Pretty much everyone who knows my family knows that my husband Shawn hates onions … or at least he says he does. The truth? He doesn’t like the texture of onions, but he does appreciate the flavor that a sweet onion can add to a dish. Don’t tell him I told you though, he’s very sensitive about it. (I jest. He reads my blog. I am sure to hear about this paragraph very soon).

Beef stew? It’s one of those dishes that absolutely needs to have onions in it. I love big bits of onion, personally, but everyone knows that life and marriage is about compromise, so over the years, I have tried different methods of incorporating onions: dried onions (from the spice aisle), finely chopped onion, even onion free … but I finely found the method that works for us.

My stew starts with a puree of onion, carrot and potato, fresh from the food processor. What I love about this is that it adds the flavors while also thickening the stew a bit (you can thicken it more, if you want, but you totally don’t have to). It’s important that the onion is a sweet onion though. The flavor of yellow onions just isn’t as good for this. Oh, and beware, the puree is known to make your eyes water a bit. Small price, I say.

Next comes the beef. I buy natural grass-fed stew meat, usually from a local farm because it’s fresh and very tender. One of my local grocery stores also sells a decent version of this. However, use whatever type of stew beef you prefer. As for amount, I usually add about 1 1/3 lbs, but if you want a meatier stew, make it 2 lbs. Once the meat is browned and mixed up with the puree, I deglaze the pan with red wine. Choose a good red wine that you enjoy. Also, know that different varieties will add different sub-flavors … for instance, merlot adds a slight peppery flavor while a cabernet can add a warm richness. Use one that you like (and avoid cooking wines!).

Finally, water, seasonings and veggies are added. The stew cooks for about an hour total, from beginning to end, and then it’s ready to thicken or serve. The rich stew is a family favorite here. Paige could (or rather does) drink the stew liquid. Will can’t get enough of the veggies. Shawn is sure to go back for seconds … and usually take leftovers for lunch the next day.

Yes, it’s that good.

Beef Stew
serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
4 carrots, peeled
4 potatoes, washed and 1 peeled (I use either Yukon gold or russet)
1 sweet onion, peeled and ends removed
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/3 lb stew meat
1 cup good red wine (Merlot or Pinot Noir are my favs)
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
4 cups water
salt and pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
dash balsamic vinegar

In a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat.

Combine 1 carrot, 1 potato, the onion and the garlic in the bowl of a food processor and puree. Add to the hot oil and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Push the puree to one side of the pan and add the beef. Brown lightly on all sides and then mix with the puree. Let cook for a few minutes (it’s about 10 minutes of cooking from the point of adding the beef to the next step).

While the puree and beef is cooking, slice the remaining 3 carrots and cube the remaining 3 potatoes.

Add the red wine to the pan and stir well, scrapping up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the water. Stir in the salt and pepper, paprika and oregano. Add the carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes, stirring well to combine.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 45 minutes. Stir in a dash of balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately, or thicken **, if desired.

** You don’t have to thicken this, but if you want to, combine equal amounts of cornstarch and water and add to the completed stew (about 2 tbsp of each works beautifully).

When the air hits that certain cold temperature and you can see puffs of breath whenever you go outside, you know it’s time for hearty meals. You know, ones that will warm you from the inside out like stews, roasts, chowders … and also chili.

I love chili. It reminds me of ski lodges, chair lifts and snow covered mountains. When I was younger, I was an avid skier and loved to fold into the lodge between runs for a hot lunch. Among my favorite bits? You guessed it – Chili. I haven’t skied in years, though I would love to.

Anyway, back to the chili. For me, it has to be topped with cheddar cheese and, if it’s spicy, it needs some avocado too.  Shawn likes his with a dollop of sour cream and a big sprinkle of cheddar. Paige isn’t yet a big fan of spiciness, but Will loves it, so he gobbles chili right up. Gosh, I hope Paige discovers a love of spiciness soon.

This chili is beanfree and ultra meaty. It has the glorious smokiness of the chipotle peppers, with the slight sweetness of the red onion. When you take a bite, you are hit with those flavors first, and then a hearty sting of spiciness. It’s divine. If you like chili, that is.

What’s your favorite cold-day meal? Share!

