Beef and Veggie Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 pound stewing beef
• 500ml beef stock
• 250ml red wine
• 1 cup quartered mushrooms
• 1 diced onion
• 1-2 coarsely chopped leek
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 2 coarsely chopped carrot
• ½ tsp thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 coarsely chopped celery sticks
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• olive oil
• 4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  

Instructions

1. OPTIONAL; in a saute pan using the heated olive oil, brown the stewing beef prior to putting in the slow cooker. Use the wine to deglaze the pan, and then add it to the rest of the liquids.
2. Mix all the wet ingredients, spices, and flour. Pour a small amount of the liquid in the bottom of the cooker, the place “optionally browned” beef in bottom, veggies on top of that, and pour the remainder of the liquid mix over the top of it all.
3. Cover and let cook for 5-7 hours on low, or 4-6 on medium/high.
4. Serve with you favorite side dish, or you can add 4 or 5 peeled potatoes in with the vegetables for a complete slow cooker meal. (Make sure to adequately salt and pepper the potatoes, as they absorb those flavours.)
   

Bob's Beet PLUS Borscht

Ingredients:
o 3 tbsp vegetable oil
o 2-3 bay leaves
o 1 tsp black peppercorns
o 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
o 1 small package of fresh dill, finely minced tips, divided in two (half to put in the soup while cooking the other to add to the soup when serving, Also chop the stems and put them in at the beginning so the have time to soften.)
o 1 chopped onion
o 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
o 1 stalk chopped celery
o 1 large small sliced carrot
o 2 cup chopped red cabbage
o 2-3 medium potatoes peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
o 1 cans of beets, diced into bite sized pieces (1cup fresh or frozen)
o 1 can (small) chopped tomatoes
o 4 litres beef broth (The key here is to have enough to make it as “soupy” as you personally prefer it)
o 1 link Farmer sausage - sliced into medallions
o 1 cup boneless pork shoulder picnic (when you remove the bone keep it and add it to the soup while cooking for added flavour. NOTE - Trim off excess fat and skin to keep it as low fat as possible.)
o Vinegar to taste (about ¼ cup)
o Salt and Pepper to taste
o Sour Cream (in each bowl you dish out)

Directions:
1. Heat vegetable oil to medium in a large soup pot. Add onions and celery, let the vegetables sweat, but not brown, stirring occasionally (about 10 minutes or until translucent.) Add the garlic about a minute before you are ready to add the liquid.

2. Wrap the bay leaf, peppercorns, mustard seeds, in a piece of cheesecloth (or use a strainer ball) and tie it securely with a piece of string. (A bouquet garni) and add it with the broth.

4. Add the broth, the tomatoes (if using), the Sausage and Ham and the rough, stem-end portion of the dill (it will soften and incorporate itself). Stir everything to combine and bring up to a boil. When the pot begins to boil, reduce heat to medium low and let simmer slowly for 2 hours.

5. With 45 minutes left in the cooking process add the sliced cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and vinegar, and let simmer for the remaining time.

6. To serve stir in the remaining tip-end minced
fresh dill. Top with a tablespoon of sour cream.

Mushroom Orzo (with chicken)

Mushroom Orzo (with Chicken)

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, divided
• 8 pearl onions
• 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup white wine
• garlic powder to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 3 regular boneless skinless chicken breast sliced thinly


Directions
1. Melt 1/2 the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions, and cook until golden brown. Mix in orzo, mushrooms, and remaining butter (At this point I also add thinly sliced pieces of chicken breast). Cook and stir 5 minutes, until butter is melted and mushrooms are tender.
2. Pour water and wine into the skillet, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook 7 to 10 minutes, until orzo is al dente. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and parsley to serve.

**The chicken is actually an addition to the recipe because let's face it, I'm a meat man, and a meal without meat seems somehow just wrong.  LOL

Bustin' my chops.

