Guinness Beef Stew

I love beer. I really love Guinness. If you ever want to make me happy, bring me Guinness. Or better yet, chocolate Guinness cake which, I've had once and obtained and lost the recipe. My new mission is to find it again and share the deliciousness with you.

I've been home for the last 2 weeks, off on maternity leave. Apparently, my job is too far away from the hospital and because of my complications, they're keeping me on a tight leash. Swell. I really don't mind too much, except I'm a bit bored. What better to do than bake and cook my days away? (I don't think The Husband minds much either...he's actually getting home cooked meals again.)

So, I'm stuck at home, knocked up, bored and avoiding (read: not really able to) leaving the house due to the "Snowmageddon" snow storm that covered like 30 states or something like that. Yeah, we got a bunch of snow, it was cold and windy as sin...so what. Sorry- anyway- I decided to make some beef stew. Yummyness.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
2 lb. Stew Meat (yes, the label really says "Stew Meat")
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced (I didn't have fresh, so I used the minced crap in a jar, this is an estimate of how much I used)
1 12 oz. bottle of Guinness
4 c beef stock (I use low or no sodium)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp tomato paste
.5 tsp cayenne pepper
.5 tsp Kosher salt
1.5 tsp sugar
4-6 whole carrots, unpeeled, washed, very roughly sliced
4-6 new potatoes, very roughly sliced
black pepper, freshly ground - to taste
Water, if needed

In a large skillet, melt butter and add olive oil. Add the meat to brown. I cooked to about medium temperature. While that's cooking, chop your onion. Don't cry, it's just the onion. You should also dice your garlic at this time too...unless you're lazy like me and use the jarred crap. When the meat is browned, remove to a separate cutting board.



Add the diced onions and saute until soft. While that's cooking, cut your meat into smaller, more bite-sized bits. Next, add your garlic and cook for a bout a minute more.



Once the onion and garlic are soft, I transferred them and the remaining liquid from the pan into a large stock pot, as you can see below.

Mmmmm, Guinness.



Measure your Guinness (if you're like me, you get a bigger bottle and drink half...just make sure you save 12 oz. for the stew) and add to the stock pot.



Add in the beef stock. (or in my case, veggie stock, because I had none. Nor did I have any beef bouillon, but truly, no one knew the difference)



Add your tomato paste. You could use more than the recommended amount, if you'd like. Hell, I probably did. I don't measure anything.


Next the Worcestershire Sauce. Notice I didn't clean the measuring spoon from when I added the tomato paste. Again, I don't care that much.



Then, add your sugar, salt, Cayenne pepper and fresh ground pepper. You don't have to separate it here, but I didn't want to have 17 photos of adding various spoons of crap into the stew. That's right, I care about you, the reader, and your time, and your eye balls.



Mmm, meat, in bite-sized pieces.



Toss your meat (gently because the liquid is hot) back into the pot.



After all of the meat is back into the pot, cover and simmer over low heat. Take about a 2 hour time out. Put your feet up, drink a little of the Guinness if you want. Relax. Your meat needs time to tenderize.

Mmmm, carrots. And potatoes.

Coarsely or roughly chop your carrots and potatoes. I cut them into bite sized pieces. The Husband said he like them like that, a bit on the bigger side. I think he feels this stew is "manly-er" because everything was a bit bigger than in the canned soup crap that he eats. ::shudder::

Add your potatoes and carrots to the pot. At this time, you could TOTALLY add other veggies. I contemplated doing so as well but got lazy. I wanted to watch the blizzard rather than chop more stuff.

Cover again, and let simmer at least 45 minutes. Sample the veggies to make sure they're cooked. You should probably sample some more Guinness too. If the soup needs anything more; seasoning, WATER if it's too thick, etc., add it here and simmer a few minutes more.

(Directions without pictures)
Heat oil and butter in a large skillet or pan (you could make this into a 1 Pot Dish or Crock Pot Recipe, but I chose not to.) over medium-high heat. Brown meat. While that's cooking, chop and mince your onions and garlic, keeping them separate. Once meat is cooked, set aside, onto a cutting board. Cut pieces in half and save for later.

Add diced onions to the pan and cook, stirring frequently for a few minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and cook for about another minute. Transfer to large sauce pan or crock pot.

Pour in beer and beef stock. Add Worcestershire, tomato paste, Cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, and sugar. Add beef back into the pot. Stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Coarsely chop carrots and potatoes (and other veggies if desired) and add into the pot. Cover and cook for an additional 45-ish minutes. If your stew is too dry, add hot water as needed. Sample and adjust seasonings as needed.

Serve with buttered bread, salad, etc. Whatever. Just ENJOY!


I served this with some buttered Everything Bagel Bread. Soooooo good. The Husband agrees.

Makes about 4 larger servings.

Not My Grandmother's Chicken n Dumplin's

Now, I was taught by my VERY southern grandma how to make dumplin's. Also to- "NEVER STIR 'EM" because they'll stick to each other and the pan. I remember begging her for what seemed like forever to teach me. All the while, her excuse was that hardly any of the grand kids (I think there are 28 grand kids and multiple great grand kids on this side of the family) can make them. Most turn into "rocks" or "slime" or "just not right." The reason for this? Possibly because she literally cooked with a teacup, a hand full and a pinch of this and that. That's her recipe. No joke.
I cook very much the same way, which is why it's hard for me to actually measure, write them down and put them on these "interwebs." Please note, this isn't her recipe (you probably couldn't make it anyhow), nor is it remotely similar. I didn't hand make the dumplings. I added veggies. I didn't cook an entire chicken...but tenders instead. Today, I wanted a thicker stew-like version. I want it to stick to my ribs- more than it normally does...it's standard practice to have a bowl, sit a minute, undo your pants, get up and jump up and down while on your way to get another helping. nom nom nom delicious.
Here goes.

