Continuing on my quest to learn how to cook, I've done three more recipes so far this week. It seems that on weekdays when I don't have class I end up cooking...if it continues at this rate, I'll be fat by Spring break! Let's hope not.
Anyways, on Monday night I attempted a beef stew -- I wanted a reason to use the crock pot that I bought the house for Christmas. So, like usual, I wandered the interwebs until I came across a recipe that seemed like it would suit my needs. And yet again it came from foodnetwork.com.
I made a few edits of my own, because I'm picky. I took out the onions and peas (they ruin it!) and I forgot to buy tomato paste when I went to the store, so I reduced some tomato sauce on the stove and used that instead. I'm also a poor college student and couldn't afford 4 lbs of bottom round, so I got a smaller brisket instead -- I think it was around 2.5 lbs.
Slow-Cooker Recipe: Classic Beef Stew
Ingredients:
- 4 pounds bottom round, well trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup olive oil (plus more if needed)
- 2 large onions, diced (2 cups)
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 pound potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
- 1/2 pound baby carrots (about 2 cups)
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
Directions
Coat the beef in the flour. Heat a few tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, adding more oil as necessary. Transfer to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add the onions to the skillet and cook over medium hear until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and coat the onions; transfer to the cooker. Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape up any browned bits; add to the cooker. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, broth, salt, thyme, and bay leaf. Cover and cook on low heat for 7.5 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Add the peas and heat through.
So I think it turned out pretty well. I was pessimistic throughout the day because I kept testing it and I thought that the broth was too strong and that the beef would never get tender, but the final result was actually pretty delicious (particularly with some hot biscuits). I had Emma, Trey, and Matt all have dinner with me and test it out, and they said it was good too.
Even though I didn't use tomato paste, the broth still thickened nicely and while the flavor was a bit strong, it wasn't overpowering. So this is definitely something that I would make again.
That day I also made some cookies for desert. They were started while the stew was cooking and then refrigerated so that they could go in the oven right after dinner and be nice and hot for us.
(This recipe is also from foodnetwork.com)
Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 stick butter, at room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up to that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioners' sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.
So my mom and I made these cookies for Christmas and they were loved by everyone. My aunt practically had to fight Trey for some of them. They are kind of a cheat -- using the cake mix -- but it's a good recipe in that it's so simple. The only problem I have is the size -- it only makes 30 or so cookies, so next time I'll probably double it just so that they aren't all gone within a few hours.
And last but not least, I made some brownies today. This recipe, however, came from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook -- one that I bought off amazon.com because it's the one that my mom always uses and I wanted to be able to make recipes that she had done in the past. I even used her ISBN to make sure I got the same edition (the one published in 1981 :P).
Chocolate-Cream Cheese Brownies
Ingredients:
- 1 6-ounce package (1 cup) semisweet chocolate pieces
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1/2 all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1 beaten egg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and lightly flour an 8x8x2 inch baking pan. Melt chocolate and butter; cool. Stir together flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. In a mixer bowl beat 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla; gradually add 3/4 cup of the sugar. Continue beating eggs till thick and lemon colored. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture; beat till well combined. Stir in chocolate mixture. Beat cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar till fluffy. Stir in remaining egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Spread half of the chocolate mixture in pan. Pour cheese mixture over; top with remaining chocolate mixture. Swirl layers to marble, if desired. Bake in oven about 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 16.
Now I'm not a giant fan of this recipe -- I think that the cream cheese mixture was insufficient. I could barely taste it, and that just left me with a mediocre brownie. So I'll probably make this again sometime and change it around some so that there's less brownie and more cream cheese. I'll probably double the brownie content and triple the cheese content so that it can be used in a larger pan and have more of the cheese flavor. But Matt said that he likes them as they are, so they're worth making I guess.
Well that's it for now! It looks like tomorrow is going to be a snow day, so perhaps there will be some more cooking done then. If not, I'll probably do something over the weekend. Yay for cooking!
The two recipes that I got from foodnetwork.com can be found at the following links:
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