Tag Archives: Beef Carbonnade

Kindness and Compassion

While I await my husband’s plane to arrive home (no it is not a private plane) in a few moments I think of the things people do every day to make a day better.

My neighbor took me to the film festival the other day because his wife didn’t feel up to it and asked him to take me.

My husband has been eating restaurant food for weeks so I am cooking his favorite stew.

T, who works for us and always busts my chops, gave me a repreive from keeping me away from my kitchen sink for another 24 hours as he knew my husband was coming home and I needed the sink to make the stew, do dishes, run the dishwasher. He never said anything, nor did I, so I’ll see him on Monday. Or Tuesday. I don’t know.

Every once in a while people suprise us with rare moments of grace and kindness. Savor those moments. Dee

New Tastes

Experience and creativity have created the following to learn from taste memories and make my own.

I’ve a beef carbonnade I make on the fly, that’s seared bacon, seared beef cubes, caramelized onions (once you take the beef out) then add some thyme, salt and pepper and 1.5 bottles of beer. Even though this is a French dish I get an English Brown Ale. So sue me. But not ’til after you simmer it on the stove for a minimum of 1.5 hours or place it in the oven at 325. Purchase or make your own egg noodles, I prefer pappardelle, and serve. I like something fresh and green on the side.

You can get my Chicken Saltimbocca recipe on this site.

Lady Bird Johnson was a lady and I hope to do justice to her chili recipe from 1962 when the Vice President and Lady Bird served Texas chili to 5,000 guests including President JFK. The recipe was the most sought White House document for a year.

I had to re-do this recipe as it is comfort food and the recipe is vague so I have to add my own meats and spices and grind the meat Texas-style. Yes, I choose my own cuts and break them down and grind them myself. Perhaps I’ll have to write a book about it and then give you a recipe. There is no recipe. If you look at the original, available to download at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin TX you’ll see it calls for “chili meat” and “chili powder.” I’ve my own mix and serve it with lime, sour cream, cheddar cheese for individual tastes add homemade cornbread and a salad. While I never had this as comfort food as a child, I did live in Texas for years and created my own.

There’s a Swedish neighbor who wants to teach me how to make meatballs and his special sauce which my husband and I were lucky to eat at his place next door. Since we’ve had dinner here and there, he will teach me meatballs and I will teach him Texas chili. We’ve an agreement. No, there are no beans in Texas chili. Don’t bother to argue.

As part of my family came from Montreal I would like to try to make poutine, which I never wanted to taste but is french fries with beef gravy and cheese curds. One of my first AHA moments was eating a smoked meat sandwich on rye at Ben’s in Montreal. Thank you David Sax for Save the Deli, sorry you took me off your blogroll. I bought another copy after a waiter stole the first copy from me as they grossly insulted pastrami and bread with what they served.

Perhaps the local holier than thou market will agree to make a poutine. They have potatoes, beef and cheese curds. What better marketing ploy can I grant? Dee

 

 

 

New Year, New Life

When I talk about “out of the box thinking,” I’m not talking Food Network’s Sandra Lee.

I did find pannetone, an Italian fruit bread, on sale and had some cream so made a custard (one egg will set one cup of milk or cream) with orange zest. Then for the sauce I did 1.5 cups heavy cream, added a slurry of 2T cornstarch and water, mixed thoroughly, bring cream back to the boil. I added a splash of vanilla and 1/3 cup of brandy because I had a bit on hand.

My Beef Carbonnade was cooked at varying heats for three hours. I moved it to another container and placed it in the oven for another four hours after refrigerating overnight. It was tasty the first time, tender and delicious the second over egg noodles. I believe the recipe is on this site.

The other day I saw a recipe for Irish fondue with Irish cheddar and Guinness, and dipping items. Immediately, I thought, why not make a fondue with local ingredients? I’ll work on that later today after I find the perfect bottle of local beer to go with the local cheese.

Perhaps after I perfect the fondue recipe the local news outlet will print it, even online. Cheers to good cooking. Dee

Zero

Yes, that was the temperature here this morning. Now it has gone up to a whopping seven degrees.

It is a stew day. Beef Carbonnade. Beef, onions, bacon and beer. Noodles, I use pappardelle.

Cold streets, icy sidewalks, hot stew to warm the soul. Let’s get to it. Dee