The Chef's Beef Stew

I love Beef Stew. I don't know any other way of putting it that even comes close to my obsession with this delectable dish. Everyone should make their own version of it. I have several versions of it, and so far this is my favorite version. It is subject to review and change, so suggestions are welcome. I'm sorry it took so long to get on here in it's truest form.

Ingredients:
1 lb Beef Stew Meat
1 cup Pearl Barley
6 stalks Celery, sliced
Carrots, diced
Russet Potatoes, diced
1 bottle Cabernet Sauvignon
1 qt Beef Stock
Garlic Salt
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Smoked Sweet Paprika
Sea Salt
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ground Turmeric
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Aleppo Pepper
Dill

I began by gathering the main ingredients. I diced the Potatoes, Carrots, and Celery up. You can decide how much you want to use, although the rough ratio seen here is what I find to be a good mix.

I plug in my slow cooker and set the heat to HIGH. I dust the bottom with Lawry's Seasoned Salt first followed by the Garlic Salt.

In goes the Beef Stew Meat.

On top of the meat I added some spices because I like the meat part of this dish to be extra seasoned. It's optional since you can just add spices to the top of everything and it will still be pretty good. I just go the extra mile. I used the Smoked Sweet Paprika, Fennel Powder, Fenugreek Powder, and Ground Aleppo Peppers.

On top of that went the diced Carrots. They tend to take longer to cook so in the middle I think is a good place for them to absorb the liquid and heat involved here.

On top of that the diced Potatoes. Pay no attention to the Brandy in the corner of the picture, it was out for something that did not make the Blog. Maybe once I perfect that recipe, you all will get to see what it is!

Then the sliced Celery.

On top of the Celery I added about 2 pinches of Dill. Then the Pearl Barley went into the slow cooker. I listed it as 1 cup, however it is probably closer to 1.5 cups. I love barley.

Now that I have everything in the slow cooker, it's the main serving of spices. Ground Turmeric, Garlic Salt, Smoked Sweet Paprika, Fennel Powder, Ground Black Pepper, Sea Salt, and Ground Aleppo Peppers rounded this mix out.

Now locate your wine. Spare no expense...I spared $3.00 USD. I know, I have expensive tastes in wine.

I put in the entire bottle. I noticed it wasn't high enough, so I added in about half of the Beef Stock container I had. It was one of those pre-made containers that has about 2 quarts in it. There was some left over, so I rounded my usage to 1 quart.

When pouring in the Cabernet Sauvignon, make sure to pour it directly onto the spices you have on top of everything. If you don't, you run the risk of the spices cooking directly into just a portion of your dish. This causes some parts to be really spicy and flavorful while the rest tastes like nothing at all/red wine.

I left the heat on HIGH for the duration of this recipe since I am very impatient. If you have the time, like 10 hours, then bring it to a boil, stir, and put on LOW for the duration. It will cause the meat to be more tender, oh well. This picture is about 1 hour in.

2 hours later the color drastically changes to a muddy brown. It smells amazing and permeates everything in it's vicinity.

About 2 hours after that making it a total of around 5 hours, this is what it should look like.

Make sure to taste test each part to make sure everything is cooked properly. I checked everything about 4 times each. Yes, I'm a little piggy but I had to make sure.

If it isn't done, then just let it cook longer until it is. Mine was done so I plated it quite readily. Enjoy!

Chef's Original: Mixed up Breakfast

As some of you may know, I like to have my lunch and or breakfast for work cooked up the day before. This is generally done because I hate actually cooking right after I wake up since I know I'll probably burn and or cut myself. So I do it the night before. Tomorrow I needed a breakfast and this is the delicious result.

Ingredients:
1 lb White Button Mushrooms
7 XL Eggs
2 Green Bell Peppers
3 Anaheim Peppers
1 cup diced Scallions
Couscous (2 cups Couscous, 3 cups Water)
1.5 cup Pearl Barley
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
1/4 stick Butter
Lime Juice
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Olive Oil
Archer Farms Asian-Inspired Sweet Chile "wing sauce"
Italian Herb Mix
Shredded Asiago Cheese
Shredded Gruyere Cheese

Alright, I did do this kind of in stages. I began with starting my Couscous in my Rice Cooker. If you do not have one of these, I highly suggest picking one up! Once I got the Couscous going, I put the Pearl Barley in a small sauce pot with 4 cups of Water. I turned the heat to MEDIUM. I also diced up the Peppers and Mushrooms.

In a large saucepan I put in about 2/3 cup of Archer Farms Asian-Inspired Sweet Chile "wing sauce". To this I added 2 decent squeezes of the Lime Juice bottle, a good 1/4 cup or so worth of the Soy and Teriyaki Sauces. Turn the heat to MEDIUM.

Once this begins to boil, I threw in the diced Mushrooms. I moved them around to get some of the mixture on each one.

Now about 3 minutes later, I added in a dusting of Black Pepper and Sea Salt. Mix some more.

After about 2 more minutes, the Mushrooms should be done. Check by taste testing and make sure it's cooled when tasting. When done, place in a mixing bowl and put to the side.

I cleaned out the large saucepan and put it back on the stovetop where I left the burner at MEDIUM. It will sizzle with the water on the bottom. I threw in the diced Peppers and a good dollop of Olive Oil. Mix.

I then added some Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper to the mix. I want to say a good dusting, maybe a dash less. Mix.

Once that's done, which should be about 3 minutes total, put in a mixing bowl.

Eggs time. I whisked the 7 Eggs together first. Using the same saucepan, cleaned out again, I put in the Butter. Once that was mostly melted, I added in the whisked Eggs.

Right away I added in the Scallions. I put in about a 1/4 cup's worth. I also added a good amount of both Cheeses listed above.

You should know how to cook eggs, so follow that plan. Look, they're done!

Now just plate how you want. I plated them differently. One way was with the Mushrooms and served on a Tortilla with a dash of Italian Herb Mix. The second way was on the Couscous.

Vegetable Irish Stew..or Soup?

Today I made a nice delicious dish of Irish Stew. Well, somewhat. That is the inspiration I had for it, along with the chilly weather we are getting here this weekend. I could just call it a Vegetable Stew but I like giving credit to the Irish for my inspiration. Cheers.


Ingredients:
1 Red Onion
1.5 lb Potatoes
1 lb Carrots
1 cup Scallions
1.5 cup Pearl Barley
Flax Seed
Rosemary
Sage
Parsley
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Sweet Paprika
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Butter
2 qt Beef Stock

I began by gathering some of my ingredients. This really was a throw together as I found things in the fridge.

I then diced up the Red Onion and put that in the slow cooker along with about a half stick of Butter.

On top of that I put in the Sage Leaves, Parsley, and Rosemary. I also turned the heat on HIGH at this point.

On top of this, I added in the Pearl Barley and a half handful of Flax seeds.

Now, I chopped the Potatoes, Carrots, and Scallions up beforehand and only now get to putting them in. I like order, so I went with sliced Carrots first.

Then the Potatoes and Scallions.

Now I put on the spices. A dusting of each and a larger dusting of Italian Herb Mix.

Finally, I poured in my 2 qt container of Beef Stock.

Cover and let cook on High for about 3 hours or so. Then mix it up together.

Check on it about an hour after that. Taste test to see how the Carrots are doing. Carrots take longer to cook than the Potatoes, so you'll know all is done by tasting the Carrots.

If it's not done, then let it cook some more. Otherwise, just serve!