The Cookbook

[Mik]

They're good - nice and crispy. If I cut up potatoes to roast, I use duck fat to coat them first.

[George K]

Tonight's dinner: Stew

Subtitle, "Never make this again."

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon oil
1 pound stew meat cut into 1 inch chunks
1 small onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup dry red wine or beef stock
3 cups beef stock low sodium, see note*
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon horseradish
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cups baby potatoes or potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups carrots cut into 1 inch chunks
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 fresh sprigs
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon corn starch

Directions:

Turn the Instant Pot to Saute and allow to heat up. Once Instant Pot is heated, add in oil.

Season beef on all sides liberally with salt and pepper.

Add seasoned beef and chopped onion to pressure cooker and let cook on all sides until beef is browned on all sides. Once meat is nearly fully browned, adds in the minced garlic and saute for 1 minute longer, being careful to not burn the garlic.

Add in red wine and scrape up any browned bits of liquid on bottom of pressure cooker. Turn the Instant Pot off.

Add in beef stock,potatoes, carrots, crushed tomatoes, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaf, fresh thyme, and a pinch of salt. Stir to incorporate sauce.

Place lid on instant pot and be sure vent knob is closed to seal in pressure.

Set to manual pressure for 30 minutes. To do this, hit pressure cook or manual and adjust cook time using +/- buttons. If you have the Ultra model, hit ultra and then adjust to high pressure and then set cook time to 30 minutes.

Once cook time has elapsed, allow pressure cooker to release pressure naturally or for AT LEAST 15 minutes.

Once pressure has been released, open up pressure cooker, remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Hit cancel on pressure cooker (to turn off keep warm function) and turn back to saute.

Notes:

In place of crushed tomatoes, you can use tomato sauce.

To keep this Instant Pot Beef Stew gluten-free, use gluten-free Worcestershire Sauce.

For a thicker stew, use 3 cups beef stock. For a thinner beef stew, use 4 cups of beef stock. You can also use 2 tablespoons or cornstarch in place of the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch for a really thick stew.

You can purchase pre-cut stew meat from your grocer, or cut up a chuck roast or top-round yourself into 1 inch cubes.

A dry red wine such as Merlot or Cabernet is best. Of course, if you do not drink alcohol, feel free to use additional beef stock in place of wine.

Be sure to use prepared horseradish, not horseradish sauce. (The ingredients are just grated horseradish, salt, and sometimes vinegar.)

Use whole bite sized new potatoes, quartered red or new potatoes, or 2 inch cubed, peeled russet potatoes

I add my potatoes and carrots later in pot roast, but for this recipe, I don't have issues with the carrots and potatoes getting mushy. If you want firmer potatoes and carrots, add all the ingredients BUT carrots and potatoes and cook for 20 minutes and let pressure release naturally. Then add the potatoes and carrots and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Way, WAY too tomato-ey. Not what you expect for a "beef stew." I should have seen this when I looked at the ingredients.

I used masa to thicken, and I don't think it really changed the flavor too much. At least it didn't make it worse, which would have been damn near impossible.

1 out of 5 stars.

Blecch.

[Mik]

I hate when something so elemental doesn’t come out well.

[George K]

@Mik when I think of "stew," i think of "Malliard-rich beef." I think "thick." I think "rich." I think..."beef."

None of that happened today.

But...whatev...

Tummies full, so that's good enough. Lesson learned.

Side note - I put the spuds and carrots in when I started cooking. Too mushy, as the recipe cautioned.

[Mik]

On the grill tonight (not using oven or pan)

https://plumscooking.com/recipes/agave-lime-salmon/

[George K]

@Mik looks good!

But...

1. I don't have a grill.
2. Mrs. George will not eat fish.

[Mik]

You don't need a grill. Number 2 I cannot help you with.

[George K]

@Mik said in The Cookbook:

You don't need a grill. Number 2 I cannot help you with.

Yeah, I know.

But, considering that, I'm not about to experiment with fish. Hell, even pork chops are a reach.

[Mik]

[Mik]

It was excellent! I cut the salt in the salsa down by 3/4..way too much and I knew it. We went to a local farmers market today so I put some fresh garlic scapes in it.

Highly recommend. Also recommend the Kirkland Rose Prosecco. Low alcohol and delicious. Under $10.

[George K]

@Mik said in The Cookbook:

Marry me.

Wait, never mind.

You know what I mean.

[Mik]

An excellent dinner tonight. Local chicken that was clucking Tuesday. I used sweet marsala and I thought it better. Served with a little herbed angel hair pasta and broccoli. Friends thought it a 10. I did use a little powdered roux mixed with water to thicken the sauce up a bit.

https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/quick-chicken-marsala

[Aqua Letifer]

Banana curry

Sauce:
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp coriander
zest from 1 lime
juice from 1/2 that lime
pinch of salt and pepper
2 bananas, mashed all up
3/4 cup water

Stuff:
chicken breast
1 green pepper
1 white onion
a handful of spinach, finely chopped

1. Put the Sauce in a bowl or ceramic mug. Mash to get consistent.
2. Add Stuff to bigass pan, then Sauce on top
3. Cover and put on medium heat. When it's up to temperature, drop down to low simmer.
4. Start your rice. All's done when rice is done.

