Winter Food in July

I love cold weather...around Christmas time.

After Christmas, I'm done. I want summer back.

If we could jump from big, fluffy snow on Christmas to 85 and sunny on December 26th I would be in heaven.

One of my fave winter foods is stew.

Thick, Hearty, Warms your bones.

Well, it's July.

But I wanted stew.
{and I forgot to take pictures}

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1 1/2- 2 lbs stew meat
5 potatoes {washed and peeled as much or as little as you want, i like a little peel}
1/2 lb baby carrots
5 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf {or a few shakes of dried, crushed bay leaves}
few shakes of dried rosemary
Salt & Peppa
1 package Au Jus gravy mix {or brown gravy mix}
2 Tbsp oil
some flour {maybe 1/2 cup?}
6 cups water

Heat oi in a large pot. Roll individual pieces of meat in flour until coated. Brown meat in oil with garlic, Salt & Peppa, Bay leaf and Rosemary until meat is seared on the outside. Slice potatoes into 1/2 inch thick half circles. Add potatoes, carrots and water. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Cover and simmer on low until potatoes and carrots are tender. Add gravy mix and simmer until thickened.
{if you want it thicker, mix 1 Tbsp corn starch with 1 Tbsp cold water until smooth and throw it in the stew}

I served it with Buttermilk biscuits

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp SACO Buttermilk Blend
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup water

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles corn meal. Add water and mix until dough is pliable. Do not overbeat. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds. Roll or pat 1/2 inch thick, no less {i did mine about an inch thick}. Cut with floured biscuit cutter {i used a cup}. Place close together on ungreased baking sheet {i greased min with a little Pam}. Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees.
{Recipe from Saco Buttermilk Blend can}

Big thanks to neighbor Audrey for the buttermilk powder stuff. Those biscuits were DELISH! {and the stew was too of course!}

♥ K8

Ooh La La

I have a new digital camera so I'll start posting pictures to go along with my recipes soon. However, I'm posting a Google Picture for this one because I won't be making it for awhile. See, today's recipe is French Onion Soup. Onions make you very gassy (tmi? perhaps.) and when you're nursing a baby, they eat what you eat. So for my own sanity and sleep schedule, I'm not eating that many onions while I'm still nursing Chancho.

This recipe skill level is medium and it takes quite awhile to make. It's very much worth the effort and makes for a fancy date night meal when served with a spinach salad tossed in balsamic vinaigrette.

1/2 cup butter (REAL butter, not margarine)
4 onions sliced in half circles
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
1 cup white wine (i like the 4 packs of mini bottles for cooking, that way you don't have to open a huge bottle for one recipe)
3 Tbl flour
2 quarts chicken broth
1 baguette
1/2 pound gruyere cheese grated

Melt butter, add onions, garlic bay leaves, thyme. Cook until onions are very soft and DARK brown. Add wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until onions are dry. Dust with flour and stir. Turn heat to medium and cook 10 minutes. Add broth and simmer 10 minutes.

Slice bread and toast. Ladle soup into bowls on a cookie sheet and float a slice of bread in each bowl. Top with cheese and broil until golden and bubbly. I like to COVER the bread/soup with cheese, but you can add as much or as little as you want. I'm kind of a cheese fiend.

CAUTION: the bowls will be hot when you take them out of the oven.













Bon Appetit mes amis!

♥ K8

Rainy Day Friday

I was going to post recipes on Wednesday and Thursday...

No really, I was.

But then I got tired.

So I didn't.

It's raining and cloudy and chilly today and that means one thing.

Soup.

Behold, a delicious chili recipe perfect for a chilly day.
(you like that play on words, I know you do.)

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 can kidney beans
1 can white kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup water

Cook hamburger and onion until browned, add beans and tomatoes including juice, add taco seasoning, chili powder and cinnamon, add water. Give it a good stir. Go on, don't be shy with it. REALLY put some muscle behind it. Whoa, not that hard. There you go. Bring to a boil, cover, simmer on low for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

You can sprinkle some cheddar cheese or do a dollop of Daisy. I like to serve it up with some cornbread. Don't get fancy, I just use the Jiffy mix.
Hint: if you don't like crumbly cornbread, just add an extra egg!

Enjoy your heart (and hand) warming meal my friends.

♥ K8

p.s. high five for 2 followers!