Beef Stew for Beginners

When I first left home, I tried to make beef stew but couldn't remember how my mother made it.   It turned out just awful.  I think I used stewing beef and I didn't brown it.  I tried to make a gravy by adding flour, which didn't work either.   So here's the basic no-fail beef stew --- I make it often because it's always delicious and very easy if you have an onion and a few potatoes and carrots.   This is my mother's method -- no flour, just lovely broth.   This is a very basic stew --- just to show you how easy it is to make a delicious meal in minutes without any fancy spices or opening a can.  

There are numerous variations to stew -- with different vegetables, flavourings and spices.   You can also use pork or chicken or sausage.   No need to use a crock pot to make a stew.

Beef Stew
Ingredients:
1 large onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 to 1 pound of sirloin steak, with as much fat as possible for juiciness and flavour
2 carrots
2 large potatoes
1/2 small turnip or 1 parsnip (optional)
Sea or kosher salt
Pepper

Instructions:
Heat a flying pan or Dutch oven on medium heat.
Meanwhile, chop the onion.
When the rim is hot to the touch (about 2 minute), add 1 tablespoon of oil and heat (about 30 seconds).  Turn the pan to coat the bottom and sides with oil.
Add the onion and saute, tossing frequently with a wooden spoon or tongs.  
Meanwhile, slice the steak.  I usually make the pieces about 1 inch by 2 inches by a generous 1/4 inch thick.
When onions are partly soft, remove them to a bowl.  
Add another tablespoon of oil and heat for 30 seconds.   The pan and oil are hot enough if the oil sizzles when you add a piece of food.
Add the steak about 6 or 8 pieces at a time, flat side down making sure there is at least 1 inch clearance between the pieces and brown about 2 minutes on each side.  Do not move the pieces while they are browning.   Adding meat cools the oil and pan --- if the pan cools off too much, the meat won't sear and will steam in its own juice and dry out and you won't get the browning.  The browning seals in juices, add a defining dimension of flavour to the stew. 
As the pieces brown, remove them to the bowl with the onions.  If the meat is cold or partly frozen, you won't have good results with browning.  
Meanwhile, slice the carrots and potatoes into 1 inch pieces (leave the peel on the vegetables, just trim the ends any damaged parts).
Once all the pieces of steak are browned, add the meat and onions back to the pan.
Add the vegetables and 1/2 cup of water.
Add 1 teaspoon salt and freshly ground pepper.
Turn down the heat half way between low and medium, cover the pan with a lid and simmer 20 minutes until the vegetables are done.   Check frequently to make sure there is enough liquid to prevent burning.  This is called braising.  Braising makes the meat very tender and lifts all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan to flavour the liquid.  

How to Prevent Stainless Steel Pans From Burning and Sticking

I've long ago gotten rid of all my non-stick pots and pans and baking utensils in favour of stainless steel and cast iron, but I had to learn how to prevent sticking and clean them properly.   I used to burn everything and just everything stuck on the pans and then couldn't clean the them without resorting to steel wool.  It's so easy to prevent burning and sticking and clean the pans once you know how.   Do exactly as follows and you won't have any trouble.

1.  Heat the clean dry pan on medium heat (never higher).   The pan heats up very hot and holds the heat, so high heat is not necessary.  
2.  Once the pan rim is hot to the touch, add oil, about 1 or 2 tablespoons.  Olive oil is the best for everything.  Don't leave on the heat longer than it takes to heat up without adding oil.
3.  Roll the oil around the pan and sides.  
4.  Add food.  Stir or toss occassionally to prevent burning things like onions, and adjust the heat down a tad if necessary.  I use wooden spoon or tongs or metal tongs and turner for back up.
6. After removing the pan from the heat or turning the heat off, and transferring the food to a serving dish, let the pan cool on a cold element.  Do not add water or the pan may warp.
7. When the pan is cool, add water and soak.  You can add a bit of dish soap too.  Depending on how cooked on the food is, it will take between 5 minutes and a few hours to loosen the food.
8. Wash the pan with soap and water and a dish cloth.  Use a plastic scrubber if needed.  Don't use steel wool as it takes off your nice non-stick finish that you've just added.   If some food is still stuck, soak longer.  Be sure to scrub the bottom and sides and all around the rivets to prevent a build up. 
9.  When the pots need a shine, rub inside and out with a cloth and Bar Keepers Friend.  You can get it where you buy pots and pans.   It is the only product I have ever used that really cleans stainless steel sinks and pots. 
 

Turkey Thighs Roasted with Herbs

This is a turkey dinner for two (for two days at least). I am still thinking about those thighs a month later.


Turkey Thighs Roasted with Herbs

Ingredients:
2 turkey thighs
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh herbs - sage, tarragon, rosemary, oregano

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Run out and cut a bunch of herbs.
Rinse the herbs and put them at the bottom of a medium sized roasting pan with lid.
Put the thighs on the bed of herbs. Pour on olive oil.
Salt and pepper.
Roast for 1 hour, then remove the lid and turn up the heat to 450 for 30 minutes.

