Beef Bourguignon

Dear Joy,

Here's the  recipe I promised. It's not my great-grandmother's exactly, but she has a lot to do with it. My mom, Veronica Krumm, was a great cook. She would often tell us about her grandmother's beef stew, how delightful it smelled, cooking in the oven. Mom was always trying to make something that scrumptious, and she felt she never did. So I am pursuing the elusive French beef stew in the oven. It must smell and taste heavenly. (Mom's grandmother was from Paris, and she married a German -- an atrocity that got her disowned. They left Europe for Ohio, where she continued cooking.) I've had this recipe for more than 40 years, and I think it's from Julia Child.

Beef Bourguignon 

Sauté 6 ounces bacon for two to three minutes, to brown lightly. Take bacon out. Reheat the bacon grease with 1 T. oil (I use olive oil.) until it is almost smoking.

Cut 3 pounds of beef* into 2" cubes. Dry the beef and sauté it until brown. When brown, put it in the dish with the bacon. When it's all brown, put the beef back into the pan. Sprinkle it with 1 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper, 2 T. flour. Put it in 450° oven for 4 minutes. Stir, and put back in oven for another 4 minutes. Turn the heat down to 325°. Add 3 C. red wine (Chianti is good.), the bacon, enough beef broth to barely cover, 1 T. tomato paste, 2 mashed garlic cloves, 1/2 t. thyme, a crumbled bay leaf. Simmer on top of the stove, then cover and put in the oven until the meat is tender -- 3 to 4 hours, or more. When it is ready, braise**  18 to 24 small onions (I use a bag of frozen, thawed.), and sauté a pound of sliced mushrooms in butter.

When beef is tender, pour the casserole over a sieve into a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the meat to it. Put the onions and mushrooms on top. Skim any fat off the sauce and simmer it a minute or so. It should coat a spoon lightly. Taste it! Pour it over the meat and vegetables. If you are serving now, simmer it a couple of minutes, basting with the sauce. You can also cool it and then simmer it 20 minutes before serving.

Serve with buttered carrots and French bread.

*Good meat = good casserole. Rump roast is best. Then chuck. Then sirloin tip.
** Braising means to brown the onions and then cook them until tender.

Beef cooked until tender, right
Onions braising on the left

S'more pie

You know how Thanksgiving makes you want chocolate? You do crave chocolate after all that orange food, don't you? Then you'll understand why I made a S'mores pie the day after turkey-- soon enough to coat-tail on the "It's a holiday so calories don't count" rule.  I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe, and the chocolate intensity didn't disappoint.

Next time I'll tweak the crust and topping,  though. Yes, I made the marshmallow topping. My cook-niece Gretchen has influenced me; she loves homemade marshmallow. What a surprise -- no egg whites involved! It's an honor to be in the secret marshmallow sorority, but next time I'm going to top this pie with lightly sweetened whipped cream instead.

And the crust -- SK's is a regulation graham cracker; next time I'm going to try butter-crunch crust. All these changes would be made to enhance the chocolate, of course.

Butter Crunch Crust from Spago Desserts

Mix in food processor just until combined:
4 T. butter
2 T. brown sugar
1/2 C. flour

Add:
1/4 C. chopped pecans
Process about 3 seconds more.

Spread on cookie sheet. Bake on center rack in 400° oven for about 10 minutes, being careful it does not burn. Remove from oven and stir it. Cool until you can touch it, then press into 8" or 9" pie pan or a 9" springform pan (This would be for cheesecake.) Refrigerate until needed.

Filling from Smitten Kitchen

7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used a bar of Lindt 70% cacao, which I pummeled with a heavy spoon before opening.)
1 C. heavy cream
1 large egg

Bring cream to a boil. (I microwaved it in a glass measuring cup -- be sure to watch carefully and take it out just as it starts to boil.) Put the chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Let it stand for a minute, then stir until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Whisk the egg in quickly, along with a pinch of salt.
Pour into crust. It will fill it about halfway up. Protect exposed edges of crust with strips of foil. Bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes at 350°. Chocolate will still be a little shaky in the center. Cool to room temperature, about one hour. Then refrigerate (SK recommends one hour uncovered, followed by 3 hours covered, in refrigerator. It probably wouldn't hurt to eat it earlier. Before you do, top with sweetened whipped cream.

Rice, savory and sweet

I grew up with white potatoes, not rice. It's taken many tries to appreciate this grain. Now my rice recipes are scattered, and I'm still not at ease enough to know which one I want. Often I settle for brown rice boiled in the bag. When I'm more energetic I cook the one I find first. So here they are, all in one place. (Yes, there's a dessert here too!)

Coconut Brown Rice

from Saveur

This is simple and delicious, especially with Indian or Thai dishes. To make it simpler, just use coconut milk for all or part of the liquid andcook brown or white rice the way it says on the box. Add a piece of peeled ginger if you have it.

1. Using the back of a large knife, pound the ginger until it becomes bruised and somewhat stringy and releases some of is juice. This will take a few good whacks.

1  1" piece peeled fresh ginger
1 cup brown jasmine rice
3⁄4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt
Cilantro sprigs for garnish

2. Rinse the rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds. Transfer the rice to a 1 1⁄2-quart saucepan and add the coconut milk, 3⁄4 cup cold water, and the salt.

3. Add the ginger to the pan and stir well to combine with the rice, making sure that the ginger is as fully submerged in the rice as possible. Place the pan over high heat and bring the liquid to a boil while stirring with a large spoon to prevent the rice at the bottom of the pan from scorching or burning. (Don't worry if the liquid thickens considerably as it comes to a boil; that's a result of the combining of the fats in the coconut milk with the starch in the rice.)

