fall session: classic beef stew

Sauteeing beef chuck meat in olive oil at high temperatures is a smell that lingers on your clothes.  But the smell of beef stew braising in the oven with rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, red wine...that is a smell you could bottle and spray on a winter day to evoke cozy family snuggling over a fire, beef stew in their bowls.

Ok, enough corny imaginings.

I always used to make beef bourguignon for my classic beef stew.  A delicious, traditional, french braise.  The problem was that the french like to cook stews (coq au vin, osso bucco, boeuf bourguignon, lamb stew) with vegetables in the braise that then get strained out and new vegetables, non mushy, perfectly cooked, get added in.  That is all fine and great if you have a lot of time and don't mind arthritic hands from fishing out every little last morcel of beef stew so it does not get strained and thrown away.  BUT, this recipe, has the meat cooking with diced celery, onions, garlic and fennel that just melt into the sauce and don't need to be strained out.  Then, about half way through the cooking, you add in your dice of carrots, parsnips, potatoes, rutabagas (or whatever root vegetables you have on hand).  Still a delicious beef stew, with a lot less work.

I use beef chuck for my meat.  I look for the cheapest per pound price, either in bulk slabs that I cut up into stew size, or pre-cut meat.  You just want to make sure they are all the same size so they cook in the same amount of time.  For this week's class, the best meat deal was pre-cute beef stew from Costco, $5.88 a lb.  If you figure 1lb makes 2 servings, basically $3.00 a person, you are looking at a reasonable dish, even adding in the cost for the other ingredients.

Happy Braising.

Classic Beef Stew by The Family Table

fall session: pot roast with honey roasted root vegetables

A rutabaga:

A cross between a turnip and cabbage.  The farmer's market is brimming with them and I found a recipe for making farm fresh rutabagas and multi-colored carrots meld into a pot roast with chuck roast.  Cook in the crock pot for 5-6 hours on high, perfuming the whole house.

Serve with a wheatberry salad and you have dinner.

TFT, BRAISE Pot Roast With Rutabagas and Carrots by The Family Table

fall session: coq au vin

Coq au Vin is not as complicated as people anticipate. I think it is just the fancy name that throws them: "Coq au Vin". No one says "old chicken in wine", who really would want to eat old chicken in wine? Yet the name "Coq au Vin" evokes parisian bistros, waiters with long aprons, beaujolais nouveau and chocolate mousse (or it does to me).

Coq au Vin is perfect served for a fall dinner with buttered egg noodles, a simple green salad and crusty bread to lap up the sauces.  And, like all braises, make extra as it even tastier the day after.  Bon appetit.

The Green City Farmer's market was the perfect place to buy the lovely cippolini onions, the multi-colored carrots, the fresh grown celery and garlic and all the lovely wild and button mushrooms.

This was slab bacon from Fresh Farms in Morton Grove.  It was fantastic.  It added a smoky flavor and was so tender.

Coq Au Vin by The Family Table

braising: chicken cacciatore

Chicken Cacciatore is a traditional "Hunter's Stew" from Italy.  Chicken thighs (bone in or bone out) are dusted in flour, sauteed in hot olive oil until brown, then braised with onions, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes and white wine with oregano, rosemary and thyme.  It is a very aromatic dish, making your kitchen and house smell like a rainy day in Tuscany (one can imagine).

Buon Appetito!

Chicken Cacciatore by The Family Table

braising: pork shoulder with guiness and dried cherries

I spent a lovely day cooking with the O'Meara ladies.  They planned a family dinner for twenty plus and then came and cooked their dinner with me, supporting The Family Table.  It was such a great idea and such a nice day!

We made a yummy dish, one that would be really good for St Patrick's day.  Pork Shoulder is trimmed, seared and then put in a dutch oven (or crock pot would work too).  The aromatics (onion, fennel, garlic) are then sauteed in the pork pot and deglazed with guiness and balsamic vinegar.  Dried cherries, molasses and orange peel are added for a sweet-ish, rich, wintery braise.  You can add chopped sweet potatoes in to make it a complete dish.  Steamed barley would also be really nice to slurp up the broth.  We also made the kale and brussel sprout salad (from BBQ Beef class in May, 2013) for some greenery.

TFT, BRAISE Pork Shoulder With Guiness and Dried Cherries by The Family Table

spring session: pork pot roast with root vegetables

The last spring class...pork pot roast.  This is a recipe I have used for both the dutch over and a crock pot.  Both ways come out nice and succulent, falling apart.  You can use any root vegetable here.  I added celery root, but I think turnips or sweet potatoes would also be delicious.

Enjoy.

Braised Pork Pot Roast by The Family Table

To go along with the pork, we made a quinoa salad, with orange zest, dried cherries, pine nuts and fennel.  See my last posting for the recipe with israeli couscous.  I like it better with the couscous (especially as I overcooked the quinoa in class!)

spring session: saffron braised chicken with fennel and carrots and a spring couscous salad with asparagus and peas

Spring colors are the theme for this week's braised dish.  Saffron Braised Chicken, with fennel and carrots.

Saute the sliced onions and fennel in saffron and butter...

The stunning apron lady, aka Tracy, adds carrots to the saute...

After searing the cumin, coriander and paprika crusted chicken thighs, you add diced tomatoes, chicken stock, sherry and sherry vinegar.  The stew is then braised in the oven for 1 1/2 hours or in the crock pot for 4.

Chicken With Saffron, Fennel and Cilantro by The Family Table

Making the most of the spring produce coming to market, we made an Israeli Couscous Salad with fresh peas, asparagus and snap peas.  The salad is dressed with a lemon vinaigrette and tossed with chives and freshly grated parmesan.  This can be made ahead and served room temperature with the chicken or would be nice eaten warm as well.

spring session: barbecued beef brisket, kale salad and biscuits

The Family Table Spring session has started.  I am going back to simple, easy to prepare, good tasting family dinners, inspired by Michael Pollan and his new book "Cooked".  I particularly liked the editorial that Mark Bittman wrote on this book in the New York Times.  He wants to start a home cooking movement.  As Michael Pollan says: "Cooking is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your diet. What matters most is not any particular nutrient, or even any particular food: it’s the act of cooking itself. People who cook eat a healthier diet without giving it a thought.”

I am going to post whole family dinner menus in this spring session of the Family Table.  I hope that you will grab a friend, shop and chop with them, laugh and share while your family dinner simmers away!

Wednesday, we made Barbecued Beef Brisket in the crock pot (or dutch oven, both work great).  The advance prep time is very short (see the lovely Tracy pricking the meat before she slathers the marinade on), then into the crock pot for 9-11 hours.

Slice the meat, drizzle on the sauce, and you are good to go.

To complete this meal, I would add a kale salad, roasted sweet potatoes and either home made biscuits (these are very easy and lighter than normal biscuits) or store bought parker house rolls. You can print out the recipes below. 

Barbecued Beef Brisket by The Family Table

Kale Salad by The Family Table

Sweet Potato Wedges by The Family Table