INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup olive oil (EVVO)
• 1 small yellow onion thinly sliced
• 1 leek thinly sliced (white part only)
• 3-4 cloves garlic pressed
• 1 10 oz can chopped tomatoes
• 32 oz prepared fish broth (I use the carton)
• 8 oz clam juice (I use the bottled kind)
• Zest of an orange
• 1 tsp saffron
• half fennel bulb thinly sliced plus fronds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp thyme
• salt to taste (I use 2 tsps)
• pinch of sugar
• 1/2 lb each: mussels, shrimp, haddock & scallops
• sweet french bread

INGREDIENTS

I think its a complete dish, meaning it doesn’t need any sides.  I’ve heard people suggest a simple salad.  Your choice.  As far as wine goes, an Albarino seemed the consensus on Chowhound.com.

INGREDIENTS (1-2 Servings)

• 3 cups Chicken Broth
• 1 tbsp or thinly coat the pan with olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen peas (defrosted)
• 1 clove garlic
, finely chopped
• 1/2  red pepper
, chopped in strips
• 1 tsp saffron
• 1 link Spanish dry-cured chorizo (about 6 ounces), sliced
• 1/2 cup white rice (I used basmatic which was fine, but supposed to use long grain)
• 3 oz diced tomatoes with their juices (I use canned tomatoes)
• 1/4 tsp each:  sweet paprika and chili powder
• 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 pounds raw, peeled large shrimp
• 1/4 pound sea scallops (I get the big ones – the little ones have no taste)
• Grey Sea Salt (about 1/2 tsp)

COOK

In a medium saucepan, heat the chicken stock until boiling.

Meanwhile in a 2 quart saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the oil.  Add the onion, garlic, red pepper, saffron and chorizo.  Cook for 6 minutes or until vegetables are soft and chorizo is browned, stirring occasionally so nothing burns.

Stir in the rice, tomatoes, paprika, chili powder and tomato paste until well mixed, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.  Add the salt.  Add the boiling chicken stock 1 cup at a time, stirring each addition constantly until the stock is almost absorbed.

Cover the pot and turn to low heat.  Cook for 40 minutes, until rice is tender.  Add the shrimp and the scallops on top and let cook covered for additional 10 minutes.

Le Creuset 2 Quart French Oven

I checked out a forum on one of my favorite sites – Chowhound – and they seemed to agree.  Aside from shape, they two do the same.  Here is the explanation from Chowhound.

So, I purchased a very cute 2 quart round french oven in a french blue and I am truly in love.  This is a MUST HAVE for braising, stews and such.  The pot is enameled cast iron, which distributes heat slowly and evenly.  And the size is perfect for 1-2 servings such as Beef Bourguignon and Paella.  I looked at a lot of forums to see who had the best french ovens and there was no clear winner.  Since I have always been happy with my big one, I stuck with Le Creuset for this new one.  WINNER!

TIME

• 1 hour for prep and pre-oven cooking
• 2-3 hours in the oven
• 15 minutes to prep and cook the final veggies

INGREDIENTS (shopping for the ingredients)

• 3 slices bacon, diced 1/2″
• 1/2 lb beef stew meat, dried (*don’t* use lean meat, it’ll be tough)
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• pinch of gray sea salt (1/8 tsp if you want to be exact)
• 1.5 cup young red wine
• 1.5 cup beef stock
• 1.5 tsp tomato paste
• 1 clove garlic, mashed
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 4 oz pearl onions (about 8-10)
• 4 oz chanterelle mushrooms
• 1 tsp butter
• parsley sprig for garnish

PRE-OVEN COOKING

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees
• Add 2 slices of chopped bacon to a 2.5 quart saucepan over medium heat (preferably something like Caphalon with a fitting lid).
• Fry until slightly crispy (10-12 minutes)
• Remove bacon with slotted spoon, set aside
• Brown meat a few at a time on all sides in the bacon fat set aside (don’t crowd)
• Fry 3rd slice of bacon until slightly crispy and remove with a slotted spoon
• Reduce heat to medium and saute onions and carrots until soft, set aside (5-7 minutes)
• Add beef back into pot with flour, salt and pepper
• Toss to coat with flour, turn beef to create a flour crust
• Add sauteed veggies, wine, beef stock, tomato paste, garlic and rosemary
• Bring to a boil without cover
• Add cover and put into bottom 3rd of oven

OVEN TIME

• At 2 hours, deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup beef broth
• Put back into over for another 30 minutes to 1 hour for beef to cook.