Meat-Lovers Chipotle Chili Con Carne
serves 4

Please note: the recipe calls for one chipotle chili in adobo. Cans of these can be found in the ethnic section of most major supermarkets. DO NOT use the whole can. Simply remove one chili from the can for this recipe. Leftovers can be store in the fridge in an airtight container or pureed and frozen for future use.

1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb beef stew meat (in chunks)
1 red onion, peeled
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 chipotle chili in adobo, plus 1 tsp sauce
1 20 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
3/4 cup water
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper
Garnish: avocado, cheddar cheese, sour cream

In a large pot, brown the ground beef and the stew meat. Once it’s mostly cooked, pour off any excess fat.

Meanwhile, combine the onion, garlic and chipotle in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until everything is chopped up ultra fine (almost smooth). Add the mixture to the pot and stir to combine with the meat. Cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water and cumin to the pot. Salt and pepper to your desired taste.  Stir and then cover. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.

Serve, garnished with cheese, sour cream and/or avocado chunks.

What I’m Cooking With: a 5 quart pot, a wooden spoon and a full size food processor

Let’s talk comfort food.

Comfort food brings us to that warm, happy, good place, the one where we feel safe and warm and loved. It’s food that reminds us of happy times, or just warms us on a cold, wet winter day.

Today definitely falls into that cold, wet winter day category. Although late last night my weather source was predicting maybe two inches of snow, we woke up today to no school and six inches of heavy snow outside. And it’s been raining. That makes this day perfect for a warm, comforting soup like this one.

I love pureed soups like Potato Leek Soup and this one, especially when the weather is like this. They are easy and filling and taste so good.

This soup starts with some sweet onions, cooked in olive oil until just soft. (Psst! See the photo? I was attempting a motion shot of onions sliding off the cutting board into the pot. Apparently I need more practice on that one.) The onions are mixed with carrots, butternut squash and an apple, for a little sweetness. Then, it’s all boiled in vegetable broth, seasoned and pureed down until it’s smooth.

As for the taste, it has notes of pumpkin pie (which I adore) and of good mashed squash. It’s savory, with a tinge of sweetness. It’s just divine. I served it with some salted crispy shallots on top and that totally made it an OMG for me.

And the kids? They loved it too. As Will said, it’s a win-na!

Butternut Squash Soup
serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
salt, pinch
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin disks
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
2 lb butternut squash, cubed
4 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp paprika
1/4 cloves
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and stir. Salt lightly, cover and cook for 10 minutes, until just starting to get translucent.

Stir in the carrots, apples, butternut squash and vegetable. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.

Stir in seasonings and reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Use a stick blender to puree the soup. Serve warm.

Optional: Garnish with crispy shallots. To make: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a small skillet. Slice shallots into thin rounds (use about one shallot/person). Saute the shallots in the oil, salting with sea salt, until browned. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and let sit for a minute or two. Then spoon onto each bowl of soup.

What I’m Cooking With: a large nonstick stockpot, a wooden spoon, a Global 8-Inch Cook’s Knife, a Oneida Cutting Board, a Cuisinart Chef’s Classic 8-inch Fry Pan

Hey! One more thing. I have an exciting new writing job. I am blogging thrice weekly for Tablespoon, a food/recipe sharing site owned by General Mills. Check out my first post over there, Chicken Dinner. Please head over there and check it out!

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a day that commemorates the Battle of Pueblo where the Mexican army defeated French forces. It’s a big thing for Mexico. I remembered briefly this morning when Facebook reminded me to wish one of my childhood friends a happy birthday. Then I promptly forgot. When I sat down to write this post, I realized what a funny coincidence it is that I am writing about a delicious chili recipe today. But yes, it’s completely a coincidence.

Meanwhile, if we have one more rainy day here in Connecticut, I might just start sprouting parsley from my hip. After a long and cold winter, all we really want to do is to get outside and play, plant and enjoy our yard. Instead, we have lots of rain, which seems to be encouraging weeds to sprout waist-high overnight (I kid you not!).

But if there is one meal that just screams of wanting to warm you up on a dreary, rainy day, it’s chili. Of course, with summer nudging around the corner, we only have a few more weeks (days?) before we need to trade hearty dishes for lighter, cooler fare.

This chili has a definite kick with the chipotle, but I think it’s more medium than hot. The kids? Well, they weren’t that thrilled with the heat but Shawn and I loved it. The chicken is a nice change up in this hearty, slightly spicy chili. Served over rice, this will fill your belly and leave you satisfied.

