What to Do with Left Over Beer...

I should hope that you never run into the problems that we have encountered with left-over beer in the past week... Due to a technical snafu, we ended up with a significant amount of a local dark brew (several half-gallon bottles of it) that are in need of consumption within the next 10 days, or else it will go flat. We distributed a number of these bottles to our beer loving friends and neighbors, but still have a 2 gallons of beer to go. Yikes!

Now, there's only so much beer that Dan and I can consume in 10 days, so I turned to my recipe box to find some good ways to use it up. One of our favorite beef stews over the years has been the Jamie Oliver recipe for Beef Stew with Newcastle Brown Ale (with some modification). I decided to use this as the starting point for my recipe and, voila! We created Pittsburgh's East End Winter Snowmelt Beef Stew.

As I said, the inspiration for this recipe starts with Jamie Oliver's recipe, but there are some modifications that have been made (notably, I deleted his rosemary dumplings* - which are worth trying, but need some serious tweaking to the cooking time - I would recommend making a rosemary biscuit instead), which I think gives me the right to re-christen it for Pittsburgh.

Winter Snowmelt Beef Stew
(with thanks to Scott at the East End Brewing Company for making such a fabulous beer)

Ingredients
2-1/2 pound stew beef. I used a mix of extra lean and regular.
3 TB. flour
Olive or Canola Oil
Salt & Pepper

2 large red onions, cut into rough chunks or slices
3 - 4 slices bacon, cut into 1" pieces
4 stalks celery, chopped
4 large carrots, chopped into 1/2" - 3/4" chunks (you can also substitute parsnips for 1/2 the carrots)
1 small handful fresh rosemary, leaves stripped from stalks and chopped
4 white potatoes, chopped into 3/4" - 1" chunks

5 cups Winter Snowmelt beer (or other dark beer - the darker beers will add a slightly bitter flavor to the broth that cooks off with time. You may want to adjust your seasonings to match your beer choice.)

1. Place the beef chunks in a large bowl and toss with flour and salt and pepper (to taste). Over medium heat in a large skillet, brown the beef in several batches in a few tablespoons of oil. As it finishes browning, transfer the meat to a large stock pot of slow cooker.
2. When the meat is finished, add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet (if needed). Over medium heat, saute bacon and onions. When onions begin to turn translucent, add celery and saute 4 - 5 more minutes to bring out the flavor. 
3. Transfer onions, bacon and celery to stock pot containing meat, and add rosemary, potatoes, and carrots. Pour 1-1/2 cups of beer into saute pan over low heat to deglaze the yummy crust that has formed in the bottom of the pan from the flour, meat and veg mixed. Scrape the pan and stir beer mixture until pan is deglazed. Pour mixture into stock pot with beef and veg. 
4. Add remaining beer (3-1/2 cups) to stock pot, as well as additional water to just cover the beef and veg. Stir and put on medium heat until it begins to simmer and bubble. Once the stew mix is simmering, turn on low heat (to continue to simmer). Cook 1 hour with lid on. Once meat is beginning to become tender, crack the lid to allow the moisture to start to evaporate and the stew to thicken. (if using a slow cooker, I have used high heat and about 3 - 4 hours of cooking time) On the stove, the cooking time for me was about 2 hours. 
5. Seasoning note: If you taste the broth before the stew has really started to thicken, it may have a slight bitterness to it. This will fade away as the stew cooks and the alcohol cooks off as well. The longer it cooks, the "sweeter" the flavor becomes from the blend of beer and beef. Salt to taste when stew is almost finished. 

Serve with rosemary biscuits or bread, or ladled on top of big pile of thick buttery egg noodles.

*Much like the other saucy English chef du jour, Nigella Lawson, I find Jamie's baking-related recipes to always sound like a good idea, but completely lacking in technical precision and prone to failure. They are both excellent cooks, and fabulous at pairing flavors, but I tend to find myself rewriting their baking recipes to get the desired results. I am not sure if something was just lost in the conversion to American ingredients and (ironically) English measure as opposed to metric, but I have sneaking suspicion that it is the very spontaneity and casual nature that makes their cooking so good and enjoyable that ruins their baking recipes. Cooks Illustrated (aka The Gospel According to Christopher) found the same results with over 1/3 of Nigella's baking recipes as FAILS.

Appetizer for the Ages - Cheap and Quick!

