It’s the first weekend of Spring, but here in Boston it was turned cold again, with the potential for snow in the next 24 hours, so I thought that I would get one more “winter-ish” recipe in. Surprisingly, I have never posted this recipe, even though beef stew is one of my staple dishes. I usually make a big batch as it freezes well. And it makes the flat all nice and cozy. Onwards to spring, but first, enjoy some Bœuf Bourguignon, Kat style.
Coq au Vin is my favorite food on earth, hands down. This is also one of the best recipes that I make. A little background: when I started falling in love with cooking again (no, I was not always a recipe junkie, though food has always been an important part of my life), I fell in love with Julia. Yes, that Julia. I think that a lot of women admire her for the fact that she was just an ordinary woman who picked up cooking later in life and became one of the most influential cooks of an entire culture. So I made her Coq au vin recipe. Coq au Vin is a very old concept — like back from the Romans — but her recipe was straight forward. I have made variations on her it for 5 years now, each time changing it until I have come up with what I consider perfection. I have learned a lot about cooking since I started — like knowing you shouldn’t add all the wine at once otherwise all the tanins end up ruining the dish, or by adding ground dried porcini, the umami flavor is boosted (doesn’t make it taste more mushroom-y). Anyway, I love this recipe. Be forewarned: it takes a minimum of 3 hours. You can stop just before the rue-making stage though, if you need to divide the effort over 2 days.
They really should call Superbowl Sunday the official U.S. junk food “holiday” of the year. At very minimum, it is a good excuse to make loads of snack-y munchies. To wit, these here wings and drummies. Not really junk food because all the ingredients are relatively good for you. Just don’t eat all 4 pounds… by yourself. Bring napkins. Maybe a bib too.
And now for something completely different: Mexican Food. Not something that I am particularly good at making, but I suspect that is more because I don’t *practice* making it enough, because these tortilla with shredded beef and spicy slaw turned out pretty amazing. Experiments on a Sunday afternoon.
Need to get some comfort food on the table in under 45 minutes? This might be the thing to try. I was really in the mood for Mac & Cheese, but had all the ingredients for Chili in the house, so ended up combining the two recipes. Turns out, it was much faster to make than one would think, and it’s a decadent (in a low-brow kind of way) and rich “sure to fill you up” kind of meal. It’s fairly mild, in terms of spice, but feel free to amp up the chili powder or add a dash of cayenne. Recipes serves 4 people, more if you make a nice salad to accompany it.