Harry's Amazing Fruit Salads

This one is my brother-in-law Harry's specialty. No breakfast is complete without it when we are all together. It's a super healthy meal in a bowl and so refreshing. My sister wrote the rest of this.

Harry’s theory is to use the same base for all the types of salad and then change the main ingredients to suit the type of salad. The presentation and the preparation are part of the what makes it so good. So you can prepare these salads in front of your friends, family or guests or as a special ritual for yourself.

His Four Versions of Fruit Salad are:
1) Dessert
2) Breakfast
3) Salad served with the main evening meal
4) There is a fourth type which is a brunch salad, which can be a variation of the three.

Basic Fruit Salad
To start with, here are the Five “Must Do Basics” for all types of salads.
1) Basic Ingredient #1: The base is always oranges and grapefruits. The peeling of them is very important. First, cut off the ends, then slice down all sides. What is left is just the meat of the fruit. Then cut out each one of the segments with a sharp knife. Do this over a large bowl so that you catch all of the juices that drip into the bowl. It’s very quick after you get used to doing it. Then squeeze the juice out of the remaining pulp. This makes a nice presentation and no pulp in the salad for your guests.
2) Basic Ingredient #2: Fresh Ginger grated to taste.
3) Basic Ingredient #3: sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
4) Basic Ingredient #4: A good extra virgin cold pressed olive oil.
5) Basic Ingredient #5: Finely grated hard Reggiano cheese on top.

Version #1 - Dessert Salad
Start with a martini glass or some kind of see through dish for nice presentation so that you can see what’s in the salad.
Line the martini glass with fresh baby spinach leaves.
Put in the orange and grapefruit, less for a dessert salad and add “tropical” fruit like banana, kiwi, mango or papaya. Mix it nicely into a large mixing bowl.
Inside the bowl, grate fresh ginger, a fresh lime which you cut the same way that you do the oranges and grapefruits…cut the wedges out with a sharp knife, then squeeze the juice out of the remaining pulp.
Melt a little honey in the microwave. Drizzle on salad – not too much, not to take away from the salt and pepper taste. But it pulls together the fruit flavours.
Put all the fruit onto the lined spinach leaves in your dessert dish.
Grate an excellent Reggiano cheese with a fine grater on top. Just a little.
Top with mint leaves. Serve with a fork.
At the end, a special treat is to drink the remaining juice mixture out of the martini glass.

Version #2 - Breakfast Fruit Salad
Berries go well in this salad – blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries. It all depends on what you like and what your guests like or what is available.
Leave out the spinach leaves, no avocado, no citrus fruit is necessary.
A nice Brie or Camembare cheese can be used as a garnish.
For example, this morning Harry made a warm Brie and Blackberry salad.
Slice a little banana, maybe ½ per serving, into the bottom of a serving dish. Place the ¼ round of Brie or Camembare per person on top of the banana. You will not see the banana underneath. Warm in microwave for 25 to 30 seconds. You will not notice the banana flavour but will think that the cheese and the banana are one. It will have a combined flavour that is indescribable.
Around the sides arrange blackberries and drizzle warmed honey mixture and olive oil on top. In this case, Harry warmed up some dried herbs from the garden in a cast iron frying pan (mixture of all types including lavender, sage, basil, etc.) and added the warm honey. Then he drizzled this mixture on top of the Brie, banana, and blackberries. If using the Brie or Camembert, then you don’t need the grated cheese.
Serve a thinly sliced toasted heavy German or Transylvanian or multigrain bread cut into wedges on the side of the dish. We also had some bacon as a side dish with this which worked with the dried herb flavours.

Version #3 – Evening Meal Salad served with or before the main dish
Serve this salad in a larger, deeper, wide rimmed white bowl. Put more spinach leaves in..again that show at the edge of the bowl.
Herbs – Put in fresh herbs - more dill, cilantro, basil, mint, whatever you have.
Add sliced green onion or shallots.
No honey on this one.
Use more citrus fruits, less banana, less tropicals.
Add the sea salt, pepper, ginger and EVOO
Add Brie or Camembert or your favourite cheese (a five year old white cheddar is also good) in wedges around the edge of the bowl.
Garnish with sliced avocado.
Grate Reggiano Cheese on top and add mint leaves.
This salad goes well with fish, smoked salmon, or smoked goldeye.

Chicken Noodle Soup (Heina Zup)

I have been wanting to make this for ages. My previous attempts had always been rather bland and I have quizzed a lot of people about their secrets. Most of the time it is the stock --- they use a commercial stock powder --- I find that disappointing. I wanted to see how I would do without the commercial stuff first. I used a plain Costco chicken but next time, I'll get a real one. I think that would make a huge difference. A lot of recipes call for a stewing hen but I have found they taste awful. I really think you have to get a farm chicken.