Chipotle Chicken Chili
serves 4-6

This chili has a moderate amount of heat, which should be ideal for most adults. If you want it to knock your socks off, add another chipotle pepper to the mix. However, if you are cooking for young children, this might be a little spicy, so I suggest cutting back a little on the chipotle (one pepper should be ok). As for the garnish — the cold tomatoes and smooth, creamy avocado take this delish chili and make it an OMG WOW!

2 tbsp canola oil
1 yellow onion, peeled and ends removed
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 chipotle peppers from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo (available in most supermarkets)
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken, cut into a 1″ dice
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with chilis
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed
salt (about 1 tsp — but to taste)
1 cup frozen corn

In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium heat.

Combine the onion (you may need to cut it in half or quarters), garlic and chipotle peppers in a food processor. Process until finely chopped and well combined. Add the mixture to the pot and cook, stirring occationally, for about five minutes until it dries a bit and thickens.

Add the chicken to the chipotle mixture and cook, tossing occationally, until the chicken is opaque on all sides and well coated. Add all of the tomatoes, along with the black beans, kidney beans and salt. Stir well. Lower the heat to low and cover. Let simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hrs. The chili will thicken as it cooks, so try not to let it go longer than two hours.

Stir in the frozen corn (I used white shoepeg corn) and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until corn is hot too.

To serve: Dish out the thick chili on a bed of rice. If desired, garnish with diced avocado, diced tomatoes and cheddar cheese.

It’s funny how things change as you get older . . . As a child and a teen, I used to jump with joy at the prospect of snow. There was so much fun from the falling flakes – snow days, sledding, snowball fights … But when I got up this morning and saw my trees white with a thick coat of snow, my first reaction wasn’t so positive. In fact, it came in the form of a disappointed groan. Not only did I have a day of shoveling to look forward to, but it also canceled my lunch plans. A good friend was coming to visit today . . . alas, that will have to wait a few weeks.

The positive? Shoveling didn’t take as long as I thought it would.

Anyway, what better day than a snow day to share an easy recipe for a low-fat and tasty stew. Now, this one does take a while to simmer, but it’s well worth the wait. The potatoes break down a lot in the slow simmer, releasing their starches to create a thick and comforting base. And the barbecue flavor is awesome. I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue sauce and it was fantastic. But any bottled sauce (or homemade, if you do that sort of thing) would work . . .

Eat this with a slice of thick, warm, fresh bread and a simple salad.

Barbecue Beef and Potato Stew
serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 – 1 lb stew beef, in one inch chunks
1 clove garlic, minced
3 small red potatoes (about 2-2 1/2 in diameter), diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup water
1/3 cup barbecue sauce

In a small dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the beef and brown on all sides. Stir in garlic, potatoes, salt and pepper and mix well. Add water and barbecue sauce and mix well.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. (Hint: use a small burner so if condensation drips from your lid, like it did from mine, it won’t land on a hot burner and make an annoying racket — and a more annoying mess to clean off the stove).

I checked out a number of recipes before writing this one. Thank goodness everyone in the blogosphere is busy with tomato cooking now (and a lot are making gazpacho too) because it gave me a good selection of recipes to learn from. I also checked out a bunch of recipes from books in my personal library. As usual, I couldn’t find one that met all of my needs so I just started from scratch.

Anyway, here’s the skinny on gazpacho: it’s really refreshing. I wish I would have made it sooner as it would have been a perfect hot-summer-night dinner on the porch. Next year! The texture is somewhat like salsa, without the bite. Definitely good. Definitely worth it. Definitely a keeper.

The best part? It’s super healthy – it’s practically all raw vegetables (and fruits, I guess) so it’s just a powerhouse of nutrients. Yay for healthiness!

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt (I used a sea salt/lavender blend from Williams-Sonoma)
4 ripe red tomatoes, diced
1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 shakes Louisiana hot sauce
fresh ground pepper, to taste

Pour balsamic vinegar in to a large mixing bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of your food processor, combine the sea salt and garlic. Pulse for 5-10 seconds. Add tomatoes (I did this in two batches since I use a mini food processor.). Pulse to desired consistency. Pour tomatoes into the bowl with the vinegar.

