Happy New Year, friends!
We threw some clothes in a duffel, packed a (large) snack bag, and
headed out to pick up the rental car.
On the way, snow started drifting down, and we thought, how
lovely! Pretty soft snow, winter fun! Ladi-dadi-da.
What we didn't know at that moment is that "winter fun"
was well on its way to becoming a full-fledged blizzard. If you weren't in it
to feel the freezing temperatures and see the 12-20 inches of snow for
yourself, I'm sure you've all read about it by now (major airport closures,
"Polar Vortex" headlines, etc.).
Anyway, it was an exciting drive up to "Camp," as M's
family calls the cabin, and when we woke up the next day to 16 inches of
untouched powder as far as the eye could see, it was clear what we needed
to do. We got a pot of beef stew going, then bundled up and went out to explore
the winter wonderland.
We found ourselves wandering into the woods and along a creek near “camp,” entranced
by the glow of the amber sunset coming through the trees.
We soon discovered we were painfully underdressed for this
occasion, as our legs, fingers, and toes were all too eager to tell us. So, we
pushed as far and long as our appendages would allow, then scurried,
flat-footed, back to Camp to warm up. We enjoyed our stew with sautéed kale and
Top Gun (M’s first time seeing it, if you can believe that), and ice cream for
dessert. I don’t know why I crave ice cream more in the winter than the summer,
but I don’t question it, I just keep my favorite spoon handy.
Here are the recipes for the stew and kale. I hope you enjoy them
as much as we did!
Stay warm, everyone!
Warm-You-To-The-Core Beef
stew
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Butter
2 pounds Beef Stew Meat (chuck Roast Cut Into Chunks)
Salt And Pepper
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
3 cloves Garlic, Minced (sometimes I smash the cloves with the
side of a chef knife and throw them in whole, it cooks so long they get soft
and sort of dissolve into the stew)
4 ounces Tomato Paste
4 cups Low Sodium Beef Stock Or Broth, More If Needed For Thinning
3 Dashes Worcestershire
3 sprigs fresh thyme, whole
4 medium Carrots, Peeled (optional to peel) And Diced
2 medium Turnips, Peeled (a must!) and Diced
2 medium potatoes (I like red)
3 tablespoons cornstarch, if needed for thickening
2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Parsley, plus extra for serving
Sour cream, for serving
Instructions:
Salt and pepper stew meat. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pot
over medium-high heat. Add butter, and as soon as it melts, brown half the stew
meat until the outside gets nice and brown, about 2 minutes. (Turn it as it
browns; do in batches because crowding the pan makes the meat steam rather than
brown.) Remove the meat from the pot with a slotted spoon and put it on a
plate. Add the rest of the meat to the pot and brown it, too. Remove it to the
same plate. Set the meat aside.
Add the onion and garlic to the pot, stirring it to coat it in all
the brown bits in the bottom of the pot. Cook for two minutes, then add the
tomato paste to the pot. Stir it into the onions and let it cook for two more
minutes.
Pour in the beef stock, stirring constantly. Add the
Worcestershire and sugar. Add the beef back to the pot, along with the thyme
(if using), turnips, carrots, and potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce to a
simmer, cover the pot, and simmer, covered, for at least 1 1/2 hours,
preferably 2-2 1/2, until beef and vegetables are tender. You can let it simmer
longer if you have time! Remove thyme stems.
The sauce should be very thick, but if it seems overly so, splash
in some beef broth until it thins it up enough. Feel free to add beef broth as
needed.
If it seems too thin, make a slurry by mixing cornstarch and 3
tablespoons water in a small bowl until lumps are gone, then stir mixture into
stew. Let come back to a boil for one minute, stirring, then remove from heat.
Once you are happy with the consistency, stir in parsley. Taste
and add salt and pepper as needed.
I love to serve the stew piping hot in a bowl with mashed
potatoes, letting the juice run all over everything. Serve with extra minced
parsley and a some sour cream for garnish.
Enjoy!
Yield: This fed the two of us for two nights, plus leftovers I’m
sure will feed us for a third! So I will say: 6 hearty servings.
Easy Sauteed Kale
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole bunch of Kale (I used the Lacinato/Black/Dinosaur/Cavalo
Nero variety, which is my fave over the curly kale these days, but use whatever
kind you love and/or have available), washed, stemmed and thinly sliced
½ medium onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, Finely Sliced
pinch red pepper flakes, optional
salt
Instructions:
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add
the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until onion is soft and translucent,
about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one minute more, stirring frequently
to avoid burning.
Add the kale and use tongs or a spatula to move it around the
skillet. It will look like a lot but it will reduce considerably in volume as
it cooks. Sprinkle in red pepper flakes and another pinch of salt, and cook,
tossing to combine with the garlic and onion, until slightly wilted but still crisp,
about 1 to 2 minutes.
Remove the kale to a plate and serve.
As you can (sort of) see in the following photo, we enjoyed the leftover kale with
roasted tomatoes at breakfast the next morning. Simple, fast and delicious. In
other words, perfect. Happy winter, everyone. xo
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