'Tis the season for many things, including the last minute invite and the desperate need for an appetizer to bring to your friend and neighbor's house. Here's my pitch for the holidays:

[Shhh - Don't Tell Linda It's] Hot Goat Cheese and Pesto Spread

Ingredients:

6 ounces goat cheese (plain cheap goat cheese, ala Trader Joe's works perfect)
6 ounce container pesto (again, the plain old ordinary Trader Joe's is great here)
1 baguette, sliced on the diagonal in 1/4" thick slices
olive oil (about 6 TB, give or take)
crushed/minced garlic - 2 cloves

if you are feeling fancy (and particularly rich in the pocketbook), 2 - 4 ounces marinated sundried or slow-roasted tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Mix your garlic into your olive oil, and lightly brush on top of baguette slices. Toasted in over 10 - 12 minutes or until they begin to brown and get crispy.

3. Mix goat cheese and pesto a mixing bowl with a fork to break up goat cheese. Transfer to small oven-proof bowl or skillet (6" round or thereabouts - a Fiestaware bowl works well too). Spread tomatoes on top.

4. Bake cheese dish for 15 -20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Serve with toasts on the side. Your neighbors will think that you are a culinary genius and love you forever and you will have only spent 10 dollars on the whole project.

And, ps, Linda will never know it's goat cheese regardless....

Need Help Fast!

Dear Friends:

I have two small windows of time between now and Thursday to produce the
office birthday cake of the month. I'm fine with the cake, but it isn't
big enough. So last night I made brownies that I was going to freeze
until Thursday.

Unfortunately, the brownies came out very dry. My usual recipe and they
never failed before! But then, I have a reputation for drying out baked
goods.

Anyway, I cannot throw out this beautiful pan of brownies. How can I
make it into a bread pudding like affair? Like crumble the brownies up
and add....what?

Counting on your help!

Love, Linda

--
Linda Kluz
Communications Coordinator
Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
Harvard University
1730 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-495-0711

New Pittsburgh Portuguese Kale Soup

The jumping-off point for this soup was a recipe entitled 'New Bedford Portuguese Kale Soup'. Given the modifications that I made and the recent trends in Pittsburgh (increased interest in vegan-vegetarian cuisine, desire for seasonal foodstuffs, ever-expanding farmers' markets, etc.), I rechristened it 'New Pittsburgh Portuguese Kale Soup'.

A few notes. The recipe here is vegan. Even if you are NOT vegan, I highly encourage adding it to your repertoire. As much as I love meat, there is far too much of it in the average American diet and this soup does NOT need the meat. Plus, if you make it vegan, the meat-eaters won't ever even notice and your non-meat eating friends will thank you for it.**

Ingredients

1-2 pounds fresh kale. I like curly leaf for this, but lacinato or other kales would be great too. Wash and chop or tear into bite-sized pieces.

1 large yellow onion, medium chop

3 potatoes, scrubbed clean, cut into bite sized cubes (I leave skins on - better flavor and more nutrition - but they can also be peeled if you must)

1 package Soyrizo. The Trader Joe's is very good for this. Don't forget to remove it from the casing.

8 cups vegetable broth, homemade or from bullion

6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 can beans - Canneloni, Great Northern, any white/light colored bean works well. Drain, but don't rinse - the juices will help to thicken the soup to a more stew-like consistency.

3 bay leaves

1/4 - 3/4 teaspoons dried crushed hot pepper (to taste and hotness level - note that the soyrizo is somewhat spicy, so you may want to hold back a bit on the amount of pepper)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1-1/2 teaspoons salt (note: if your broth or bullion has a high sodium content, you may simply salt to taste when the soup is almost finished)

1-14 ounce can diced tomatoes - preferably Muir Glen Fire Roasted (these things rock! I can't get enough of them in the winter when I need a good tomato flavor!), or ones that you slow roasted in the oven and have stashed in the freezer (if you were smart way back in August)

black pepper to taste

Olive oil

1. Saute onions in 2 - 4 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until they become translucent. Add garlic, hot pepper and paprika. Saute 5 - 10 minutes. Do not allow garlic to brown.

2. Add soyrizo (crumbled - if you decided that you desperately need meat and had to get chorizo instead, slice the sausage and add to the pot at this time) to pot. Saute 5 - 10 minutes.

3. Add vegetable broth and bay leaves, and bring to a low simmer. Add chopped potatoes and can of beans. Bring to a low boil and simmer 30 minutes or until potatoes are just tender to the tooth (slightly al dente!)

4. Add diced tomatoes and salt to taste. Add kale and continue to simmer on low, about 10 minutes. Soup will be done when kale is tender but still nicely green in the pot.

Note on the Kale: 

If you plan on making this in advance or having a pot on the stove for a while, I would recommend steaming your kale separately until tender, then putting it in the serving bowls and ladling the soup of it. The kale is best when it is not overcooked and still nice and bright green. For that reason, I also recommend reheating on the stovetop rather than via the microwave.

**Seriously, I know that there are some doubters amongst you, but I challenge you to try this soup and then tell me that it needs to have meat in it to make it better. In addition, soup is a great way to hide vegetarian meals that both children and husbands might otherwise turn their noses up at...

