Argentine Beef Stew -with apricots? Oh yeah!

When you dine at a fine restaurant, you come away with more than a warm memory.  The spark of creativity suddenly flames up inside you and you long to get back into your kitchen.

Creativity is like that.  Go to a wonderful garden, you come home and plant flowers.  After leisurely strolling through an art museum, you fixate on color and design.  You rush home to throw paint on a canvas, or touch up all those fading spots on your house, or rearrange the furniture.

Art in all its forms plants the seeds of creativity that will readily bloom in your garden…if you let them…if you accept that we are all creative, whether it’s painting, or music, or drawing, or flower arranging.  The ‘what’ isn’t important, the ‘embracing’ of your own human need to create is what matters.

What does this have to do with beef stew?  See, you interrupted me and made me explain all that other stuff, all of which should have been self-evident.

Argentine Beef Stew (My version).  A stew with apricots and sweet potato and all that other junk?  Again, there you go, suppressing your urge to create, to start something new, to step smartly into new adventures.  Stop leaning so heavily on your adulthood and be a kid again!

Besides the philosophical and psychological aspects of this dish, it’s delicious, or for you heathens, damn good!

Getting Down to It!

Argentine Beef Stew

 The first thing you need to know is, you can’t do it wrong.  There are as many versions of this dish as there are cooks in Argentina.

1 to 1.5 lbs beef, cut in cubes (I use a whole chuck roast, slice off most of the fat and cut the rest into cubes)

1 One large brown-skinned onion, peeled and diced

4 Cloves of garlic, peeled and diced

5 Cups of beef broth (I used 6 heaping tablespoons of Bovril in 5 cups of water - just to make the broth richer)

1 Can (14 oz) of whole tomatoes, drained

1 Lg sweet potato, peeled and cut in a medium dice

1 Green bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 Sm to med Acorn Squash, peeled, seeded, and chunked (don’t worry if you don’t get off every bit of skin)

1 Cup dried apricots, chopped

1 Teaspoon dried or fresh oregano (You should have planted some oregano last spring!)

Salt and black pepper to taste.  Careful with the salt because the broth is already salty.

  

Getting it Done!

Heat the oven to 250ºF

On the stovetop, put some olive oil (about 2 Tablespoons) in a stew pot and heat to a medium temperature.  Add the onions, garlic, and green pepper.  Slow is the secret.  Do not let the onions burn.

When the onions are translucent, add the beef and stir to lightly brown.  Add the whole tomatoes by squashing one at a time into the pot.  You’re not really a cook unless your hands get messy and smell like onions and garlic and tomatoes!  Add the oregano and give everything a stir.

Add the beef broth and bring to a boil.

Cover the pot, put it in the oven, and cook for two hours.

Add the cubed sweet potatoes, chunked squash, and apricots.  Cook another hour.

Bring the stew pot back to the stovetop, take off the lid, and boil the stew until the broth is thickened and reduced by about half.  Judgment call at this point.  Give the broth a taste.  Rich and wonderful?  It’s done.  Still too watery?  Leave it on a while longer.

Ready to eat!  I serve it with thick slices of heavy bread.  If you really want the flavors to meld, let the stew cool and reheat it the next day!

Before reduction.  Boil it a while longer!

A vegetarian?  Sorry.  Tell me again why you’re reading about BEEF STEW.  Don’t like green pepper?  Not a fan of sweet potato?  Don’t like the idea of apricots in your stew?  Ok, you whimpy whiner, grab another beer, sit back and let the rest of us eat this succulent Argentine Beef Stew in peace.

Don't forget to also try my Steak and Ale Pie!  http://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2014/06/steak-and-ale-pie-another-english-gift.html  It's going to be a long, cold winter!

White Chicken Chili

Ok, before I begin with the recipe, I must mention one of my two faithful readers who informed me real chili is not cooked with beans or onion.  This reader also confessed to not eating food beginning with the letter B, such as beans, bread, boa constrictors, or black-footed ferrets.

In the effort to be all things to all people, I declare and proclaim that in the heart of the matter, my faithful reader is correct.  According to my copy of Texas the Beautiful Cookbook, real chili, which can only mean Texas Chili, is not cooked with beans or onions. Those are added later by fearless iconoclasts who don’t care what people think and are willing to accept spiteful scorn.

