Beef Stew with Sweet Potatoes

Inspired by Diana Rattray

 

Recently I have been really inspired by sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, though, most of my sweet potato creations will not make it on my blog due to lack of pictures on my part (these secret recipes included a Quiche with shredded sweet potato and sweet potato latkes J). This beef stew recipe uses sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes, which is better for a few reasons. First, sweet potatoes have more antioxidants and have a lower glycemic index when compared to regular potatoes. What this means is that the sweet potato does not cause a surge in blood sugar, which makes them better for diabetics to eat, and they also help you to feel more full for longer periods of time.

Aside from their healthy benefits, they also make this stew sweeter and works great with the cinnamon. When I first made this stew it seemed like it was lacking something. It tasted good, but seemed unfinished. I decided to research many stew recipes and think I found the culprit: bay leaves. The original recipe did not have these leaves, and after adding them to the recipe it gave it more of the desired beef stew flavor. I also increased the amount of black pepper, which helped too. Any type of beef could be used, and I’ve made this recipe with both chicken and beef stock and think that the flavor is still great. This time I added some low sodium beef bouillon when I used the chicken stock.

This recipe was so easy, as many slow cooker recipes are. I prepared everything the night before, put it in the slow cooker and then in the fridge over night. The next morning I took it out, plugged it in for 10 hours and went about my day. When I got home the stew was done, and the aroma was amazing!  Without the bay leaves, the stew smelled better than it was though, so don’t forget them!

Ingredients

2 lbs of beef roast (cut up into about 1 inch pieces)

2 Tbs. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 bay leaves (I used chopped bay leaves)

¼ tsp. Salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 large onion (chopped)

1 Tbs. olive oil

2 sweet potatoes (cut into medium cubes)

1 cup beef stock (reduced sodium)

1 can of corn

1 can of green beans

Directions

1.     Put beef cubes, whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, bay leaves, salt and pepper in a Ziploc bag and toss until beef is completely coated.

2.     Put olive oil in a large skillet and heat on medium high heat, add onion and beef and cook until beef is browned and onions are soft.

3.     Add sweet potato, beef stock and beef/onion mixture in the crock-pot. Cover and cook on low for between 8 to 10 hours.

4.     In the last 15 minutes add drained corn and drained green beans.

5. Once vegetables are hot, serve the stew.

I served the stew with triangles of toast.

Greta is questioning my spice use...

Holiday Leftover Pizza

Inspired by California Pizza Kitchen

          

         The holidays are a great time to eat lots of food, and try everyone’s new twist on classic favorites (like Sweet Potato Brulee!). After a while I get so tired of having even remixed classics that I end up freezing a lot of the leftovers to eat later.

            When I opened my freezer and saw my holiday section, I saw the same leftovers that I grew tired of a couple of months ago. I decided to go on an adventure and look for a new way to dress up the leftovers! I ended up looking in California Pizza Kitchen’s Family Cookbook where they had a pizza that used a lot of the leftovers that I still had.

            This recipe is extremely versatile and you can make it with whatever leftovers you have from almost any holiday time (my frozen leftovers were from Thanksgiving). It may sound weird, but this pizza was very delicious. I initially scoffed at the idea of topping the pizza with cranberry sauce, but when I tried it on the pizza I ended up adding more to the top of it! It gave the rich cheesy potatoes and stuffing a sweet and tart tang. I will be making this pizza after next year’s holidays, and may even make it the day after (it was really that good!).

Ingredients

            Pizza Dough (I made California Pizza Kitchen’s Honey Wheat Pizza Dough)

            Left over Cheesy potatoes

            Left over Stuffing

            Leftover Turkey (cut into small bit size pieces or smaller)

            Mozzarella Cheese

            Leftover Turkey Gravy

            Leftover Cranberry Sauce (I made homemade Cranberry-Apple Sauce for Thanksgiving)

Directions

1.     Place baking stone or pizza pan in an oven and then preheat to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (make sure the stone/ pan is hot before you put the prepared pizza on it!).

2.     Roll dough to about 9 inch circle (I halved the Honey Wheat Pizza dough).

3.     Heat the potatoes, stuffing, and gravy.

4.     Lightly mash the potatoes if there are large chunks and then carefully spread onto the dough.  Make sure that it does not go completely to the edge so that a crust will appear while baking.

I put a silicon mat under the pizza, so easily put it on my baking stone.

5.     On top of the potatoes add crumbles of the stuffing, top with cheese, then add the turkey pieces on top of the pizza.

6.     Drizzle the gravy on the pizza and then add numerous small “dots” of cranberry sauce to the top of the pizza.  (Remember to put more than you see in my pictures).  Alternatively, if you’re still apprehensive about the cranberry sauce, you can let people decide how much to put on their own pieces.  If you do it this way though, the flavors won’t mix as much.