My first attempt at becoming a blogger

I appreciate the opportunity to learn about blogging. It does seem to be a great way to keep in touch. I was in Maine with seven other women (including Aunt Sally and her sister Jane) this weekend. We had some wonderful food; namely, Aunt Sally's pumpkin roll, her datenut bread and her molassas cookies (does this thing do spell check I hope) and Jane made the very best gormet gorpe I have ever had. As soon as Jane gives me the recipe, I will pass it on. Aunt Sally should put up the recipe for the molasses cookies (I'll just spell every different way I can think of) and the pumpkin roll.

Love to you all!
Linda K

Fwd: Port chop with roasted apple and squash

(here's an example of how Barb's recipe would be posted via e-mail... I'll send you the e-mail address to use directly)

Hello Everyone:

I just cooked this pork chop recipe and I had to share it.  It was so good that Lisa and I were fighting over the left overs so your in for a treat.  Love you all!  Here it is:

Serves 4

Pair pork chops with roasted apples and caramelized squash, along with herbs and a splash of apple cider vinegar.  Served with egg noodles or red potatoes. 

4 thick center cut pork loin chops or boneless loin chops (about 3 pounds) (I used bone in it was great)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 medium butternut squash, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 Cortland or Fuji or other baking apples cored and sliced
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
   Olive oil for sprinkling

1.  Set the oven at 450 degrees.  Have on hand a 9 by 13" baking dish

2.  Sprinkle the pork on both sides with salt, pepper, 1 teaspoon of the rosemary, and thyme.  In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  When it is hot, brown the chops for 3-5 minutes on a side, turning once.  Add garlic and shallots and cook 1 minute more.  Remove the pork chops from the skillet.

3.  Pour the stock into the skillet and cook, stirring, to deglaze the pan.

4.  In a large bowl, toss the squash, apples, apple vinegar, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and the remaining 1 teaspoon rosemary (i also added some thyme because I am just wild and crazy).  Transfer to the baking dish and sprinkle with oil.  Pour the stock mixture on top.   Set the chops on the vegetables.

5.  Bake the chops for 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thicket part of the chops registers 150 degrees and the squash is tender when pierced with a skewer. 

recipe by Kaitlyn Siner

 

The Details.

Blog you say? You say you don't blog? You say you don't know HOW to blog? You don't know the rules of the blog? Oh, shush. It's EASY.

Basically, we're setting it up so that everyone who is invited/part of the Skillet has access to posting as well. If you don't want to log into the blog software, you can still post simply by using an e-mail address that we will send you. Write your post in your e-mail editor, hit send, and VOILA, it will get posted.

If you want to get creative, you can mess around with the Blogger software. You will need to make yourself an account on Blogspot or Google or Gmail to use it, but once you have it, you can log in easily. You can post photos, links to recipes, etc. Jess and I don't know the half of what you can do with the software, so you'll have to explore. If you get stuck, we can ask Paul to fix it.

You can post your own posts. And you can comment on other folks' posts. We've invited the beginnings of the group to be part of it. But there are others out there who should also be posting and be part of it. The only thing that we ask is that folks who are invited to post should know all the other posters. I mean, your friend Penelope may be really cool and a great cook, but if'n she isn't actually already connected to the rest of the family here in some manner, she's not likely to get an invite to be a full poster. That said, she can still read the blog and leave comments. 

The Rules.

There really aren't any. The Skillet is focused on food and family. It's not really intended to be a recipe blog per se, but rather what we are all doing with the recipes. For example, I don't really need to post the whole recipe to the Corn Pudding recipe that I made this weekend. What I should do is tell the story of how last weekend, I made several batches of Corn Pudding from different recipes in order to identify the best one, which I was planning on bringing to my friend Renee's Halloween birthday party this past weekend. And I would tell the story of the Haunted Driveway, the gingerbread cupcakes that I brought, tell you to skip the frosting bit of that one, and maybe stick in photo of the finished product. But I would just post the links to the recipes if they were already available on-line, rather than reproducing them here.

Now, if it were a recipe that I created myself (or got from a non-Internet source), well, then I might have to write that one up from scratch and post that in full... Like the one for Orange-Pecan Shortbread that I made up... Another time perhaps.

I might also tell you about a really great meal that I had out. Like the night that Dan and I stumbled into a new little bar in the South Side called "Yo Rita" and had the most lovely pineapple margaritas and softshell crab tacos. And I might even post a picture. Or two.




Finally, another thing that I might do is simply post a call out to the people I love for a recipe or an idea or some inspiration for something from the kitchen. 'Cause I've got a hankering for Sue's shrimp scampi or I am scared of cooking a roast beef and I need something to make with tequila...

Here's to good eats!

Sallyann