HUGE HINT: You can make this chili using just the chicken and seasonings and chicken broth.  I promise it will taste good.  In the event it does not taste good, I will send you the name and address of the person on whom your righteous wrath should descend.  

If you’re giving up the beans and onion, but still need a little more sustenance in your chili, add some hominy. Not grits.  If you can’t stand the milk or cream the recipe calls for, don’t add it.

For normal people, and by that I mean people like yours truly, who are either trustworthy, brave, honest, or decent – pick any one -, I offer this White Chicken Chili recipe.

White Chicken Chili

1 Tablespoon olive oil, either virgin, extra virgin, or well used, but still cute, cuddly and warm olive oil.

½ Onion, diced

½ Jalapeño, diced, or to taste

1½ Pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 Clove of garlic, minced

3 Teaspoons (or more) chili powder

1 Teaspoon ground cumin

1 Teaspoon smoked paprika

4 Tablespoons Masa

1¼ Teaspoons salt

¼ Teaspoon or more, Cayenne pepper

1½ Cups frozen corn kernels (no need to thaw)

2 15oz cans white beans, drained and rinsed

4 Cups chicken broth

¼ Cup heavy cream or half and half or whole milk

For garnish:  chopped cilantro, grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, diced avocado

To accompany:  freshly fried corn tortilla chips:  Cut up packaged corn tortillas, fry them in oil at 350ºF, drain them on a paper towel and add salt.

In a medium soup pot, heat the olive oil, then add the onion and jalapeños and cook until the onion is wilted. 

Add the chicken and cook until it is cooked through.

Add the garlic and spices and mix until the chicken is coated.

Add the corn, beans, and chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.

Use a dough cutter or the back of a wide spoon to smash some of the beans to make a thicker chili.  Mix in the cream or milk.

Before you serve the chili, don’t forget the garnish!

Pork Belly: Your taste buds will love you!

Ok, you hungry gourmets, and inebriates….I always get those two mixed up…it’s time for a new recipe.  Pork belly is the au courant delectable on many snobby restaurant menus these days, so let’s try that.  What the hell is pork belly anyway?  Don’t think stomach; that’s on the inside.  Belly’s the meat on the outside and when it’s cured with sugar, or salt, or smoke, we call it bacon.  So, think of pork belly as a big slab of uncured and unsliced bacon.  One difference for Americans is the thick slice of skin that remains on top.  Europeans are used to seeing a strip of tough covering, as their bacon also usually comes with the rind in tact.

Between the layer of rind and the meat is a layer of fat, and it’s this layer that will lead to a heavenly flavor and the tenderness you only get from your spouse on special occasions. 

The secret to a great pork belly is to give it a chance, and that means lengthy cooking at low temps.  Try to rush it and you’ll see disappointment and scorn on the faces on the other side of the table.  The more volatile will smash plates.

Follow my instructions, which I present with love and good wishes, and all you will see are smiles.

Preheat the oven to 250ºF (120ºC)

Pork Belly

1  to 1 ½ lbs pork belly, dusted with salt, pepper, and sugar

For the sauce

2 Cups water

1 Heaping tablespoon of Bovril (my favorite, or use another brand of beef extract)

1 Bottle of beer (I used Bitburger pils)

½  Cup soy sauce

½ Cup sugar

Puttin’ it all together

Leave the skin on and braise the pork on all sides in 2 Tablespoons of oil, then remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Put the sauce ingredients together in a large saucepan (with a lid), or a small roasting pan. Stir while it comes to a boil.

Add the pork belly to the saucepan, cover, and put it in the oven for 3 ½ hours. 

At the end of 3 ½ hours, remove the pork belly from the saucepan, slice off the skin, and put the meat aside to rest.  I sometimes slice the skin into bite sized pieces and put it in a 400ºF oven until it’s crisp.

Remove the skin and here's what it looks like after removal

 Chill the broth and skim off the fat.

While the meat rests, put the sauce back on the stovetop and cook until the broth is reduced by half.

Return the pork belly to the saucepan and allow it to reheat, turning it once. 

Remove the meat, slice it into serving portions, put the portions on plates and ladle on the sauce.

I served this with small boiled potatoes, halved, skin left on, and sliced zucchini with diced onion and a sprig of rosemary, lightly steamed and laced with balsamic reduction.

Now you’re asking me to get to the good part and tell you about the wine.  Ok.  A wonderful Italian Primitivo.   Don’t know about Primitivos?  Well, I’m happy to oblige, but not now.