Beef Guinness Stew

This is a really good stew anytime but perfect for one of those Irish holidays. It is adapted from a few recipes that I researched. Heres what I did: You can half this if you want.


Guinness Beef Stew:
 5 lbs. bonelss beef chuck. Trimmed and cut into chunks. (chuck roast in my opinion makes the best stew meat.)
8 strips of bacon, cut or sliced into small pieces
4 large onions, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper (the salt and pepper is really to taste)
8 cloves of garlic minced
2 (14oz. Guinness beer. I actually used a little less. I probably used about 20oz.)
1/2 cup tomato paste
8-10 sprigs thyme
6 carrots, cleaned and cut into one inch slices
4 ribs of celery cut into one inch slices
5 Cups of chicken stock (enough to just cover ingredients in cooking pot
1-2 tsp. sugar (to offset the bitterness of the guinness)

In large stew pot add bacon and fry till crisp. remove to a bowl with slotted spoon. Leave bacon grease in pan. Liberally salt and pepper your beef chunks. On med-high brown the beef chunks and remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon (you can add the browned beef to the same bowl with the bacon.) Add chopped onions and saute till they start to get some color. You should have a nice brown glaze stuck to the bottom of the pot. This is where a lot of flavor is and will impart good flavor to the stew. Add the minced garlic to the onions and stir for a minute. Be sure not to burn the garlic. Pour beer into the pot to de-glaze the pot. Stir and scrape all the brown off the bottom. Add the beef and onions and any juice that has collected in the bowl. Add tomato paste,thyme, sliced carrots and celery. Stir. Add enough chicken stock to just cover ingredients. Add 1 tsp sugar and stir. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a mild simmer. Cover and cook one hour. Skim fat and foam off top and give it a good stir. Cover and cook another hour and skim fat and foam again. Cover and continue to cook till beef is very tender. Once meat is tender remove lid and stir and remove thyme stems. Turn heat up and bring it to a gentle boil. Cook till liquid cooks down some and thickens. Stir regularly. Test and adjust for seasoning.
Serve on mashed potatoes, colcannon, or buttered noodles.

Cranberry Peach Martini

Here is a good summertime drink. Ok, its a good anytime drink. you can make it like a martini or pour over ice and serve. Either way it is yum.

One drink:

3 ounces citron vodka
2 to 3 ounces cranberry juice cocktail
1 ounce orange liquor of your choice
1 ounce peach snapps
1 ounce lime juice

Pour into cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and serve as you wish.

Mung Bean Pasta noodles with Mediterranean artichoke, olive and tomato sauce

Now you can use any pasta you want. We are
trying to eat healthier so I found these fettuccine noodles made from Mung beans and water. Simple and they taste great. They make a wonderful pasta replacement. Here is a link to where they can be purchased. It is a Raw Food web site but you can (and we did) cook the pasta. They soak them for a few days to soften them without cooking them to keep the raw food state of the pasta.
http://www.therawfoodworld.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=100148_100540

Ok, so here is the sauce I made to go over the Mung bean noodles.

Mediterranean Pasta with Artichokes, olives, and Tomatoes
Prep: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Serves 4

Salt and Pepper
12 ounces spaghetti (I used two packages of the mung bean fettuccine and it was 14 ounces all together)
2-4 Tbl. good olive oil
1/2 med onion (I used a whole one) sliced in slivers
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can artichoke hearts (not marinated) rinsed, drained,  and quartered
1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, quartered
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/2 Cup fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

In large pot start water boiling and add salt. You will cook the pasta according to directions (for the mung bean pasta, I cooked it for about 6 minutes till I liked the bite it had.  Regular pasta follow directions) when done,RESERVE 1 CUP PASTA WATER FOR THE SAUCE IF NEEDED,  rinse in cool water and set aside to drain.
Now, in a large skillet, heat 1-2 Tbl. olive oil and add onions. Cook for about 3 minutes and then add the garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few more minutes and then add the wine. Cook till the wine is mostly evaporated.
Stir in the artichokes and cook for 3 minutes. Add the olives and half the tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes start to break down. At this point at the cooled drained pasta and the remaining tomatoes, cheese, basil and 2 Tbl. olive oil. Toss to coat the pasta. Add as much reserved pasta water as need to bring the sauce together. You may or may not need it. Stir and toss to coat and heat through.  Serve with additional Parmesan cheese to taste.

Cowboy Spaghetti

This is a take on Rachel Rays cowboy spaghetti. It is pretty wonderful. You can serve it like traditional spaghetti or layer it with cheese and make it a baked spaghetti (which is how I like to do it.)

Cowboy Spaghetti: Serves a ton of Sasquatches. You can easily half it.