PREPARING THE FINAL VEGGIES (15 minutes)

• Boil the carrots and pearl onions together for about 6 minutes.
• Strain under cold water for 1 minute to cool down
• Remove outer layer of pearl onion
• Sauté the mushrooms in butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

FINAL STEP

• Remove casserole from oven when beef is easily pierced by a fork
• Heat casserole on medium low and add pearl onions, carrots and mushrooms
• Check for taste and adjust for salt and pepper

Tell me your thoughts – I’d love to hear about wines that go well…

INGREDIENTS

• 2 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 Clove Garlic, Minced
• 1/2 TSP Salt
• 1/4 TSP Chili Powder
• 1/4 TSP Cayenne
• 1/2 TSP Ground Coriander
• 1 TSP Ground Cumin
• Optional: 1 TBSP Cilantro
• 1/3 LB Flank Steak

MARINATE

Mix all the ingredients except the steak in a shallow, non-reactive pan, large enough to fit the flank steak.  You can double over the steak if necessary.   Add the steak and coat on all sides.  Cover and marinate at least 24 hours in the fridge, or uncovered at room temperature for 2 hours.  Flip meat at least once and coat with spices.

COOK

Cook in a grill pan over medium high heat, about 5-7 minutes per side.  This will get you a medium rare steak.  Remove from pan and let sit 5 minutes.  It will cook a little more as it rests.

This was sooo delicious.

POSSIBLE SIDE DISHES

• Asparagus broiled with olive and parmesan cheese
• Rice and beans
• Corn bread
• Any other thoughts???

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 TSP garlic powder
• 1/4 TSP salt
• 1/4 TSP Chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• Sprinkle of cayenne if you like hotter
• 1 TBSP Olive oil
• 1 medium sized pumpkin – 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (Not all pumpkin seeds are the same )

COOKING

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Clean out the seeds from the pumpkin, pulling seeds away from the guck.  Put seeds in a strainer and  run under cold water for a minute.  You really want the pumpkin pulp gone.

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together.  Spread on cookie sheet – I put tinfoil down and spread the seeds around so they’re on one layer.  Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until seeds are golden.  You’ll hear the seeds popping.  Remove from oven and cool before eating.

IDEAS

• Snacking
• On salads

AWESOME LINK

My good friend Denise did really nice post on toasting pumpkin seeds.  Check her blog out and the pumpkin seeds.  Click here

As for the material of the pan, that makes a difference too.  I was at my friend Bonnie’s house the other night and brought the fixings for beef bourguignon (1-2 servings).  She is used to cooking for an army and only had enormous saucepans, so I used a 2.5 quart Corningware pot without a top (used tinfoil instead).  BIG DIFFERENCE – While the liquid boiled in the casserole dish while in the over, it never really reduced.  I never got to the deglaze stage because the fond never formed at the bottom of the pot (fond is that stuff that sticks to the bottom and is oh-so-good).  I was able to thicken up the liquid though by adding flour mixed in cold water.

I think you also have less margin for error with a small serving recipe.  Things cook faster or slower and things happen fast.  Maybe because there’s just not that much of it.  Maybe someone else knows the reason.

FIRST STOP – Farmers’ Market

I love shopping the farmers’ market on Sundays and I’m lucky that we have them all year round.  What I can’t get here, I go to my local supermarket (in this case, Whole Foods).  I won’t be buying my beef stew here though, even though its grass fed and organic.  It just wasn’t fatty enough which made it a bit tough, even after 3.5 hours of cooking.

