What?? You have 3 1/2 hours with absolutely nothing to do also!?!

The last couple weeks of my life have included paint, plaster, carpet and more paint. Somehow, vacation is not actually being a vacation. I guess I knew that going in, but this has been almost more exhausting than work. One of the things that I have been doing for fun, though, is cooking things that I never took the time to do before. I mean, I can't work all day, get home after 6 pm, and then make a meal that takes 3-4 hours to cook. We would be throwing food down, tossing dishes into the dishwasher and running off to bed. Never mind the fact that I would most likely pass out in my plate of food once I finally got to sit down and eat. And weekends? I don't want to spend half of my hard earned Saturday standing in the kitchen. So, I am attempting things like Beouf Bourguignon and homemade Mole while I can. I think Josh is enjoying my vacation more than I am. He gets the house worked on, amazing dinners, and really great lunches made up of leftovers.

This past Tuesday, I decided to make this time consuming French dish that was recently made popular again by Julie and Julia. My version is very similar to Julia's, but with slightly fewer steps and just as many dirty dishes. I cleaned as I went along, and it still took two of us 25 minutes to clean up after dinner. This dish is for someone who REALLY wants to attempt classic French cooking. It is a lot of work, but I am not going to lie--it is SO GOOD!!!

Boeuf Bourguignon

1 tbls olive oil
6oz bacon cut into 1/4" slices
3 lb bottom roast cut into 1 1/2" chunks
1 med onion cut into 1/4" slices
2 carrots cut into 1/4" slices
3 tbls flour
3 cups red wine (big, full bodied)
2-3 cups beef broth
2 tbls tomato paste
4-5 cloves garlic smashed
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large heavy skillet (I used cast iron) heat the oil over medium/high heat, and saute bacon for 3-4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to oven proof casserole/dutch oven. In batches, begin browning beef. Saute each side for a couple of minutes, salting and peppering each batch to taste. Transfer to same dish as bacon. When finished, add a little olive oil if necessary, and saute carrots and onion until lightly browned. Add beef and bacon back to skillet, sprinkle flour over all, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add wine and 1 cup of broth, tomato, garlic, and herbs. Stir to combine and heat through to simmering. Pour back into casserole and add enough broth to just cover all ingredients. Cover and put in oven. Cook in oven for about 3 hours. check occasionally in first half hour to make sure it is simmering (not a fast boil), and adjust oven temp as needed. I eventually lowered my oven to 325 degrees for duration.
About an hour before stew is done, start onions:

Braised Onions

1 1/2 tbls olive oil
1 1/2 tbls butter
18-24 pearl onions
1/2 c beef broth
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Melt butter in olive oil over medium heat. Add peeled onions (instructions for doing this should be on bag of onions) and saute for about 10 minutes, rolling frequently to brown evenly. Add broth and herbs, season to taste, cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes. I just shoved them in the oven along with the stew and let them simmer there.

About 10 minutes before stew and onions are done, start mushrooms:

Sauteed Mushrooms

1 1/2 tbls olive oil
1 1/2 tbls butter
8 oz mushrooms, cleaned and quartered

Melt butter in olive oil over medium heat. When butter stops frothing, add mushrooms and saute, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.

Assembly!!
I served this over bowtie pasta, but it could be served over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or even rice. Spoon the carbohydrate of your choice onto a large platter. Using a slotted spoon, add stew meat, onions, and carrots over top, leaving sauce and herbs in casserole. Spoon onions and mushrooms over top. Strain sauce, or if you are lazy like me, simply pull out the herbs and any large chunks. Adjust seasoning as needed. Sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon lightly. If it is too thin, simmer over low/medium heat to reduce. Pour over top of everything and serve.

A Warm Winter's Squash

Okay, I killed two birds with one stone. I figured out what to do with Buttercup Squash, which I had never before eaten or cooked, and I made mashed potatoes better. Some people like mashed potatoes just the way they are. Some people like to enhance them with cheeses and garlic. I don't get excited by plain mashed potatoes, and the bleu/goat cheese addition is good, but I was ready for something new. I have recently mashed parsnips or celery root with the potatoes, and really enjoyed the simple addition of the other veggies, while not adding calories with high fat cheeses.

When we were in Montana, one of the garden items we were sent home with was Buttercup squash. It is a slightly sweet squash that looks like a green pumpkin. Adding some mashed potoatoes to the cooked mashed squash made a super yummy side dish, and adding the leftovers to a bread recipe made amazing bread, perfect for sandwiches at lunch, or even toast with marmalade in the morning.

