicious dinner.  I'll probably make that recipe soon, before peaches go out of season.  Peach season really is never long enough.

THE INGREDIENTS: 3 slices smoky bacon finely chopped (either before or after you cook it), 2 1/4 cups Bisquick, 3/4 cup milk, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 cup shredded sharp yellow cheddar cheese.

Preheat the oven to the temperature called for in the package directions.  Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat, add the bacon, and cook until crisp.  Place the biscuit mix in a bowl and add the nutmeg.  Continue to follow the package directions, then mix in the bacon, 1 tablespoon of the drippings, and form the biscuit dough.  Fold in half the cheese.  

The dough should be pretty sticky and if you follow the measurements on the Bisquick box, they'll come out perfectly every time.  I received an amazing gift from my husband's lovely cousins at my Bridal Shower: a baking mat from Crate&Barrel.  You can put it under anything - cookies, biscuits, anything that you want to bake and not stick - and nothing, I mean nothing sticks to that thing.  It's incredible.  Usually, if you bake something that has melted cheese, you spend an hour after you're done eating trying to scrape it off the pan.  But after the biscuits were done and there was cheese melted everywhere, it all just pulled right off the pan.  And the mat went right in the dishwasher.  Dreamy.

I'd like to reiterate once more that I do not work for Crate&Barrel.  I'm just a fan, that's all.

Arrange the biscuits on a baking sheet and/or baking mat and top with a sprinkle of cheese.  

As you can see, these are large biscuits.  I get five or six from this recipe.  And they're not supposed to look perfect, they're "drop biscuits."  I use a cookie scoop to drop mine because it has that little mechanism that gets everything out.  It's like a mini version of an ice scream scoop.  You know, the kind the lunch ladies use to scoop mashed potatoes.  Lol.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until tender and lightly golden.  Eat!


MISSION COMPLETE:

You know those cheddar biscuits at Red Lobster?  These are like those.  WITH BACON!  Chef hint: if anything doesn't turn out the way you want, add bacon.  Instant success.

DEBRIEFING: Baking's tough.  This is simple.  And they turned out so well.  Just like those commercials you see someone tearing a biscuit in half, steam rising out of it.  The cheese inside was melty and stringy but there wasn't too much of it.  And you take a bite and it's like little bacon surprises throughout.

J's making pancakes for dinner.  He's attempting to do it from scratch...that's one thing I just use good ole' Aunt Jemima for.  I may be reheating last night's dinner.

Those Dreamy Orea Brownies will be made this Sunday.  It's a neighbor's birthday and I can bring them into work now.  Best way into people's hearts is through their stomach.  There's always that one awesome coworker that brings in treats for everyone.  I wanna be that person. 

Cheers,
Rachel