Here I buy the yellow onions, carrots (the new, small kind which have a sweet flavor), the garlic, the mushrooms and the pearl onions.  My complaint about store bought pearl onions is that they have generally been sitting in  a mesh bag for a long time and have started to rot.  Every time I buy one of these bags, the onions are soft when you push on them.  They should be firm.  I’d rather use small, white boiling onions that are firm than mushy pearls.  I prefer the white pearls.  I have rosemary and italian parsley in my garden.

NEXT STOP – Whole Foods

I buy my meats here – a fattier beef stew meat which is from the shoulder.  Like I said, the leaner stew meat will make the beef less tender.  I have tried the smoked bacon before in this recipe, but basic, thick cut bacon is better if available.  It doesn’t interfere with the flavoring.  I use the Baleine fine sea salt, but want to try the grey sea salt (they’re out of it).

SPICES – Penzey’s

While I have the rosemary and parsley in my garden, I get my Tellicherry pepper from Penzey’s spice – they have a store in my town and I can’t get enough of it.  They are a great source for dried spices.

WINE

I go to my local wine shop and purchase a split of pinot noir.  A split is 375 ml or 12.7 ounces.  That’s the perfect amount for the stew.  I probably won’t eat the stew today (it tastes better a few days from now and works better with my cooking schedule), so the wine might not keep too well.  I’d rather open up another split of wine later.  I don’t like too many wines sitting around and often a whole bottle is too much for me.  Splits solve the problem nicely, although I wish there were a 16-18 oz version.  Now THAT would be perfect.

The rest of the ingredients are already in my kitchen.

OTHER INGREDIENTS

I also shop for butternut squash soup recipe and my paella recipe, but that’s for another post.  I’m on a roll…

TIME
I started about 11am and had the casserole in the oven by noon.  That includes prep and the initial cooking.  The casserole then cooked in the oven for 3 hours.  Prepping and preparing the final veggies was 15 minutes.

INGREDIENTS (shopping for the ingredients)

• 2 oz bacon (I did 2 slices but it should be 3)
• 1/2 lb beef stew meat (*don’t* use lean meat)
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 tsp flour (I used all purpose)
• 1/4 tsp pepper (I use tellicherry)
• 1 tsp salt (way too much, 1/4 next time) – I use Baleine fine sea salt.
• 1 cup young red wine (should have been 1.5 cups) – I used a pinot noir
• 1 cup beef stock (should have been 1.5 cups)
• 1.5 tsp tomato paste
• 1 clove garlic, mashed
• 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (try upping to 1 tsp)
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 4 oz pearl onions
• 2 oz chanterelles mushrooms (I used crimini but a wild chanterelle is better)
• 3/4 tsp butter (up to 1 tsp next time)
• parsley sprig for garnish

PREP (about 15 minutes)
I chopped the bacon into ½” wide slices down the length of the bacon.   Next I chopped the onions pretty casually because I know they’re going to get dissolved in the cooking, so why be pretty?  Then I dice half the carrot –it’ll bake in the stew.  I’ll add the other half of the carrot toward the end of the recipe so it’ll have a crispiness.  Finally, I chop the beef stew meat into 1” cubes – nothing perfect because these suckers are going to melt away.  Just want to have a size that is edible in a bite.  I rinse off any blood and then dry the meat with paper towels so that they don’t have a watery sheen.  That helps the meat to brown better.  I mash the garlic clove.  Finally, I finely chop the rosemary.
I’m going to wait to do the mushrooms and pearl onions until later because it’ll be hours before I add them.