Browned Butter Mashed Squash

2 Buttercup squash, halved and seeds removed
3 medium Russet potatoes
3 tbls butter
10 leaves fresh sage finely chopped
milk or vegetable broth
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash in large dish, cut side down, with about 1 inch water in bottom. Steam until a fork pierces flesh easily. Scrub potatoes and cut into one inch chunks. Boil until tender. Strain and put potatoes in a large bowl. Scoop flesh of squash bowl with potatoes. Using a hand masher, smash potatoes and squash together to your preferred texture. On stove top, melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add sage, and simmer, swirling often, until butter begins to brown. Pull off the heat and pour over potato/squash mixture. Stir to combine, adding milk or broth until squash is creamy. Season to taste and serve hot as a side dish.

This made quite a lot, so we had some leftovers. The next day I pulled out the bread maker, found a recipe for bread using mashed potatoes, and made a great loaf of bread using the leftovers. It made a loaf that was really nice for sandwiches, but the savory flavor was also really tasty toasted with a thin layer of butter and a thick layer of orange marmalade. And what a great way to use the leftovers.

**Quick note: I have also taken the ends of that loaf of bread and put them in the freezer. I will pull them out at Thanksgiving and use them in my bread dressing. When I went back to school, I was given a breadmaker and made all of my bread for the 2 1/2 years I lived in Tucson. Living alone, I often did not finish a loaf, but found that the frozen ends came in handy anytime I wanted to make a bread dressing, especially since they almost all had a firm crust, enabling the bread to hold up well to other ingredients and moisture.

It's been so long...

I just realized it has been 11 months since I posted anything. Well, this weekend gave me something to write about. Josh and I left Thursday night after work and began driving north. We stopped in a small town in Wyoming (so small I cannot remember the name) for dinner, then stayed the night in Casper. Friday morning, we got on the road and drove to Bozeman, MT to visit Howard and Molly Dreiseszun. Josh lived with them and their daughter Robin for two years when he played hockey for the Bozeman Ice Dogs.

We had a GREAT visit!! We hiked in the nearby national forest, explored the "main street" downtown after the MSU homecoming parade wrapped up, visited with the neighboring horses--a special delight for me and Scottie--and had dinner with Howard, Molly, Robin, and Clint (Robin's boyfriend). Of all the great things we did, one of the best was going to Sir Scott's Oasis, what Josh called a true Montana steakhouse. It wasn't the best because of the huge slabs of cow overflowing people's plates, or because of my dinner which consisted of chunks of steak which were battered and deep fried, the local beer, or even the great company. All of that was wonderful.

The crowning moment came at the end when everyone was finishing dessert and geting ready to be rolled out of the place. The hostess passed by our table, paused, then asked Josh if he had played for the Bozeman Ice Dogs, "like a decade ago?" Oh yeah, that's right. He told her he had and she said she didn't think there could really be that many guys named Josh Prues, so she figured he had. She used to be a season ticket holder and had recognized his name. Twelve years after leaving the team, Josh is still famous! I loved it, he was embarassed. The truth is, Josh played for the team the first two years it was in existence, and the second year brought them a brand new arena to play in. They packed the arena, every game--standing room only. Molly said they were the biggest thing to hit the city when they came in.

Anyway, enough bird-walking, as my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. McCalip would say. Molly and Howard, well Howard mostly, had a huge beautiful garden. Before we left, Monday morning, Howard raided it and gave me a ton of veggies to bring home. Included in the bounty were: Beets, carrots, horseradish, onions, buttercup squash, tomatoes, Swiss chard, and rainbow chard. Last night I put a number of those vegies together in my own version of Italian Marriage Soup. I am going to get the horseradish into the ground, and as soon as I figure out what to do with the butercup squash, I will post that too.

Italian Marriage Soup

1 1/2 lbs meatball recipe, uncooked--can be found in a previous post
1 c diced carrot
1 c diced celery
1 c diced onion
3/4 c fresh fennel stems and fronds diced finely
4 cloves garlic minced
2 tbls tomato paste
10-12 leaves fresh basil finely torn or chopped
1 large fresh Rosemary sprig
1 med can diced tomatoes
5 c vegetable broth
6 c chopped Swiss chard
Orzo pasta

In a large soup pot, saute the onion, carrot, and celery for about 10 mins on medium heat. Add the fennel and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and saute for 2-3 minutes more. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Add the basil, rosemary, tomatoes, chard and broth, and bring to a boil. Use a small scoop or spoon to drop meatballs in to soup. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Cook Orzo using the instructions on the package. Spoon pasta into a bowl, ladle soup over the top. Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve hot.

This was a great dinner, all on it's own, as it is very balanced and one can control the fat content by the amount of olive oil used, and the fat content in the meatballs. I actually used an extremely lean ground beef from the meat counter for this.

Some people just toss the pasta into the soup for the last 10 minutes of cooking time, which is fine if it will be consumed the first night. But, if it is going to be eaten as leftovers, it is best to make fresh pasta so that it does not swell up to the size of New Jersey while sitting over night in the soup.

FYI--we folowed it up with chocolate cupcakes for dessert. :-)