Stews/Soups

This past Christmas, my Mom and Dad generously gifted us with an electric pressure cooker. I opened it, and quickly imagined a pressure cooker explosion in my kitchen. I’ve always heard that pressure cooking can be dangerous, so I was pretty worried about using this. However, I did a little research, and they make pressure cookers a lot safer nowadays. Thankfully.

It took me a while to finally break this bad boy in, but after the St. Patrick’s Day parade, we found our fridge FULL of vegetables that we caught that afternoon (What? They don’t throw vegetables at your St. Paddy’s Day parade?!). With all of these root veggies, I just had to make beef stew, and I figured why not try the pressure cooker for this? I did a quick search for pressure cooker beef stew, and this Williams Sonoma recipe caught my eye. 20 minute beef stew? HOW?!

My husband and I were skeptical. In fact, we had our Le Creuset at the ready in case the meat was too tough/not cooked. I just didn’t think this would work, y’all. However, after 20 minutes of pressurized cooking (I say pressurized, because you have to wait for the appliance to reach the right pressure before the timer counts down, which took about 15 extra minutes), we had the most tender, flavorful beef stew. I’m a believer. We definitely need to use this appliance more often!

20 Minute (Pressure Cooker) Beef Stew
Source: Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

• 3 lb. boneless stewing beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups red wine
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 lb. new potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups beef stock
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add the beef and toss it with the flour, salt and pepper to coat the beef evenly. Put your electric pressure cooker on the “brown” setting, and add the olive oil as the cooker is warming up. Add the beef in batches and brown the beef pieces on all sides, for about 3-4 minutes. Transfer the browned beef to a bowl, and repeat until all of the beef is browned.
2. Change the setting on the pressure cooker to “simmer” and add the red wine, stirring to scrape up the browned bits of meat. Once your finished, add the beef back in, along with the chopped onion, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes, tomato paste, stock and thyme. Stir everything together to combine. Cover the pressure cooker (and seal), change the setting to “high pressure”and set the timer to 20 minutes on the cooker (do not use a kitchen timer…it’s crucial to use the timer on your appliance since the timer starts when it reaches the desired pressure to cook).
3. Release the pressure naturally (which takes another 10-20 minutes, depending on your appliance), and then uncover. If you would like the liquid to be thicker, you can transfer the beef and vegetables to another bowl, set the pressure cooker to the “brown” setting and cook the liquid down until it’s reduced to the consistency that you want. Add the beef and vegetables back in, and serve immediately. Enjoy!

 

Like so many food bloggers, I watched Julie and Julia. I will admit, as a child, I hated when my mom watched Julia Child. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, and heck, there was Nickelodeon to watch!

After watching this movie, I was inspired and knew I had to make this dish. I’ve been making it for a while now, but one of my blogger friends asked me to make this and show it step-by-step. Please realize that there is NO natural light in my kitchen, just in the dining area, so I did my best on the step-by step pictures!

I used a version found on Joelen’s Culinary Adventures, because it was done in steps, which made it way easier! Thanks Joelen!

Oh, and yes, this stuff is amazing. If you have time and a devoted dish washer (yes, this uses a LOT of dishes), definitely make this!

Boeuf Bourguignon
Source: found on Joelen’s Culinary Adventures, originally by Julia Child, mildly adapted by me

Ingredients:

• 6 ounces bacon
• 3 pounds lean stewing beef , cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 sliced large onion
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 3 cups full-bodied, young red wine , such as a Chianti (used Merlot)
• 2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• Bay leaf
• Chopped parsley for garnish

For onions:

• 18 to 24 small white onions (white pearl onions)
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup wine (same type used in beef)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• salt and ground pepper
• 2 tsp. parsley

For mushrooms:

• 1 pound fresh mushrooms
• 1 tbsp. butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sauté the bacon in a dutch oven (no oil) over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. (The bacon will render and give off enough fat to cook with.) Remove the bacon from the pot and place in a bowl; set aside.

Dry the stewing beef in paper towels – it will not brown if it is damp. Add the beef, a few pieces at a time, to the dutch oven to cook in the rendered bacon fat. Sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Remove the beef from the pot and add it to the bacon in the bowl; set aside.

If the bacon fat has been absorbed by sauteing the beef at this point, feel free to add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. In the pot, brown the carrots and onions.

Return the beef and bacon to the pot and toss with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle on the flour over the meat in the pot and toss everything in the pot to coat the beef lightly with the flour. On the stovetop, heat the pot for about 2-3 minutes to lightly cook off some of the flour.

To the pot, stir in the wine along with the stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to simmer on top of the stove.

Then cover the pot and set in lower third of preheated oven. Allow the pot to braise very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

I decided to stop here for the evening and let the beef cool for an hour or so out of the oven and then refrigerate overnight. It’s a good stopping point and you can resume with the onions or mushrooms. OR, if you are ambitious, do these vegetables while the beef is in the oven. 🙂
For the onions – place the peeled onions in a skillet with the butter and sear them until they start to brown, move to a medium saucepan, adding the wine, water and herbs. Saute on low for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

For the mushrooms –  place butter in the same skillet used to prepare the onions. Saute the mushrooms in the butter until they start to brown. Remove from the skillet and set them aside to cool.

After the meat is braised in the oven or brought back up to temperature on a stovetop, remove and strain the beef and vegetables from the pot with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl; set aside. With the remaining sauce left in the pot, allow it to simmer. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If the sauce is too thin, boil it down rapidly to reduce and thicken. If it’s too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning.

At this point, return the beef and vegetables to the thickened sauce, along with the caramelized pearl onions and mushrooms. Gently heat everything over a medium low heat and then serve with egg noodles, rice or potatoes. Garnish with chopped parsley.