[Catseye3]

Paprika Note:

From the Net: "Paprika marked as "sweet" will have almost no heat at all. It has the warm flavor of ripe peppers and sunshine, as well as a complimentary bitterness. "Semi-sweet" or "semi-hot" varieties still are relatively mild but carry some kick, like a cross between red bell pepper and cayenne. "Hot varieties" carry significant heat, though it's still much more nuanced and flavorful than red pepper flakes or cayenne. If you want to incorporate more chiles into your food but can't handle much heat, the bitter and sweet flavors and aromas of paprika are for you. And chileheads who want to singe their nostrils can go right ahead with the hot stuff knowing they're getting more flavor than from other hot peppers."

Recommended: Pride of Szeged Sweet Paprika Powder and Pride of Szeged Hot Paprika Powder, both available from Amazon.

(I've never been knowledgeable about paprika. I never realized that the common or garden variety paprika you get in your grocery store is junk. Apparently when you get a little particular with your paprika, you will never go back to that stuff.)

[Mik]

Yeah, I usually have Hungarian, Spanish sweet and hot and some Spanish smoked.

[George K]

I'm thinking of making a batch of this and using it for lasagna and spaghetti. Thoughts?

The Very Best Bolognese Sauce

2 small carrots chopped
1 small onion chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
3 cloves garlic
8 ounce pancetta
1 pound ground beef 80/20
1 pound ground pork
1 cup white wine
1 29 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 4 ounce tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Pulse until crossly chopped. Be careful not to pulse it too long so that it turns into mush. Remove and set aside on a plate.

Add the pancetta to the food processor and pulse until it is coarsely chopped.

Add to a large skillet and cook the pancetta for 5-6 minutes over medium-high heat or until it starts to crisp. Remove and set aside on a plate.

Add in the ground beef and ground pork. Cook and crumble until it is cooked throughout. You want the crumbles to be pretty small so it might take some extra work.

Add the veggies, pancetta, white wine to the skillet. Allow it to deglaze.

Add in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken broth.

Let it simmer on low for 2 hours for the flavors to blend and for it to thicken.

The last 15 minutes of cooking add the milk. Season to taste. Serve while warm.

[Mik]

Good recipe. Some things I do to make it easier:

Buy the mirepoix frozen.

But the pancetta diced. Voila! No food processor mess.

You could include some mushrooms if you like. A lot of recipes do.

Use a spatula or something to break up the meat very fine. This is tedious but a good idea.

The lower and longer you cook it the better it will be.

[George K]

Nothing says "August" like turkey, right?

Tonight, I made a turkey breast in the air fryer, using the rotisserie mode. Seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic and onion salt.

Into the rotisserie air fryer for 60 minutes.

When you're done, it looks like this.

I found a great recipe for oven-roasted potatoes that I used, and they were a perfect side.

Since it's summer, some corn on the cob.

Great meal.

[George K]

In case you're wondering.

Probably the best oven-roasted potatoes I've ever made. I used baby reds, unpeeled, and they were great. Others might prefer another type of spud.

Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

1 1/2 lb potatoes, Note 1, about 3-4 potatoes I prefer Yukon Gold/yellow potatoes
1/2 tsp baking soda (optional) Note 2
2 tbsp unsalted butter (if using salted butter, cut down on salt)
2 tbsp olive oil
cooking oil spray
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary or more (optional) or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary or thyme

HEAT OVEN TO 450F. Line a large baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray well with cooking oil.

CUT AND BOIL POTATOES: Peel potatoes if desired (Note 3) and cut potatoes into 1.5 - 2 inch pieces (Note 4). Boil potatoes in a medium-large pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, for 6-8 minutes until tender, but not too soft. Drain well in a colander or sieve.

PREPARE POTATOES FOR ROASTING: Put potatoes back the pot on Medium and give them a good shake. This will dry out the potatoes and rough them up, allowing them to absorb the oil and butter better. Add butter and oil (use any combination of butter and oil as preferred to equal 5-6 tablespoons), rosemary (if using), salt and pepper. Stir gently to coat the potatoes well. Taste and add more salt if needed.

ROAST POTATOES: Transfer potatoes to the foil-lined pan, spreading them out in a single layer. Don't crowd the pan. Use two pans if needed. Roast for 20 minutes, turn them over, the roast for another 10-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Serve immediately.

NOTES:

Which potatoes are best to use: Yukon Gold are my #1 choice. They have thin skins, creamy insides and they brown and crisp up beautifully. Russet are good too (more fluffy than creamy). They don't get quite as crispy. I often use creamy red potatoes too.

Baking Soda: Serious Eats chef Kenji Lopez-Alt adds a pinch of baking soda (in this case a 1 tsp) to the water used for boiling the potatoes. Apparently it creates a rougher surface to the potato to increase browning. I always forget and my potatoes come out brown and crisp anyways as you can see in the pictures. It might be worth a try though.

Peel potatoes or not? If I use Yukon gold (yellow potatoes) or red, I don't bother peeling them. The skins are thin and there is extra nutrition in the skins. I do, however, discard any skins that get separated from the potato chunks after boiling. These will just get burned. If you are using Russet potatoes, peel the potatoes first.

=-=-=-=-=-=

I cooked them longer than the recipe suggests - they came out just crispy enough to make them special.

I also cut them a bit smaller (about ¾ inch) and after bringing a pot of water to a boil, I boiled them for 10-12 minutes before putting them in the oven.

Fan Tas Tik.

I'm probably going to try another type of potato next time, but the baby reds we wonderful - skin on, of course.

[Mik]

Never thought of baking soda to increase the crust. Yum.