Austrian beef stew with paprika and Caraway.

Here’s one from Milk Street. Paprika gives a lot of flavor to dishes, probably not used often enough. Good for the lentils recipe that is now a often cooked dish. I usually just buy Chuck beef. More versatile, can be ground for burgers, meat loaf, used for soups, stir fry etc.

Here we go! Season the beef with paprika. Saute the onions in the butter and salt ,add the Caraway and flour. Add more paprika ,cook then add broth. Add the beef, seasonings. Bring to a boil then cover and place in oven (or microwave oven, low setting) for 2 hours. If you like the beef with a bit of chew, then less time. Remove from oven and cook uncovered for another hour till the beef is tender. (Mine was cooked a lot less time). Add a bit of vinegar and dill. Serve with sour cream, I had a side of broccoli and barley.

A different spin on the common beef stew. Very good!

Here’s the measurements, I divided it to about a fifth.

5 lbs stew beef. ( I would go with lamb !)

6 tablespoons sweet paprika, divided.

2 cups beef broth

1/4 cup tomato paste

4 tablespoons butter

1 large yellow onion

2 tablespoons Caraway seeds

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon Hungarian hot paprika

3 Bay leafs

2 tablespoons marjoram

1/4 cup finely chopped dill

1 tablespoon vinegar

Sour cream

Irish Soda Bread

Shamrock time !  looking at some recipes I was going to make a popular posted Chocolate Potato cake but I switched to a more traditional Irish Bread. Glad I did , one of my better bakes as I have made soda bread before this combination had a very full taste.

It’s slightly modified from the recipe from Real Simple in these respects: 3 and 1/2 cups AP flour, 1 tablespoon buckwheat flour. The buttermilk substitute is simply whole milk with a tablespoon of white vinegar, let stand for couple of minutes. The rest of the recipe follows as directed with the exception of fluffing the raisins, let the raisins steep in boiling water for about 10 minutes, drain, toast the caraway seeds.

Oven set up for 350 degree

• 3 and 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 tablespoon buckwheat flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon each of both baking soda and baking powder.

At this point, using a strainer sift the above several time to fully combine. Some of the kosher salt may remain in the strainer so empty into the flour mixture.

Now cut in as you would like a biscuit mix:

• 8 tablespoons of butter

to a crumbly type mix , then add :

• 1 cup raisins (steeped then drained, (or currents))
• 2 tablespoons caraway seeds (toasted if possible)
• 1 and 1/3 cups buttermilk (or whole milk with a splash of white vinegar)

Mix with a fork or with hands, turn out to floured counter top and knead about 10 times.

Form the shaggy mass to a 7 inch round about 1 and 1/2 inches in height.

Score the top deeply about 3/4 inch with a X pattern.

Bake @ lower middle rack seemed to work out, recipe recommended to shift position about midway through the bake, the oven seems to bake a bit faster so I downshifted to about 330 degrees when the bread went in the oven for about 50 minutes. I did take a temperature reading that indicated 200 degrees but I left in the about an addition 10 minutes as these moist type biscuit dough may have to go a bit further to insure a complete bake.

recommended serving with jam, but the best is sliced, toasted with whipped butter.

if you program in BPL Bakers Programming Language:

dim (array 1.105):

::{3 and 1/2 cups AP flour}{1 tablespoon buckwheat flour}{1 tablespoon sugar}{2 teaspoon kosher salt}{1 teaspoon each of both baking soda and baking powder. ::{}

..<>read array 1 to 5 to <string :;[dryingredients]>

“val004″= [1 tablespoon of butter]

`read “val004″+1”,`

`read` <read> if read :8 then (read :0 )| (break :next)

val (5); [dryingredients] {val004]

and so on…

 

 

 

 

Soba beef noodle slurp

Over the top here , a quick dish, the spicyness and the noodle gives way to slurping this dish. Perhaps I gave a bit too much shrimp paste, but it didn’t bother me. If you didn’t  have the fish sauce soy and hoisin sauce ingredients it could have been south of the border flair. The fish flavor and the spicyness gave way to the texture of the beef. I could have bumped up the cabbage, it disappeared into the dish, and maybe left out the beef. But no doubt a very concentrated fish and spicy flavor with the beef in the background. The more I look at Asian recipes, the less I follow them! Loosey followed from https://therealcookingmaggie.com/2017/12/05/on-take-out-noodles-at-home/  who credited Bon appetite for the recipe.

We are prepped up for this dish, cabbage, green onion,sauce, beef, ginger root, garlic and a spot of haberno paste.

About 7 ounces of the soba noodles boiled , it only took  a few minutes, drain and put in cold water.

Sauté the cabbage , in this case some Napa cabbage, several minutes till it picks up some color.

Reserve the cabbage and mix in with drained cold noodles.

Turn in the beef to the fry pan now, undisturbed, till it picks up brown color …..

Add in the onion ginger , garlic and hot pepper. Cook several minutes, till onion wilts…

 Add in the noodle, cabbage mixture to pan.. Stir…

Add the sauce…..