Another intriguing aspect of chicken soup is the different spices and herbs that are used by different cultures. The Mennonite tradition is to use peppercorns, star anise and parsley. Apparently the Mennonites were wealthy when they lived in East Prussia and could afford spices imported from China (where star anise comes from). The Russians and Ukrainians do not use star anise in anything. Peter assures me that Jews do not use star anise either.

Loris' mother Helen Loewen used whole allspice, so I just had to try that.

The Jewish traditional recipe calls for garlic and dill, as well as carrot, parsnip, celery and onion, and matzoh balls. The dill and garlic schmeck in my imagination, but I find the celery a little hard to imagine on the steppes of Russia, but those who know me know my suspicions about celery. Ukrainians use garlic, potato, tomato, onion, celery root, and carrots.

To be authentic about a traditional recipe, you have to use the right ingredients and herbs and spices. If you change it, then it's not Salade Nicoise as Julia Child said. That is why I avoid making every soup into the same vegetable soup. You want to appreciate the special ingredients for any particular recipe, so my credo is to put the least number of ingredients possible into every recipe. That being said, my recipe is a cross breed of Mennonite and Jewish.

Speaking of Julia, did you notice that she cooked everything on her show on a regular little electric stove --- I agree with that --- a real cook can cook anything on an electric stove. I see no reason to spend a fortune on a huge monsterous stainless steel thing that's hard to clean, when I have a perfectly good white electric in the kitchen.

Of course, I have hoarded the homemade noodles that Loris and I made last summer just for this soup. The key to noodle soup is the noodles -- of course. You can use store bought dried ones or make your own. One of the Mennonite traditions is that chicken noodle soup is supposed to have really fine noodles.

You need a largish spice ball to put the spices in with or you can tie the herbs and spices into a small piece of cloth.

A few health notes --- chicken fat is very healthy for you, so don't skim it off. If you have a cold, try chicken soup. It clears the congestion and makes the fluids in your body flow.

Chicken Noodle Soup (Heina Zup)

Ingredients:

6 quarts water
5 pound chicken
10 peppercorns
3 whole allspice
1 whole star anise
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 tsp. kosher or seal salt
Parsley, fresh
Dill, fresh
Noodles

Instructions:
Wash the chicken and put it into a large soup pot. Fill with water to 3/4 full.
Put the peppercorns, allspice, star anise and garlic into the spice ball and put it into the pot.
Simmer the chicken for about 2 hours, until the meat is falling off the bones.
Take the chicken out and put on a plate. Remove and discard the skin and bones, taking care to find all the little bits of bone and connective tissue. Cut the chicken meat into small pieces and put it back into the pot.
Remove the spice ball and discard contents.
Taste the broth and add salt if necessary.
Chop parsley and dill and add to the pot and simmer.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles in separate pot.
Drain the noodles, put them in a large bowl, immediately add butter and stir. The butter will keep the noodles from sticking.
Put some noodles into each bowl, and ladle broth and chicken over the noodles.
Serve with homemade brown bread and homemade butter.

Zuppa Toscana

This is Loris's brother Kelvin's recipe, adapted a little bit.

This was a huge hit with Rosemary and Linda. I had to forage in the garden by flash light to pick the kale, parsley and sage.

With kale, you have to wash very very carefully as there are little colonies on the back of the leaves. I use a scissor to cut the stems out and cut the leaves into pieces.

It's a quick soup --- as long as you have bacon and sausages in the freezer, you can do it in about 30 minutes. Bacon and sausages are much easier to slice while frozen, so don't thaw first.

You will have to make another pot -- it won't last long.

Serve with homemade brown bread and butter.

Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients:

2 small onions, chopped
6 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 - 6 mild or spicy Italian sausages, sliced
2 potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes OR 2 to 3 cups cauliflower (I used my own Yukons from the garden -- they hold their shape)
3 cloves garlic, sliced into quarters lengthwise
1 cup beans of any kind (I used kidney beans, soaked the night before and cooked while I was making the soup)
2 cups tomatoes (fresh or canned), chopped
2 quarts chicken stock (I used my own stock from the freezer)
2 - 4 cups kale, and chopped into 2 inch pieces (or spinach)
5 - 6 sage leaves, without stems
Handful of flat leaved parsley, chopped, with stems
1 cup cream or sour cream (I used my own sour cream)

Instructions:
Heat a large soup pot on medium heat.
While waiting, slice bacon (frozen is fine) and chop onions.
When the pot rim is hot to the touch, add onions and bacon and oil.
Saute until the onions are nearly clear. Stir frequently.
While waiting, cut the sausage and garlic.
Add sausage pieces and garlic and saute 5 minutes. Stir frequently.
Meanwhile, cut up the potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces (with peel)
Add potatoes, beans, tomatoes and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are nearly done.
Meanwhile wash kale very thoroughly and cut into pieces removing the stems.
Roughly chop herbs. The sage leaves can be added whole but remove from stems. The parsley can be added stems and all, and roughly chopped.
Add kale and herbs and simmer another few minutes, til kale is cooked but still bright green.
Add cream and heat through.