2 lbs. spaghetti noodles
2 Tbl. olive oil
1 lb. apple wood smoked bacon (is there any other kind?)
2 med. onions chopped
2 lbs. good ground beef (you know I grind my own. )
1 head (yes a head) of garlic chopped (we love us some garlic)
salt and pepper
4-6 tsp. hot sauce (this is just a personal taste thing. I like lots. You can always add more to your plate of spaghetti to amp it up.)
2 Tbl. Worcestershire sauce
1 (12oz.) beer
2 (14 oz.) cans crushed or chopped fire roasted tomatoes (I think the fire roasted is important. It imparts a great flavor)
1 (14 oz.) can tomato sauce
16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese

(Use a cast iron skillet if you have one. I just believe there is nothing better than the flavor a cast iron skillet gives food, particularly meat.)
Heat skillet up and add the 2 Tbl. olive oil. Cut the 1 lb. of bacon up into bite size pieces and fry in hot pan with olive oil. When brown remove bacon with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Drain off some of the bacon fat so that you have a nice standing coating of grease left in the pan. Place hamburger meat in pan and spread out and let it sear before stirring. Add onions and continue to stir around the meat and onions till the meat and onions are almost cooked. Add the garlic and stir this around for 2 minutes. Then season with salt and pepper to taste and add the hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir and pour in the beer and stir this good. Let this cook for 1 minute and then add the cans of tomatoes. Stir to combine. If it seems too soupy let it cook down a bit. It should resemble this pic when its about right. Add back in the bacon and stir. You can turn off heat at this point and get the spaghetti noodles cooked. If you aren't baking it then you will want the noodles to be close to done when the sauce is. If you are baking it then you can just turn off the burner and get your noodles cooked. Drain spaghetti and pour meat sauce and toss. If your baking it then layer half a  9x13 pan with the spaghetti/meat sauce and top with 8 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese and then another layer of spaghetti/meat sauce to fill the pan and top with another 8 ounces of sharp cheddar. Bake at 350 degrees till hot and bubbly and cheese is melted on top. Because everything is usually hot when I put it together it never has to bake more than about 15 minutes. If you are not baking it then just serve it up with cheese on top of the individual servings. You can garnish with green onions if you are so inclined. ENJOY!

Chicken Ranch Tacos

sorry borrowed pic. I will post one of mine next time I make these. This is how they look. Wonderful.

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe yet. It is as easy as any recipe I have ever done. It is so good that my Sasquatches go NUTS every time I make it. I have found numerous versions for them (this is from Do you smell that.) This is the simplest and I can't scream this enough "DELICIOUS"!!!!!
Here is how you make them.

Chicken Ranch Tacos:
 (I think I triple this recipe.)
3 Cups chicken tenders (cleaned if you want. I have to remove that membrane that is in a tender but you don't have to.) Cut into small bite size pieces.

1 pkg. dry taco seasoning mix

1/2 Cup  bottled ranch dressing

taco shells ( I buy the heat and serve. Like I said I keep this easy peasy.)

TOPPINGS
shredded lettuce
cut up tomatoes
shredded cheese
extra ranch dressing for serving

Heat skillet up and add a small amount of oil. Fry the chicken till almost done and then sprinkle with the taco mix and continue to cook till chicken done and well coated with taco seasoning. Add ranch dressing and continue to cook a couple more minutes till mixed and hot.  Serve.
 Heat taco shells in oven according to package.
Serve chicken in shells and serve with toppings.
Enjoy, cause I know you will.

Chocolate Lasagna

This is delicious. I don't know for sure where I stumbled across the recipe. I have had it for a while and had been meaning to try it. So for my sons birthday I gave it a shot. It was too wonderful.
 I don't know why they call it chocolate lasagna. There are no noodles (not even chocolate ones) in it. Maybe because its layered. I dunno. Here's how you do it.

9x13 dish
1 pkg. of regular (not double stuff) oreos
6 Tbl. melted butter
1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, soft
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbl. milk
1 (16 oz.) cool whip
2 lg boxes (5.9 oz.) INSTANT chocolate pudding mix
3 1/2 Cups cold milk
package mini chocolate chip morsels

1. Crush oreos in food processor till crumbs (no large chunks), remove to a bowl

2. Add the 6 Tbl. melted butter to the oreos and mix with a fork till combined. Press into pan. and place in fridge while you get the next layer made.

3. Mix cream cheese in bowl with electric mixer till fluffy. Add 2 Tbl. milk and the sugar and mix to combine. Fold in 1 1/2 cups cool whip. Spread over oreo layer and return to the fridge while you make the next layer.

4. In a bowl combine both boxes of instant chocolate pudding and 3 1/2 cups of milk. Mix with mixer on low speed for 2 minutes or till thickened. Spread over cream cheese mixture. Place in fridge for about 5 minutes.

5. Top with enough of the left over cool whip to have a good layer and then sprinkle as many of the mini chocolate chips on top as you like.  Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours (we found over night was the best)

cut and serve. It was very good.

Abuelo's Papas con Chile recipe

Not my recipe but I couldn't resist posting. I actually found this on Abuelo's Facebook page.
Abuelo’s Papas con Chile™
3 lbs. red potatoes
3 oz cream cheese – cut into 2" squares
½ cup heavy cream
10 oz Velveeta – cut into 2 " squares
½ TBS salt
¾ tsp granulated garlic
¼ cup sour cream
½ cup diced red bell peppers
½ cup diced green bell peppers
2 cans chopped green chiles
½ cup chopped green onion tops
2 TBS of finely chopped jalapeño – seeds removed

1.Wash and scrub potatoes until clean
2.Place potatoes in a pot covered with water and boil until soft.
3.Drain potatoes
4.Add the rest of ingredients and mash. Be sure all ingredients are incorporated.