Heat through, to meld ingredients …

Plate and garnish with some additional scallions, getting close to the bowl with fork or chopsticks and slurping up the noodle to me adds to the flavor. The color of the soba noodle , with it’s buckwheat component, gives this dish an eyefull for a savoury appeal. Though I might tone  down the fishy-ness, I enjoy the result of this dish.

Habanero paste/ chicken strips

From the farmers market what to do with the large bag of assorted color habanero hot peppers ?  The purchase from farmers market gives you fresh produce and as you would pick from your own garden the shelve life is short, shorter than that of the supermarket variety, that is the peak of freshness only last so long after picking.

Vendors  sometimes offer various spice pastes and jellies at some of the farmers markets , so I took a cue and blended some habanero paste. Some of the other Habaneros were blanched and frozen.

Somewhat a mix by eye of the red/orange  hot peppers, leeks, garlic, and ginger.
Pulse to a fine mince than add olive oil/vinegar and or sweetener to taste to bind and process to pasty consistency.

Store in a jar , refrigerated for use. Can be used as a dip, very very spicy hot. Most often I use  for  a paste as a marinade, adding some items such  as onions, wine and vinegar . Indian/oriental  spices can also be an addition.

Sliced chicken strips from chicken breast are a example. Treat with the paste mixture , let sit several hours and broil or grill outdoors. A dipping sauce would be a good finish but I found them to be tasty without. 

Wrap in lettuce leaves with some grains for a spicy treat. Some chicken was plain with BBQ sauce for those unaccustomed  to the heat of the Habaneros.

Let’s hit the road!

Off the the farmers market we go, not exactly the best choice for a Sunday, the bulk of the Farmer’s Markets locations are set up  Saturday and during the week.

First stop Slater Park Farmers Market. 

Que up to the fresh fruit and veggies, broccoli crowns, cucumbers, zucchini, onions and the like available some priced by each and some by the pound. Didn’t get to note all the prices but the corn is 75 cents per ear. Cauliflower $4 each, carrots $2/lb, cukes $1 ea, green peppers $1 ea.

Specialty items available, Sacred Cow Granola and the Honey Shop. The vendors  there  offer tasting samples and an abundance of information on their products. Items considered pricey compared to store brands, but a farm to table product, a part of the cost is to support the local craft people and farmers. I couldn’t afford to shop these products often but occasionally it’s worth a purchase to taste and use these products in a recipe. The apple cider vinegar for example, will make an excellent vinaigrette dressing for greens by simply adding olive oil.

Next we’re off to the SEMAP,South eastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership farmers market Stony Creek Farm in Swansea.

Again for a Sunday not a big gathering but a few booths, here on an actual farm site.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ…………………

Modified take out

there’s always seems to be containers of take out food in the fridge, some unwanted to pass to other family members. 

Here the traditional chicken and broccoli containerized take out dressed up for a meal. 

Start with a additional of a sweet and sour sauce, ketchup, vinegar and,  some pineapple rescued from the fridge that I previously stored from a fresh pineapple, white sugar and brown sugar, a splash of soy sauce and of course a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes. Measuring,  by taste. 

 

The briccoli and chicken placed on a shallow pan with the addition of sliced porta bello mushroom, to reheat, placed under the broiler till the mushrooms were tender and the other contents reheated. 

  

The rice now at stage three, 15 minutes rest covered, as in the recipe for 5-10-15 rice. 5 minutes boil, 10 minutes covered simmer and 15 minutes rest, a foolproof recipe.  A standard white rice , double the amount of water to rice. Now done ! (Sometimes one would pass along a container of takeout white rice )

  

Final assembly.

   

     

Done !

tomato – basil custard (quiche)

real men don’t eat quiche, so custard seems better…..

Fresh tomato and basil from the garden narrowed down this recipe.
But any event, it took a bit of time to make a crust the egg mixture was easy and the result was good.
From:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2014/09/02/recipe-for-tomato-basil-quiche/FfpVGKTRD2j0bB9ppuV6UN/story.html?p1=Article_Related_Box_Article_More

for the PASTRY:

1½ cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut up
¼ cup ice water mixed with 1 teaspoon vinegar
Extra flour (for sprinkling)
Add sliced butter to the dry ingredients and with a hand held pastry blender, cut in the butter to get a crumbly mixture. Add the ice water mixture and pull together.
form into a ball , slightly flatten and refrigerate for about 20 minutes while you get the rest of the ingredients together and 9 inch deep dish pie pan.

FILLING

4 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup milk
whisk the above together and set aside.
and prep ready :
1 cup grated smoked or plain mozzarella
2 tomatoes, sliced ¼-inch thick
½ cup torn fresh basil leaves

Back to the pastry, roll it out to about 12 inches diameter and place in the pie pan. Refrigerate again for 20 minutes. I put a stockpot that fit  in the pie pan to hold down the crust while baking. Bake for about 12 minutes, remove the weight, the stockpot, and finish baking another 10 minutes or so, cool.
The recipe wasn’t specific but I guessed 1/2 the  cheese goes in the bottom of the crust.

followed by the sliced tomato

Then the torn basilgently pour in the custard

top with the rest of the cheese. Some of the mixture poured over the crust, should have rolled it out bigger to go up the side of the pie plate.

