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Tag: soups and stews

Beef Bourguignon

yholmes 1 Comment

It is the coldest it’s ever been in Dallas (in my tenure anyway). So I settled into my -2 degree wind chill day with no intentions of exiting the house and it was like my little snow day. Good movies, a blazing fire and a steaming bowl of Beef Bourguignon.

My mom made a beautiful beef stew when I was a kid… and then I would destroy it by mashing the potatoes and shredding the beef until it looked like a bad brown bowl of mush… but it tasted glorious. As I got older I always added a few dashes of Tabasco to my bowl but I was out! The half bottle of Sriracha in the fridge was actually a better substitute and will be the new trend in my bowl of stew.

This recipe was adapted from Barefoot Contessa and serves 10 easily. Chuck the leftovers in the freezer or make some neighbors happy.

 

Beef Bourguignon

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil
  • 8 ounces bacon, diced
  • 3 pounds chuck beef cut into 1-inch cubes
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
  • 1 pound small white potatoes, quartered
  • 2 yellow onions, sliced
  • 2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
  • 1/2 cup Cognac or Brandy
  • 3/4 bottle red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon)
  • 4 cups beef broth
  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (1 teaspoon dried)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 pound frozen whole onions
  • 1 pound fresh mushrooms stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.

Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside.

Toss the carrots, and onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices. Add the potatoes. Add the wine plus enough beef broth to cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork.

Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. Saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

Serve with crusty bread.

 

Shrimp Bisque with Brandy and Sherry

yholmes 1 Comment

David Ansel, aka “The Soup Peddler”, is a well known Austinite on a bike. A bike that delivers soup. Brilliant really… why didn’t I think of this concept? His recipe in Food & Wine magazine appealed to me as it has BOTH brandy and sherry.

The more liquor the better, right?

My modifications included adding pancetta (doesn’t it make EVERYTHING better??) and replacing the final heavy cream with crème fraiche. I did use fat free half and half… GASP… but it was still fabulous and I didn’t miss a calorie of flavor.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined, shells reserved
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¼ pound pancetta, ¼ inch dice
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 cup brandy
  • 2 tablespoons chopped basil, plus 8 leaves, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup dry sherry
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups half-and-half
  • 5 cups seafood stock (Kitchen Basics is my favorite)
  • 1/3 cup tomato paste
  • 4 ounces crème fraiche (or 1 cup heavy cream)
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

In a small saucepan, cover the shrimp shells with the water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, then strain the shrimp stock into a bowl.

In a large skillet cook pancetta until crispy. Drain pancetta to paper towels – leaving the rendered fat in the skillet. Add the shrimp, garlic, onion and cayenne and cook over high heat until the shrimp begin to turn pink, about 3 minutes. Add the brandy and boil until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add the chopped basil and the sherry and simmer until the shrimp are just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a food processor, add a little of the shrimp stock and puree until smooth.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over moderate heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking, until smooth, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the half-and-half and cook, whisking, until the roux is very thick, about 5 minutes.

In a soup pot, combine the fish stock and remaining shrimp stock with the tomato paste and the shrimp puree and bring to a simmer over high heat. Slowly whisk in the roux and the crème fraiche. Reduce the heat to moderately low and simmer until thick and creamy, about 20 minutes. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the bisque into bowls, garnish with the sliced basil and pancetta.

French Onion Soup

yholmes 1 Comment

French Onion soup is quite simple to make if you let the food processor do the chopping for you. I’ve made several variations of this soup and this is my best yet. Cooks note: Try serving the soup with an apple & gruyere grilled sandwich in lieu of the bread on top of the soup.

There are a few significant elements that will take this soup from so-so to outstanding …

  1. Caramelizing the onions. It takes a while but if you aren’t careful 5 pounds of onions could be down the sink in a short amount of time. The first 10 minutes aren’t crucial as it takes a while for the water to cook out of the onions (cover your pot to wilt quicker). Once the onions are sticking to the bottom of the pan you’ve reached the critical stage. You can’t let them burn… it’s about impossible to remove the burned black dots that will linger through your soup. Let them brown and then scrape the bottom of the pan to get all of the bits off and repeat this process for 20 minutes. Eventually those brown bits will stain the onions.
  2. Beef Stock. My favorite is Kitchen Basics. It has rich color and tons of flavor and its not costly at only a few dollars for a 1 quart box at Central Market.
  3. Sherry and Brandy. The combination is necessary for that aromatic note the soup is famous for having. I’ve made it in the past with only red wine and the depth of flavor is not the same. If you aren’t a brandy drinker and wonder what you will do with the leftovers – save it for Sangria in the summer.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 T unsalted butter
  • 2-3 T olive oil
  • 5 pounds onions, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 fresh thyme sprigs
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 3/4 cup brandy
  • 1/4 cup sherry
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 8 cups beef broth
  • 1 baguette, sliced
  • 1/2 pound grated Gruyere

DIRECTIONS

Melt 1/2 stick of butter and olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 35-40 minutes. Add the wine, brandy and sherry, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the liquor has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5-10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn’t burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the beef broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

When you’re ready to eat, preheat the broiler. Arrange the baguette slices on a baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle the slices with the Gruyere and broil until bubbly and golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup in bowls and float several of the Gruyere croutons on top.

Alternative method: Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

Serves 8-10.

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