COOKING (about 45 minutes)
I’m going to try browning the beef by putting it in the oven.  Usually, I brown it on the stovetop.  So, I preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  I cook the bacon in the casserole pan on medium until it starts to brown – about 10-12 minutes.  I occasionally stir to make sure the bacon doesn’t crisp on one side.  I’m getting the oil fat out of the bacon without crisp frying it.  Oh, that smells good.
I remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, shaking off the bacon fat so it stays in the pan and not on the bacon.  I turn up the heat to medium high and when the bacon fat is just smoking, I brown the beef on all sides, a few pieces at a time.  Don’t put them all in at once – leaving space allows for better browning.  I remove the pieces to a plate as they are cooked.
Turns out I don’t have enough fat left over to cook the vegetables, so I add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the now empty pot, reduce heat to medium and sauté the veggies until wilted – 3-5 minutes – stirring occasionally to keep them from burning.
Then comes the ‘oops’.  I return the beef and bacon to the pan without taking out the veggies.  I meant to take out the veggies and put them aside while I bake the floured meats.  Anyhow, let’s see how it goes with the ‘oops’.
I add the salt, pepper and flour to the whole shebang, toss to coat it and then stick it in the oven, uncovered, on the middle rack, for 4 minutes.   I stir the veggies and meats around a bit and then return the casserole to the oven for another 4 minutes.
I take out the casserole and turn the oven down to 325 degrees.  The meat looks shiny, likes there’s a glaze on it.
Next: the wet part.  I add the tomato paste, rosemary, wine and beef broth.  The point is to cover the meat in wet, so if your meat is not covered (probably your pan is wider than mine), then add more broth.  Bring to a boil, cover and then put in the bottom third of the oven.    Ouch!  I burned myself moving the oven racks around…I think its time to drink the rest of the wine.

OVEN TIME
After 1 hour, I take a look at the casserole and it looks like its cooking down too quickly so I turn the temperature down to 275.
After 2 ½ hours, I look at the casserole again and the liquid has all but reduced to a goo.  I’m hungry (the smell is amazing) so I take a bite.  The flavor is intense – almost too intense.  Also, the beef is not quite done enough for my tastes.  So, I deglaze the pan:  I put the casserole back on the stove, add one cup of broth and scrape the bottom for all the goodies, bring the liquid to a boil without the cover (meanwhile scraping some more), then return the covered casserole to the oven again.
The casserole is in the oven for 3-4 hours until the meat falls apart.  You can tell when a fork can easily pierce the beef.  The slow cooking is what makes the connective tissue in the meat fall apart, so be patient.

STRAINING
To strain or not to strain – that is the question.  So, I’m doing an experiment where I split the casserole in half once its out of the oven.  One part I will strain and the other I won’t.  I hear the taste of the unstrained casserole will have a greasy taste.
To Strain: I separate the liquid from the solids by pouring the ingredients through a strainer and into a sauté pan.  I carefully scrape off the fat.  There wasn’t much fat so I let the liquid cool in order to separate the fat from the liquid.  That didn’t produce much.  So, I simmered the liquid to see if the fat rose to the top.  Not much.
My opinion – it wasn’t worth the time and energy.   There was a little less visible fat but not enough to change the taste.  I’ll skip the straining in the future.

PREPARING THE VEGGIES (15 minutes)
Next I cook the final veggies.  I boil the julienned carrots and pearl onions together for about 6 minutes.  Meanwhile I sauté the mushrooms in butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  I like to cook them enough so that the water in them evaporates – you get a more intense mushroom flavor.  I put the onions and carrots into a strainer and run cold water over them for a minute or so to cool them down.  Then I add them to the casserole, stirring them in over medium heat for about 5 minutes to warm them up.

DINING
The casserole is a beautiful velvety stew with meat that falls apart and a really intense flavor.  A little too salty but I’ll fix that next time.  I sat down at the table with a glass of the same pinot noir with which I cooked.   A baguette soaked up the sauce so nothing was left.  I add a little parsley to complete the visuals.  Perfect.

ALTERNATIVES

• Carrots sauteed in butter as a side dish instead of adding them at the end.
• Rice or mashed potatoes instead of a baguette

LEARNINGS

• Reduce salt to 1/4 tsp
• Add a 3rd slice of bacon to recipe
• Add about a cup more liquid from the beginning?
• Cook at 275 instead of 325 the whole time
• Deglaze at some point, probably around 1 ½ – 2 hours
• Only needs to cook 2-3 hours
• Don’t need to strain

Thoughts for format/layout:

I think I may need a different format going forward a la Cooks magazine – here’s what I did, here’s the outcome and here’s the best ‘Dine for One’ approach.  Need to figure out how to add this ingredients list as a side column as well as something that can be printed.