Quick and Easy Beef Stew

It's wet, cold and mucky days like today that make me wish I'd made a bigger pot of beef stew last night.

Seriously, the easiest recipe on the planet.

There's no measuring, no weighing, no detailed instructions. This is a a real country-style pot of comfort food that packs a punch with flavor. Guaranteed.

You can save some time if your supermarket sells prechopped stewing meat, onions and carrot, and get one of those squeezy tubes of fresh garlic.

Ready?

QUICK AND EASY BEEF STEW

Ingredients

about a kilo (2+pounds) of chopped stewing beef

a big onion, roughly chopped

a big carrot, roughly chopped

3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

2 generous tablespoons of mixed dry herbs

half bottle of good dry red wine (I used merlot here but also use Medoc)

equal measure of beef stock (not broth) as wine

2-3 tablespoons of plain flour

cooking oil

floury potatoes, about 2 tennis ball size per person

Instructions

Preheat your cooking pot with the oil. Toss in your meat and flour together and give it a good stir. Be sure the meat gets well-covered. When the flour has browned and the meat looks like it's startint to cook, toss in the rest of the ingredients.

Stir well, then cover and bring to a boil then turn down to simmer and cook for 90 minutes to 2 hours, or until the meat is tender and falling apart. Pretty much forget about it, but set your timer. By 90 minutes, your house should be filled with the smell of the stew.

Just before it's done, put the potatoes in the microwave (should be less than ten minutes). When they're done, roughly chop them up in a deep bowl and mash to break them up a little before ladling on the stew.

*Tip: the better cut of meat, the tastier it will be. I prefer skirt steak (not flank) when I can find it

That's it. 10-15 minutes prep and the meal is done in about two hours. If you want to eat at 7pm, get it in the pot for 5pm. That's it

Serves 2 to 4

And you have leftover wine for the table.

No matter how you say it, it's...

Ithe maith!

¡Buen provecho!

Buona mangiata!

Gutes Essen!

Bon appetit!

Bwyta da!

Liánghǎo de yǐnshí!

Dobré jedlo!

Ukutya okumnandi!

Khoroshaya yeda!

Yoi shoku!

'akl jyd!

Goed eten!

Good eating!

Beef Slow Cooked in Red Wine

Winter is upon us here in Ireland. While where we live is relatively sheltered from most of the worst weather, it does get very cold. This time of year means putting on a thicker pair of socks...and 2-3 layers of clothes to stay warm! Even in the house. Especially for this California girl.

This time of year also means a change in cooking habits. Pointedly, making more soups and stews. Today, I'm sharing my recipe for a beef that's slow cooked in wine. This is my lazy adaptation to a traditional Beef Bourguinon.

*This is not a slow-cooker recipe, though you could use one if you aren't home all day to monitor your cooktop or oven. Turn it down to low too cook about 8-9 hours. Be sure to follow your slow cooker's own instructions for an all day cooking time.

This recipe is very easy. Most of the work is in the cutting of the ingredients. There's no precooking or browning. Just dump everything into the pot and simmer for a few hours. Like a dump cake, but savory :-D

INGREDIENTS

2kg/appr 4.5 pounds of Bavette or Skirt Steak (chuck or stewing beef is OK too), rough cut into largish chunks (4-5cm/appr 2in or so)

2 large white onions, de-skinned and rough cut (yellow onions are OK too, but not purple)

1 large carrot, peeled and rough cut into similar size as the onion

1 large fresh beet, peeled and rough cut as above (do not use precooked or pickled...fresh!) (I used a Candy Beet, hence the stripes)

2-3 large cloves of fresh garlic (to taste) (if you must, use granulated, but not powder or garlic salt)

2 tablespoons mixed herbs (I was out so used sage and thyme here)

1/2-1 tsp ground cayenne pepper (season to taste)

2 whole chipotle chilies

1 container of good beef stock (pouch or canned, preferably homemade)

equal measure of water to stock

2 beef stock cubes

half bottle of good red wine (I prefer Malbec but merlot works great too...use half in the stew and serve the other half with dinner!) (Most often, I use Barefoot wines when I cook, as they're affordable and very tasty, AND from my home state of California. You know the saying, If you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it!)

METHOD

Dump everything into your pot and stir well.

That's it!

Cover and turn on the stove to high to get the liquid warm and you can see some steam coming off the top of the liquid (you don't want it to boil), then turn it down to low and leave it for at least three hours. *I start the heating on the big burner then move the pot to the small burner for slow cooking.

It should take about 3-4 hours until the meat is super tender and literally cuts with a spoon. You might even find it falls apart as you're ladling it into your bowl.

*If you use a slow cooker, as above, refer to manufacturer settings for an all day cooking time.

Serve with warm, crusty bread (I prefer sourdough), or with creamy mashed potatoes.

This recipe makes approximately 6-8 servings depending on your appetite.

This freezes well so you can make a big pot in advance and divide into servings to freeze and thaw later. You can reheat in the microwave.

Stay warm this winter season with a wonderful, hearty beef stew!

Happy eating!

Smoky Spanish Chorizo with Vegetables and Chickpeas

Holy moly. Has it really been a year since I posted something here? Hopefully, this will make up for it. :-)

Smoky Spanish Chorizo with Vegetables and Chickpeas

Ingredients

1 Chorizo (dried Spanish vs fresh Mexican)
1 Onion (I prefer white when I can find it but yellow will do)
1 Bell Pepper (I use yellow to stand out from the sauce)
2-3 Garlic cloves, crushed and rough chopped
2-3 tsp Smoked Paprika - to taste
1 can chopped tomatoes (no herbs or seasoning, just plain)
1 can RoTel (chopped tomatoes with chilis)
1 small can/jar chickpeas/garbanzo beans the last 5 minutes just to warm
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube.
Salt to taste

Method

Chop everything up into similar size pieces before starting to cook.

Preheat your *dry* pan to medium heat and throw in the chorizo. It will sweat off oil and spices into the pan so you don't have to oil it. Color one side of the chorizo then stir to start the other side coloring.

At that point, add the onions and peppers and stir well to coat in the chorizo oil and to cook evenly.

When the onions start to turn translucent and cook down a little, add the garlic, tomato sauce and RoTel and stir well.

Add the paprika and crumbled stock cube stir well.

Simmer on low for about 15 minutes (get your dishes out, prepare your side dish, set the table). You can leave the pan uncovered or cover it. Your choice.

Add the chickpeas/garbanzo beans (drained, but no need to rinse), stir well. Cook another 5 minutes until they're hot through.

Serve.

Partners well with basmati rice, mashed potatoes, or country fries.

Salt (and pepper if you wish) to taste.

EAT :-)

All in all, a fabulously rich tasting meal in less than 30 minutes.

Double the recipe for leftovers for the freezer.