4 boneless chicken breasts (6 I used boneless/skinless chicken tenders)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (yes, even I sometimes use "cream of crap" soups, but RARELY)
2 cartons reduced sodium chicken stock
1 onion, medium, chopped
2 whole carrots, chopped (to my taste)
2 whole celery stalks, chopped (to my taste)
2 tsp butter
1 tsp celery salt
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 10 oz cans biscuits (I used Grands Jr-Flaky)
salt and pepper to taste

In a stock pot, over medium heat, add chicken, soup, stock, veggies, butter, celery salt and thyme. Cook until chicken is cooked through and veggies are no more than barely crunchy. Remove chicken and shred/chop/whatever you'd like to do and return to pot. About 90 minutes before serving, remove biscuits from can, flatten one by one and cut each into bite sized pieces. Add to pot, individually, to keep from sticking. Stir after every few biscuits have been added. At first, biscuits will start to spread out (like marshmallows when heated), but they'll go down. Cover and bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer. Cook until "dumplings" are no longer doughy. Put on your stretchy pants, serve and enjoy!


NOTE for those who can make their own dumplings, I think I'll actually make them instead of using biscuits this time, but it was pretty easy this way.

***Can be used as a crock pot recipe***
Add all ingredients except biscuits. Cook on high 5-6 hours. 90 minutes before serving, add biscuits as instructed above.

Grandma is probably rolling over in her grave. LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

So Good Chicken n Rice Tortilla Soup

3 tbsp olive oil

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 med carrot, chopped

1/2 med onion, chopped

1 tsp lime juice

4 tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

w/ green chillies AND juice

1/2 tsp garlic, minced

4 cups chicken stock, plus 3 cups

1 cup cooked chicken, diced

1/2 cup rice, uncooked

1/2 tsp cumin powder

salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with fresh cilantro, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, etc.

Heat olive oil in large sauce pan. Add celery, carrot, onion and sauté until onion is nearly translucent. Add lime juice and cilantro, cook about 1 minute more. Add tomatoes with chillies and their juices and minced garlic. Cook over medium heat until liquid is reduced to half. Add cumin powder, chicken stock and rice. Heat, uncovered until rice is tender. Add remaining 3 cups of chicken stock, then add diced chicken. Cover and simmer. (I cooked for hours, until we were ready to eat). Spoon into bowls, garnish and enjoy!

Crock pot too big? Try this!

I've been having trouble with things burning in my crock pot because I really don't want to cook for more than just 2, if there's just 2 of us.  So, things have been burning because the ingredients don't fill the entire pot.  WELL. Over at Cara's Cravings food blog, she mentioned the perfect solution! Inside of the regular crock pot pot, place a smaller, oven-proof pot, like pyrex or calphalon ceramic.  It makes perfect sense: less hot, dry surface=less burning. DUH. 

So, the next time you want to use your crock pot for smaller meals, try that.  Let me know how it works for you!

Zesty Veggie Soup

This soup is very easy to make on a lazy day, either in the crock pot or stove top.  Makes about 10-12 servings.

4  c   hot & spicy tomato juice

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

2 c each; frozen or fresh corn, green beans, peas, carrots; etc.

2 c potato; chopped

1/2 medium onion; diced

2 tsp garlic; minced

2 tbsp worchestershire sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp basil; dried

1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large stock or crock pot.  Simmer 4-6 hours. Enjoy!

Chicken Chili

1 lb. chicken breast, cooked and cubed

48 oz. jar norther beans; drained
24 oz. jar med. salsa; chunky

8 oz. grated monterey-jack cheese
1/2 C cream cheese
1 med onion; chopped

1 sm can chicken broth
1 tbsp chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together, cook in crock pot or stove top for 1-3 hours.

Recipe courtesy of Patty's Aunt Kathy :)

* I added cooked spaghetti to left-overs for a dinner a few nights later. Awesom.

B's Pulled Pork Sandwiches

4 Servings

These pulled pork sandwiches are the BEST I've had- ever. So tender and juicy.

1 2 1/2- 3lb Pork Shoulder Roast

1 12 oz can Root Beer (NOT diet)

2 med Onions - wedged

Your favorite BBQ sauce

4 Whole Wheat Buns Cheddar Cheese for topping

Cole Slaw (optional)

Rub

1/2 c Brown Sugar

2 tsp Garlic, minced

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

1/8 tsp Onion Powder

1/4 tsp Ground Cayenne Pepper

1/16 tsp Chili Powder

1/16 tsp Celery Salt

Salt and pepper

Trim fat from roast. Salt and pepper. Brown on each side. While browning, combine all of ingredients under "rub" -mix well. Once meat is browned, cover each side with the rub. Let set 20 minutes. Add Rootbeer and onions to slow cooker. Add roast and excess rub. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Once cooked, transfer roast and onions to cutting board or serving plate and shred with 2 forks. Toss in favorite BBQ sauce. Pile buns high with pulled pork, onions and cheese. For a "traditional" southern style, add cole slaw to sandwich as well. Enjoy!