4. Allow the rice to boil for 15 seconds, while continuing to stir. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the liquid is completely absorbed and rice is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the pot from heat; allow the rice to continue to steam, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and garnish with sprigs of cilantro.

SERVES 2

Judy's Spanish Rice

Judy married Lou, from a Spanish family. I remember they had Christmas lights strung in the back yard for their wedding celebration. Eventually they divorced, but the recipe survived.

Sauté a couple of tablespoons olive oil and five cloves of garlic, chopped.

Toss in 1 green pepper and 1 red pepper, chopped. Cook a couple of minutes.

Add 1 pound shrimp or cut-up snapper or chicken and 1 1/2 C. rice.

Add about 3 cups water or water/white wine/chicken broth mixed, a pinch of crushed saffron, and salt to taste (I use 1 1/2 t.). Put the lid on and simmer about 15 minutes, until rice is cooked. Check to make sure the chicken is cooked through. It will be if your pieces are bite-sized.

This is so good.

Mamma Pappas' Rice Pudding (Rizogalo)

This is from the Columbus Dispatch recipe exchange from a long time ago.

1 quart milk

1/2 C. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 T cornstarch

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 T. butter

cinnamon

Cook rice in 1 C. boiling water 10 minutes or until water is absorbed. Add milk. Return to a boil, cooking gently over reduced heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add sugar and vanilla.

Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tsp. water (I use more). Add to rice mixture. Cook 10 minutes; remove from heat.

Add 1 C. of hot rice mixture to egg yolk & stir. Pour that back into the pan and stir it all. Add butter. Cook until mixture coats a wooden spoon. Sometimes I add finely grated lemon peel at this point. Before serving, sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bright Yellow Cashew Rice

*Not everyone loves turmeric

Sauté in butter 2 medium onions, chopped. Stir in 1 C. uncooked brown rice andfry a few more minutes. Sprinkle in 1 t. ground turmeric* and stir so it doesn't burn.

Add 2 C. water 7 and1 t. salt.

Bring slowly to a boil, then simmer about 35 minutes, or until rice is done.

Toss in 1/2 C. chopped cashews and 4 or 5 chopped scallions just before serving.

Garnish with orange slices.

Baked Chicken and Rice

from Cooking for Engineers

I discovered this in the cooking for the sick ministry at Good Shepherd. I made dinner for a family of four. The father was finishing up cancer treatment. I asked what was his favorite dish, and they said chicken and rice. My mom used to make a casserole with leftover chicken; hers had cream of chicken soup, and I think she used noodles instead of rice. You can add any vegetable; I like broccoli or spinach. (This might be how I discovered Cooking for Engineers. He has other great basic recipes, and I love his charts.) Here's the chart; the link explains it fully.

Oven Baked Chicken and Rice (serves 6)

Preheat oven to 375&176;F (190°C)
1 cup (195 g) rice	cook	cook	stir in	stir in	combine	place	sprinkle	bake 375°F (190°C) 1 hour
1 Tbs. (14 g) butter
1 medium onion	dice
1 clove garlic	mince
1 medium zucchini	cut
10-3/4 oz. (305 g) can cream of mushroom	whisk
2-1/2 cup (590 mL) water
4 lb. (1.8 kg) chicken parts
1 teaspoon (2.8 g) garlic powder

Sunday dinner

I believe in mac & cheese. I made it for Steph, but we all love it. Here's my recipe, adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook, Ruth Reichl.

Macaroni & Cheese

1. Melt 3 T. unsalted butter, then add 3 T. flour, & cook over moderate heat for 3 minutes, stirring all the while because it burns easily. This is a roux.
2. Pour 2 3/4 C. milk & 3/4 C. heavy cream into a glass measuring cup, then stir it into the roux. (I use a wire whisk sometimes, but prefer a wooden spoon.) Bring that to a boil, stirring constantly. Then simmer on low for about 3 more minutes, stirring off & on so it doesn't burn. I simmer on very low, because I tend to burn it; so I cook it 5 or more minutes – until it is like thick cream. Turn off the heat.
3. Add 4 C. grated Cheddar, the sharper the better, 2 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper. * Stir until cheese melts.
4. Get your drainer out & put a glass measuring cup in it.
5. Cook 3/4 lb. DeCecco Ziti or other macaroni in salted boiling water until it is done but not mushy. Drain it, but before you do, dip out about a cup of the pasta cooking water into the glass measuring cup. Save that liquid.
6. Mix the sauce, macaroni & pasta cooking water together. I use a big shallow bowl that is meant for serving pasta. It makes the mixing easy. If you use a deep mixing bowl, the mixing is more difficult.
7. Pour it all into a casserole. Sometimes I butter it, but it's not necessary. The pan pictured looks bigger, but the container itself is 10" diameter. You can put buttered crumbs on top, but I don't.
8. Bake in the middle of the oven at 400° until it bubbles in the middle, about an hour.

*Sometimes I use 2 C. Cheddar and 16 oz. Velveeta, which makes a creamy & mild sauce.

**If you make 2/3 of this recipe, it fills an 8" square pan.

We had this with broccoli, strawberries, & angel food cake from the bakery.

Shelter casserole

Clark loves the Good Shepherd parish casserole recipe for The Shelter, so I made plenty yesterday – a small one for us & 2 for The Shelter on Tennessee & Macomb Streets. The man who helped me take it in grabbed a pair of welding gloves to carry the hot pan. What a practical kitchen accessory! Here's the recipe I use, sometimes adding cheese. There's another choice – similar, but with rice & chili. Green beans & brownies complete the dinner. Other organizations have their own Shelter recipes for different days.

Macaroni/Beef Casserole

2 lbs. ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 28 oz. can tomatoes

1 pkg. mixed vegetables

1 lb. cooked elbow macaroni

Brown ground beef, add onion and green pepper and cook till tender. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Turn into casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.