Here's a simple little recipe to help keep your "center cut" pork chops tender and juicy.  Brining your pork chops for a couple of days before you grill or fry them can make an unbelievable difference in both tenderness and juiciness, and although it takes a little advanced prep, I assure you that it is well worth the effort.

1/8 cup salt
1/8 cup sugar
500 ml of boiling water
500 ml ice
(To total 1 litre of Brine, for 4-6 chops)

Dissolve the salt and sugar in the boiling water.  Add the ice to the solution to cool it down so as to not start the cooking process on the chops.  Cover the chops fully with the brine (an excellent method for this is to use a zip top bag with as much air as possible removed, much like marinating you want the brine to be in as much contact with the meat as possible.)

Let the chops sit in the brine, in the refrigerator, for 2-3 days (if you use the zip top method, be sure to put them in a bowl in case of leakage).  After the brining time, rinse and cook as desired. 

This is an extremely effective at ensuring excellent grilled pork chops, as grilling can easily dry out a pork chop if you don't watch it like a hawk.

Spicy Thai inspired peanut noodles.

I saw someone make something like this on TV one time, and I REALLY wanted to try them.  I could never find the recipe for the show I watched, so I decided to give it a shot from memory and here's what I came up with.

360g Soba Noodles

Sauce
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Soya Sauce
3tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Garlic
1/2 tsp Ginger
1-2 tsp Hot Chili sauce (I used 2 tsp of "Sriracha HOT chili sauce", and it was quite spicy)
3 tbsp Brown Sugar
3 Green Onions slice about 1/4 inch on the diagonal
(And if the mixture seems too thick, you can thin it down with some warm water, but just enough to make it easy to coat the noodles.)

Mix the sauce together (Be careful it will splatter when adding liquid to the peanut butter, so be gentle until the peanut butter loosens up and starts to accept the liquid). 
Cook the noodles according to package directions.
Coat Noodles with the peanut mixture.

This recipe is good hot, or room temperature.

Enjoy!

Satay meat marinade.

I created and used this Marinade on both chicken and pork for one meal (marinated individually of course), and it had the exact Asian flavours I was looking for once I grilled the meat.  (This was a throw together recipe where I had an idea of what I wanted, and the results worked out very well!)

1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Garlic
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1/4 cup Lime Juice
4 tsp Brown Sugar

Mix together and pour over thinly slice meat (Pork, Chicken, or Beef), making sure that all surfaces come in contact with the marinade.  The easiest way to do this is to use a large zip top bag; place the meat and the marinade in the bag and seal it without removing any excess air, next massage the meat and marinade together so that all the solid surfaces come in contact with the liquid, finally remove as much air from the bag as possible and let it marinate for an hour.

Skewer the meat (because thin slices will tend to fall through the grill without them), and grill them until they are done (cooking times very depending on the thickness).  I served these with Costco's "Thai Kitchen sweet red chili sauce", but honestly the flavour from the marinade was so nice it really did not need a sauce.

Enjoy!

Raspbery Iced Tea.

Ingredients

6 quarts water

2 & 1/4 cups sugar 

1 package (600g) frozen unsweetened raspberries (which I have substituted blueberries and strawberries to change the flavour of the tea.) 

15 individual tea bags

1/8 cup lemon juice

Directions In a large kettle or Dutch oven, bring water and sugar to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the raspberries, tea bags and lemon juice. Cover and steep for 5 minutes. Strain; discard berries and tea bags. Transfer tea to a large container or pitcher. Refrigerate until chilled. Serve over ice.

Of the 3 flavours I've tried so far (Raspberry, Blueberry, and Strawberry), The consensus thus far is that the Strawberry is the best. Strawberry takes a little mashing to get the water fully flavoured, but if you let them boil a little it's nothing to mash them up.  Give it a quick taste after the sugar and berries have steeped for a few minutes, and if it's not strong enough just leave them in longer, or mash them up a bit more.