Bake at 375 for about an hour or less, let it puff up and brown.

cool slightly serve hot or cold.

Diane wanted the first piece.

The crust was a bit overdone, definitely not soggy ! fresh tomato and basil was refreshing !

Sweet and sour rib(s)

Sweet and sour ribs

I have a recipe for sweet and sour sauce that calls for ketchup, this recipe caught my eye , while reading the likes from some of my blog postings as I have (now had) the ingredients.

You can always vary the sugar to vinegar ratio to suit your taste.

A recipe mod from
http://kitchencici.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/sweet-sour-ribs/
Thanks for the idea !

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce

I would also add some heat at this point, red pepper flakes etc.

Other ingredients:

2 cloves garlic
1 country style rib , bone in
Rice
Snap peas

While the rib defrosted in the microwave, the ingredients for the sauce was combined and simmered in a saucepan.

In a skillet, one cup of rice was added to 2 cups of water , a bit of salt and olive oil. Boil, then simmer and cover till the rice is done.

The defrosted rib was cut into pieces, keeping one piece with the bone.

Salt and pepper, placed on a small broiler pan and broiled , for me broiling was faster than browning in a pan.

Broil both sides till some crispness is apparent. Add olive oil if necessary

Add the crisp rib pieces to the bubbling sauce , cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Throw in some smashed cloves of garlic.

Uncover the rice when completed and remove from heat to dry any remaining water while the ribs and sauce simmer.

Microwave some snap peas.

Arrange a bed of rice for the rib pieces, cornstarch and cold water will thicken the sauce.

Pour the thickened sauce over the rib pieces and side with the green snap peas. I’m fresh out of sesame seeds! Pineapple here would be a good addition or other fruit.

E N J O Y ! Thanks for visiting …….

Ginger marinated chicken skewers

Ginger marinated chicken skewers.
Adapted from http://lauralovinglife.org/2013/03/08/sesame-ginger-marinated-chicken-scewers/
Marinade for chicken
Add to a covered container big enough to hold the amount of chicken, in this recipe, 2 breasts, ginger to taste, I have dried and sifted available other than fresh, sesame seeds, soy sauce, about one quarter cup, cider (or rice wine) vinegar about equal amount to the soy sauce, sesame oil and an amount or garlic, ( sliced and mashed), to your taste. Grind in some pepper and as an addition , some brown sugar.

The chicken breast can be pounded thin, but this time I opted to slice the breast horizontally to fillets as the breast are very large and thick and it also keeps the noise level low from using a rolling pin or meat tenderizer mallet or pounding weight.
Add the sliced chicken to the marinade, cover and shake to distribute the marinade and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

Arrange by threading the sliced chicken on wooden skewers, at this time I didn’t soak them in water. On a grate over a foil covered broiler pan, place the skewered chicken slices. Place close to under a broiler set to high heat for quick cooking.
Watch out for the skewers! It may be necessary to cover the ends with foil to prevent ignition, but then again, that’s what smoke detectors are for, ( just kidding). You can omit the skewers, or use metal ones, but the wooden ones we have are easier to handle and are shorter than the metal ones. Broil and flip till done.
Served over spinach.

salad dressings

With the warm weather and the increase of cool meals such as salads, a few basic ingredients can be utilized to provide a variety of dressings. Reduces the number of bottled dressings in your fridge.

Balsamic vinegar and oil*

Mix about 2/3 vinegar to 1/3 oil

Basic Mayonnaise

• 1 egg yolk
• oil*

There are many recipes of Mayonnaise this is the most basic, if you find yourself without any in the fridge or you like to make your own.

In a blender, or with a mixer with beaters, or a kitchen aid with a wire whip, beat the egg yolk and drizzle in oil slowly such as adding a teaspoon at at time till the proper consistently is obtained .  A general proportion is about 1 cup oil per egg.

Making such a small amount may not work well in all types of blenders, one type of blender such as one for making smoothies the blade design did not allow the single yolk to be mixed, the tines of the blades were spaced to far from the bottom of the container. You could of course double or triple the recipe but I wanted to make a small amount at a time. Store refrigerated and use within 4 weeks.

*oil can be canola, olive, vegetable etc. or a blend.

Variations:

add:

• crumbled blue cheese
• finely chopped onion
• minced garlic
• sour cream
• lemon juice
• vinegar
• salt
• pepper
• lime juice
• poppy seeds, celery seeds, dill seeds etc.
• herbs
• hot pepper sauce
• ketchup
• horse radish
• relish
• chili sauce

 

yet to be posted: tomato French dressing as soon as I locate the recipe