 

7.     Bake in the preheated oven for about 8- 10 minutes, until crust is golden. Serve with the rest of the cranberry sauce.

Greta is happy to be back in the limelight, and that I am blogging again :)

Bacon and Corn Chowder

Inspired by  Cooking Light

I love making soups in the fall when the weather starts to get cold and this soup is a new recipe that I decided to try.  The mixture of bacon and corn is a great fall flavor with jalapeños for a tex-mex flair.  You can adjust the amount of the jalapeños for the perfect amount of spice for you.  I tried roasting the corn in the oven, and it didn't work very well, so I don't recommend it.  Overall, this recipe is really easy to make, quick, and healthy too!

Ingredients

• 2 bacon slices
• ¼ Vidalia onion (diced)
• ¼ red bell pepper (diced)
• 2 (16-ounce) packages frozen corn  (thawed)
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• Half of a jalapeño without the membrane or seeds

Directions

1.     Cook bacon in a large soup pot until crisp, then remove the bacon from the pot. Crumble the bacon by either cutting with a knife or tearing the bacon apart with your hands.

2.     Add onion and red pepper to the undrained pan and cook until tender and caramelized. Add Jalapeños to warm them.

 

 

3.     Add one of the bags of corn to the pan and heat. Also add the crumbled bacon.

4.     Place the other bag of corn into a blender with 1 cup of the milk and blend until smooth.

5.     Add the corn/milk puree to the vegetables in the pan and stir in the other cup of milk, salt and pepper to taste. Also add cheese.

6.     Cook over medium heat until cheese is melted (do not boil).

7.     Serve.

Bacon Meatballs

Inspired by EvilShenanigans

I was using  StumbleUpon and came across this recipe many times and finally decided to make it. As meatballs these were not very good, they were dry (somehow even though there was a pound of bacon) and not flavorful enough. However, I think these might be good if they were shaped into patties and then eaten as hamburgers instead of meatballs. I did pair the meatballs with a sweet / smoky BBQ sauce and this helped counteract the dryness.

Ingredients

           

·      1 pound bacon (I used Plumrose Smokey Maple)

·      1 ½ pound ground beef

·      2 teaspoons salt

·      2 teaspoons smoked paprika

·      2 teaspoons dry oregano

·      1/2 teaspoon black pepper

·      1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

·      1 egg

Directions

1.     Cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces and pulse in a food processor until no longer in large chunks

Greta's picture is here instead of food processed bacon, see notes below for the reason why.

2.     Add the bacon to a large bowl and then add all of the other ingredients.

3.     Mix the meat until completely combined.

I used a two tablespoon spoon to measure the meatballs, which worked great.

4.     Ball the meat to about 1 inch to 1 ½ inches in diameter and place into a preheated pan and brown on all sides.

Pre Browned

Browned.

5.     To a preheated oven 400 degrees Fahrenheit add the meatballs and cook for about 10- 15 minutes. 

After bakes, definitely set on paper towel to drain the grease.

Here are the meatballs with the BBQ sauce.

Notes

·      You may want to try cooking the bacon beforehand, and then crumbling it into the ground beef.

·      FYI: the bacon is really gross when processed in the food processor.

 

Peach BBQ Sauce

Inspired by Paula Deen

The Peach BBQ sauce on top of chicken

I went to the restaurant Stillwater during the summer months and had Peach BBQ Grilled Salmon, it was so delicious that I had it twice during one weekend. I wanted to try to find a recipe that mimicked this, and then I came across a Paula Deen recipe (which means I had to try it since I love Paula recipes). I did make a couple changes, like using applesauce instead of oil, but overall kept it very similar. I was very happy with the results. The sauce is not super smoky, so maybe liquid smoke hickory sauce would be a good addition. One of my favorite things about the recipe is how much fruit is in it, which gives you some of the benefits of fruit, while enjoying a sauce.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup ketchup

3 tablespoons yellow mustard

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Pinch garlic powder

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons paprika

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup Vidalia onions, finely chopped

2 cups canned peaches

Directions:

1.   Caramelize the Vidalia onions and set aside. 

Caramelizing the onions add a lot of flavor to the sauce.

2. Mix all of the ingredients, except the peaches in a saucepan and simmer for about 18-20 minutes, monitoring closely to make sure it doesn’t get too thick. 

Careful to not boil, only simmer

3. While simmering the rest of the ingredients, puree the peaches.

A blender works really well to puree.

4. Once simmering time is up add the peaches and stir the sauce together.

The peach puree into the sauce.

Notes:

* Fresh or canned peaches will work in the recipe, but canned is tremendously easier.

*Other fruits could be used as well, if you do not like peaches.

*You can serve on top of any meat or use as a dipping sauce, but chicken or fish would probably be best (this would be great brushed on top of grilled shrimp!)

Greta playing with her pig.

Peach BBQ sauce on Chicken with Brown Rice and Sweet and Spicy Black Beans and Corn