Practically every recipe for beef stew calls for “stew beef.” I’ve seen it in the store. I’ve used it without much success in stew. But really, what the heck is it? After a bit of research, I found it’s typically chuck or round. Chuck is around the shoulder and round is around the rear of the cow. These cuts require lots of time in order to break down and become tender–and I have no problem with that. My issue comes from the fact that I’ve never had a beef stew where these meats actually tasted fall-apart tender and yummy. So what’s the solution? SHORT RIBS! Cheap and just as easy to use in stew as the above ‘unmentionables’. I am not a crock pot fan, so I used a heavy bottomed, enameled cast iron pot. Use whichever you find easier–but if you do use a crock pot, you will have to saute the meat and veggies in a separate pan and then add them to the crock pot.

So it’s 9:00 p.m., I have nothing planned for dinner, as we just got back into town that afternoon and, we’re both pretty darn hungry. I try to keep my pantry and freezer well stocked (post about this to follow), so that I can always have something to throw together in a pinch. Turns out, most of my “pinch” proteins are sausage. Brandon says to me, ” You can’t post that! These people have got to be tired of sausage!” I’m like, “Impossible!”  Are you guys tired of sausage? I love sausage. Let me count the ways:

1. You choose the size: crumble it, patty it up or links
2. Economical
3. Lots of flavor without having to add spices or herbs
4. Tons of different types of flavors:  Sweet, Smokey, Mediterranean, etc.
5. Any ground meat can make a sausage: duck, chicken, turkey, beef, piggy
6. You can’t overcook it

Brandon and I just got home from a wedding in Asheville, NC. We did not eat well. We can markedly feel a difference in our moods, quality of sleep and energy levels, when we eat carbs/sugar again. Should I expound, so you know we’re not perfect?  Okay. Here it is. I’m ashamed. Dunkin Donuts bagel sticks (some new fangled breadstick-like confection) with cream cheese, pesto tortellini, penne with vodka sauce, biscuits with gravy, grits, fried potatoes (that tasted like Arby’s curly fries), sweet potato pancakes and wedding cake (carrot! hmmm, moist!). Time frame: 24 hours. Hahaha! So needless to say, we were anxious to get back to our high-fat, high-protein diet…and I wanted to start it off with flavorful Mexican comfort food. I roasted the peppers instead of frying them in batter and added meat and veggies, instead of just straight up oozy cheese.

Ingredients

• 5 poblano* peppers
• 1 lb. fresh chorizo**, casings removed (slit the back of the sausage with a knife and unwrap the meat from the case) and crumbled
• 4 oz. mushrooms, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 oz. raw sharp cheddar
• 2 oz. goat cheese
• 2 avocados
• 1 lime, juiced

Method

Preheat your oven to 450ºF.

Slice the tops off your poblano peppers (reserve them, minus the stem) and take out the seeds. Coat in a little bit of fat and place in the oven to soften. We’re trying to roast them and get the skin off, so this should take about 20 minutes.

While the peppers are working in the oven, saute the chorizo, onions, garlic, mushrooms and the chopped pieces of the poblano pepper tops, until everything is soft, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheeses.

Remove the peppers from the pan and wrap them in one big piece of plastic wrap, leave it on for about 5 minutes. This will steam the peppers, thus making the skin easy to peel off.  Remove the plastic wrap and peel the skin off of the peppers with your fingers, if it’s not REALLY easy, wrap them back up and let them steam for a bit longer.

Using a spoon, stuff the chorizo filling into each pepper and place back into the oven to melt the cheeses and warm everything up.

To make the avocado cream, use a fork to mash up the avocados with the lime juice. Serve with the rellenos.

*Poblano chile peppers are mild mexican chiles. Think of it as the less bitter, mexican version of green bell peppers. They’re found at most grocery stores, around the other chile peppers.

**If you can’t find fresh chorizo (dried chorizo is hard and usually labeled Spanish, fresh is soft and usually labeled Mexican), you could substitute fresh andouille or make the chili recipe from the chili cheese dog recipe.

This dish was inspired by one of my all-time favorite dishes at a little hole in the wall in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s the potato gnocchi with goat cheese, balsamic cream sauce sauce at Five Loaves Cafe on Canon Street. I’m not usually one to order something I’ve had before, as I truly love to experiment and taste new flavor combos. Butttt–this dish is just so good to me, I order it over and over and over and over….Gotta say, this is a pretty darn good riff.

Ingredients

• 3 T bacon fat or butter, melted
• 3 lb. sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 c raisins
• 3 oz. goat cheese
• 2 T rosemary, minced

Method

Preheat your oven to 425ºF.

Place the cubed sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Pour on your fat and toss around to coat the sweet potatoes very well. Place in the oven and let them get slightly crispy and cooked through–depending on how small you cube, should take about 30 minutes.

While the potatoes are roasting–put the vinegar and raisins in a saute pan and place on the stove over medium heat. Cook until the balsamic vinegar has reduced and plumped the raisins. Keep your eye on it, if you let it go too far, the vinegar will reduce to nothing and scorch your pan. This should take about 10 minutes.

When the sweet potatoes are out of the oven, place them in your serving dish, along with the raisins, any vinegar that’s left in the pan, crumbled goat cheese, rosemary and some salt. Toss around to coat.

This dish can be served at room temperature or hot. Hot is best. I had it in the fridge and then heated it in the microwave with no problems.

Beef stew, also known as beef bourguignon, is good, but boring–and we personally think it tastes like straight up sour wine and that is not very tasty, especially by the spoonful. So we’ve added a bit of balsamic vinegar and raisins to counter the sour with a bit of sweet. We’re also swirling in a nice, briny, herbal pesto to brighten up the braise. Another change, we’re not using a crock pot! The dutch oven allows liquid to evaporate from the pot, thus creating a thicker, more intense flavored stew. And heck, I would rather eat in 2 hours than in 6 hours, agreed?

Stew Ingredients

• 2 T fat of your choice
• 2 lb. chuck shoulder, cubed
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 3/4 c raisins
• (1) 28 oz. can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 1 c red wine (only if you have some leftover, don’t go out and buy some just for this recipe–stock will work fine)
• 1/2 c balsamic vinegar
• 1 lemon, sliced and seeds removed
• S&P

Pesto Ingredients

• 1 handful of basil leaves
• 1/2 handful of mint leaves
• 1/2 c green olives (about 20)
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In a dutch oven melt your fat. Salt and pepper the cubed chuck pieces, add them to the pot and let them brown on each side. Don’t fidget with them or remove them until you see a visible brown crust on the meat. Remove and reserve on a plate.  To the pot, add the onion, garlic and carrot. Let them sweat and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the meat back to the pot, along with the tomatoes, raisins, red wine and balsamic vinegar. Stir to combine. Top with sliced lemons.

Lay a piece of parchment paper of the the top of the pot and press it down into the pot. Place in the oven and braise for 2 hours. Taste the meat, it should be super tender, if it’s not give it another half hour or so.

Once you’re about 10 minutes from the stew finishing; combine all the ingredients for the pesto in a mini food processor. Pulse until everything has come together.

When the stew is out of the oven, take the lemon rinds out, but leave in the flesh…it’ll separate very easily. Swirl in the pesto and serve.

Don’t be turned off because it takes a long time to cook this baby, it’s totally worth it. This recipe is great for a Saturday or Sunday when you’re home all day. You can roast a couple pork butts at one time, pull them and freeze them too. We served this over a sweet & spicy cole slaw. I’d post the recipe, but I’m still tweaking it.