Combine the cucumber and red onion in the food processor (no need to clean between uses). Pulse to desired consistency. Pour cucumbers and red onion into the reserved bowl.

Combine the red and green pepper in the food processor. Pulse to the desired consistency. Add to the reserved bowl.

Pour Italian seasonings, olive oil, lemon juice, hot sauce and pepper into the bowl. Mix well.

Place the gazpacho in a sealed container and refrigerate for at least 12 hours before serving.

Now, a few notes on preparation. This soup was super easy. I used a leftover roasted chicken carcass from the other day to make the stock. And meat from that leftover chicken went into the soup. To cut the carrots, a mandolin works great for quick and even cuts. The pasta is optional – my husband likes a lot so this is a pasta heavy dish, but you can use more or less.

And yes, it’s easy on the stomach.

5 1/2 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock (preferably homemade)
3 large carrots, sliced
1 cup packed fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
2 cups diced chicken (cooked, from a roasted chicken)
1/2 cup small pasta such as dinatali (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine stocks and carrots in large pot and bring to a boil lower heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in herbs, chicken, salt and pepper and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, until carrots are soft.

Raise heat and bring to a boil. Stir in pasta and cook according to package directions. Serve immediately.

Directly following dinner Thursday (yes, Thanksgiving dinner), I started making turkey stock with my leftover carcass from the turkey. After letting the stock cool all the way, I skimmed the fat from the top and seperated the broth into freezer bags for later use. I also reserved four cups of it to make some soup today.

Winter time is soup time. The cool weather and warm soup go hand-in-hand. I’ve been stressing trying to think of some delicious soup recipes to make so I can take some to work but ultimately this was a “hmm, what do I have leftover to use?” sort of recipe. It came together so well that I figured it would be a great thing to share for WHB.

One of the herbs used in this soup is sage, one of the few herbs that has a flavor that intensifies with drying. Go figure. But I still like fresh herbs over dried, and had leftovers from Thanksgiving. One interesting thing I learned recently about sage is that research has shown that sage may indeed improve short term memory and could aid in improved quality of life for Alzheimer patients (it might help counteract the causes of memory loss).

Back to the soup. This is a great for those nights were you want something filling that won’t bog you down. It’s also great for a quick and easy lunch to take to work and heat up.

4 cups turkey stock (or stock of your choice)
1 19 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup baby portabella mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 large shallot (or two small-medium), sliced
1 generous tbsp. chopped fresh sage
1 generous tbsp. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 generous tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and stir together.

Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook 20 minutes.

Turn off heat and let sit 15-20 minutes, stirring once in a while.

Kale. Even the word is foreign to me. I grew up in a household where vegetables were of pretty simple varieties – corn, peas, green beans and the occasional zucchini. Brussels spouts were a delicacy and any lettuce other than iceberg was certainly special. I had a feeling there were more vegetables out there, but I couldn’t quite figure out what they were.

I’ve learned a lot since then. For instance, beet greens are not only edible but they really taste good as a bruschetta. And fiddlehead greens have a really unique taste and texture.

In any case, back to the kale. My husband loves Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana soup, so I decided to try making it at home. I searched the internet and found literally dozens of recipes for it. Each had things good and bad about them, so I used them as a guideline and drafted my own. It was received with rave reviews from both my husband and from the much harder to please stepson. It goes without saying that my son loved it.

ABOUT KALE:

Kale is a variety of cabbage. The kale I purchased had curly edged leaves, though there are other varieties with flat leaves and the such. Kale likes cooler weather and is grown widely in North America and Europe.

CHOOSING KALE:

Kale should have firm, deep green leaves that are free from spotting, wilting or discoloration.

STORING KALE:

Kale should be stored in cool places like the refrigator crisper drawer, while wrapped in a lightly moist paper towel and stored in a plastic bag. It can also be frozen fresh

Zuppa Toscana
Serves 6-8

4 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
3 large potatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 lb. spicy Italian sausage, browned and crumbled
1/2 lb. bacon, browned and crumbled
2 cups kale, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion into a pot. Cook over high heat until the potatoes are fork tender.

Stir in the sausage and bacon and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in kale and heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.

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This is my post for Weekend Herb Blogging. Check out Kalyn’s Kitchen on Sunday for the weekly roundup of interesting herb and veggie related posts.