Beef Provencal

Yumm…that is all I can say about this recipe. If you like beef stew you will LOVE this recipe. It was rated #1 in the Cooking Light magazine for their “Best Recipes of All Time” and let me tell you, there is a reason why. It was amazing, melt in your mouth beef. I hope you like it as much as we did!

Prep: 30-40 minutes

Cook: 5 hours on high

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 12 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup lower-sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• Dash of ground cloves
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles) (you can also serve over rice or mashed potatoes)
• *add any other veggies: celery, mushrooms, etc.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300°. Heat large pan over low heat, pour oil in, add garlic and cook for 5 minutes (stirring occasionally). Remove garlic with a slotted spoon and set aside. Increase the heat to medium-high heat and add beef to pan. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Brown meet on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove the beef from pan and set aside. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil. Add back in garlic, beef, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the next 9 ingredients through bay leaf and bring to a boil. Pour everything into slow cooker and cook on high for 5 hours. Discard the bay leaf and serve over noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes.

*(The original recipe says this can be made in a dutch oven and cooked for 2.5 hours at 300F, which I would actually prefer. I don’t have my dutch oven right now so I used the slow cooker method)

Happy Eating!

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Spicy Touchdown Chili

Last year I had two high school kids come to the door selling magazines. I subscribed to Taste of Home and, of course, I’m now obsessed. So many great recipes are shared from people all over the country…I love it! That being said, this spicy touchdown chili is now my favorite chili. I made a couple of changes, as noted below, and the chili was not very spicy. Next time I’ll probably add a couple more jalapenos and a little more chili powder just to spice it up.

Prep: 25 minutes (mainly just browning meat)

Cook: 4-5 hours on low

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork (original recipe calls for bulk pork sausage)
• 2 cans (16 ounces each) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cans (10 ounces each) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, undrained
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with onions, undrained
• 1 can (12 ounces) beer
• 6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1.5 Tbsp chili powder (original recipe calls for 1/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped jalapeno (original recipe calls for pickled jalapeno slices)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink (drain if not using lean ground beef). Transfer to a 6-qt slow cooker. Next brown the pork in the same skillet the beef was in. Transfer to slow cooker. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook, covered, on low 4-5 hours.

Yield: 12 servings

Roasted Vegetables

So somehow I managed to not post a single recipe during the month of October. I can promise you there was a great amount of pumpkin everything going on in this little apartment. I’ll make sure to post my favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe within the next few days.

On another note. This is an easy and delectable side dish and is even great left over! I loved the flavor the red pepper and red onion added to the dish. I got the idea for this recipe from an amazing chef who also happened to be my cooking teacher for a semester in Italy. For some reason I have never quite been able to replicate his dish. I adapted this one with ideas I got from Allrecipes.com as well.

 

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped
• 6 Small Red Potatoes, quartered
• 1/2 Red Onion, quartered
• 1 medium Zucchini, sliced
• 10 small Carrots, chopped
• 8 Grape Tomatoes
• 5-6 Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
• 2 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary, chopped (or 2 tsps dried)
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Cover two baking sheets with aluminum foil. Put root vegetables (onion, potatoes, carrots) on one baking sheet and put the delicate vegetables (squash, tomatoes, bell pepper, mushrooms) on the other baking sheet.

In a bowl combine thyme, rosemary, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper. Pour mixture over vegetables and mix vegetables by hand so all vegetables are coated in olive oil mixture. Bake the root vegetables for about 45 minutes and add the delicate vegetables for the last 25 minutes of baking time. *Vegetables must be stirred about every 10 minutes of baking so they do not burn.

Enjoy!