Cooking during the Holidays

During the holiday's, we were fortunate enough to have family fly in and visit. Now, even though it was nice to be able to spend time with them, it meant that I had a lot mouths to feed. So, I went to the grocery store and stocked up! It was easier for me to shop for what I needed because I planned out a menu for an entire week of what I was going to feed everyone. I made everything from French Onion Soup to Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas to Beef Bourguignon. Unfortunately, I was not able to take photos of all the food I made because once it was ready to eat, it was gone in minutes!!! My family and relatives really know how to eat well.

Hopefully everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year! Enjoy!

Beef Bourguignon

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs beef rump or sirloin tip steaks, cut into 1 inch cubes

olive oil

1 large carrot, julienned

2 cups sliced onions

3 cups strong red wine, such as Burgundy wine

2 cups strong beef stock or canned beef consomme

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon thyme

1/3 teaspoon dried orange peel

1 large tomato, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2-3 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

1/2 lb fresh sliced mushrooms (or more)

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup water

1. Combine onions, garlic, 1/4 tsp whole peppercorns, and red wine with beef cubes. Marinate up to 24 hours.

2. Heat oil in large skillet.

3. Add as many pieces of beef to the pan as will fit without crowding.

4. Brown on all sides on fairly high heat.

5. Add more oil if needed.

6. Repeat until all beef cubes are browned; transfer meat to a sprayed oven-proof casserole.

7. Add onions, carrots, and garlic cloves to the skillet, and brown briefly; transfer to the oven-proof casserole. Set casserole over heat.

8. Add wine, stock, bay leaf, thyme, orange peel, tomato, and tomato paste. Bring to a simmer, taste, and salt if necessary.

9. Take off the stove, cover, and bake at 325F for 2-3 hours, checking for tenderness.

10. Trim, clean and slice mushrooms; saute briefly in 2 tbs. butter.

11. Finishing the stew: When meat is tender, combine flour and water and blend until smooth.

12. Stir into stew, until blended and add mushrooms.

13. Cover and bake another 20-30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

14. Remove and enjoy! I like to serve this over garlic mashed potatoes and then top that with sauteed green beans with bacon. It's so delicious.

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This is a quick sandwich I made one day while prepping food for Christmas day. Basically, I sauteed up a Portobello mushroom in red wine and balsamic vinegar on low heat until tender. Once tender, I topped with 2 year aged Parmesan cheese and served on crunchy french bread. It was so easy and very tasty.

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This recipe is based off a soup I used to make for the French Restaurant I worked for in Chicago. Many other recipes have you saute the onions on the stove top, but when busy in the restaurant kitchen, you find anyway to cook food quick. So, the following involves caramelizing the onions in the oven.

French Onion Soup

Ingredients:

5 yellow onions, sliced

½ cup flour

Salt and white pepper, to taste

1 1/3 gallons beef stock

1. Add onions and oil in large roasting pan and caramelize in 500°F oven.

2. After caramelized, mix in flour and cook for another 5 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and add to large pot along with the beef base and water.

4. Reduce for 30 minutes over med-low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Top with toasted baguette and gruyere/swiss cheese and melt.