verbs vol. 90

last (two) week's cooking activities

Cooking

Cozy Beef Stew: I was craving something warm and comforting this weekend. Beef stew is such a great Sunday meal because it can take 2-3 hours to come together low and slow on the stove - perfect for a cozy day in. At the bottom of the newsletter is the rough recipe - I’ll keep recipe testing this before putting it on the site, let me know if you try it out! I would also normally make dumplings to drop on top (like the ones in this chicken stew) but I didn’t have any flour so will work on that for the next recipe adapt!

Other things I cooked:

• Mom’s Banana Muffins: these are my go-to muffin recipe and it’s now on my website so you can favourite it for your next baking adventure!

• Julia Turshen’s Swedish meatballs: you’ve seen these many a time in this newsletter - these are one of my fav weeknight dinners. I always make these with buttered egg noodles, braised red cabbage and steamed broccoli, which all freeze well into portions for me to bring for future-me lunches.

• Mary Berg’s Green Ginger Miso Soup: this was a little bit of a fail for me - I am unsure if the recipe was maybe published incorrectly because it called for 1 tbsp of turmeric which is.. a lot of turmeric. The soba noodles in the broth also did not keep well for multiple days and became rather soggy. I think I would skip this one, and go with other recipes in her cookbook! No link here as I can’t recommend the recipe.

• Market Grain Bowl: I stopped by a market near my tennis lessons on Sunday and picked up some nice fresh veg, some of which I used in my beef stew, and then also picked up some kale, brussels sprouts and a sweet potato to make grain bowls with. 

  

  • I roasted the sweet potato with some spices (garlic powder, paprika, salt n pep, olive oil), while also baking a chicken breast seasoned with Maritime Maddness Chipotle BBQ seasoning.

  • On the stove I panfried thinly sliced brussels sprouts in coconut oil seasoned with salt and pepper, and cooked quinoa in chicken broth. 

  • To pull it all together I made an almond flour parm (4 parts almond flour to 1 part nutritional yeast, seasoned with salt, and a touch of olive oil to make it crumb together), and a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, maple syrup and salt n pep. 

Eating

At The Tamil Prince - I was so excited to try a “new to me” Indian spot in London. I always go to Dishoom when people visit because it’s consistently a great experience, but we managed to sneak onto the waitlist at Tamil Prince and there was a day-of cancellation. The food was amazing - I think the best lamb curry I’ve ever had, and I also really loved their signature dish “channa bhatura with raita”. The only pic I got was of the chicken lollipops which were unreal as well. Highly recommend if you visit London!

Saving

Eric Kim’s Black Sesame Rice Krispie squares from NYT Cooking - I must figure out how to procure marshmallows in the UK and then will be making these! I love a good twist on this classic treat. 

Listening

(You Don’t Know) How Glad I Am by Nancy Wilson (side note: highly recommend Lessons in Chemistry on Apple TV which features this song in an episode!)

Thinking

About food poisoning, sigh. Last week I suffered from a bad case of food poisoning (not from anything mentioned here!), hence the lack of newsletter. It is really amazing how our bodies react/purge/heal, but also - I never want to experience that again!!

Laughing 

Have a great rest of your week,

Kaleigh

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Cozy Beef Stew

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 lb beef stewing meat 

• 1 white or yellow onion, sliced thinly

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tbsp sweet vinegar (balsamic, sweet vinegar, or swap for apple cider vinegar and add a touch of honey)

• 8 cups of chicken broth, beef stock, or water + bouillon (I did water and better than bouillon)

• Optional: pinch of dried herbs like thyme, rosemary, summer savoury 

• 4-5 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 package of small potatoes (roughly 20 little potatoes) or 2 large potatoes cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 cup frozen green peas 

• To serve: brown sauce or ketchup, optional!

Method:

1. Heat a large dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil.

2. Pat your beef pieces dry and season well with salt and pepper.

3. Add beef to the dutch oven to brown on all sides - once browned all over, remove from pot and place on a plate to rest. 

4. Reduce heat to medium-low and add in your onion to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Cook down the onion slices until softened (5-7 mins). Add in minced garlic and continue to cook for another minute.

5. Add in your Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to lift anything that has stuck to the pot.

6. Slowly add in your water or broth, being sure to continue to scrape the bottom of the pot. Add in your browned beef and all the juices. This is where I would add in any dried herbs like a pinch of summer savoury if you are adding.

7. Bring to a simmer and lower the heat to the lowest setting. Cover and allow to simmer for 1-2 hours until beef is fork tender. Check the pot every 30 mins to test the beef, and add water/broth if the liquid is evaporating too much.

8. Once your beef is tender, add in the carrots and potatoes, and continue to simmer covered until veggies are fork tender (about 15-20 mins). 

9. Finally, add in your frozen peas and allow to heat through, approximately 3-5 mins.

10. Taste your stew and adjust seasoning - salt and pepper if needed.

11. Serve up - I like to add a little brown sauce or ketchup when I eat it but I think that might be weird? To each their own!