beeft stew

Lots of beets and lots of stew meat means getting as close to borscht as we can. This can take a long time to make so it's a perfect weekend afternoon stew.

3 lbs of chuck eye steak
2 large vidalia onions
1 tsp sugar
6 beets
3 cups beef stock

1 sprig of thyme

salt and pepper
butter
oil

Slice onions, cut beets into small pieces and cut meat into 1 inch pieces.

In a dutch oven, heat the oil until hot. Working in batches, brown the meat on all sides. Transfer the browned meat to a plate and repeat until all the meat is browned.

Add the butter and onions to the dutch oven and stir occasionally until the onions start to soften, 5-10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and sprinkle in the sugar. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the beets and cook until they begin to release their juices, 10 minutes. Stir in the broth and bring to a boil.

Add the meat and the accumulated juices on the plate, and the thyme, to the dutch oven and bring back up to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

spring pork chops...anytime

Fresh peaches this spring have been delicious, so they haven't been lasting long enough around our house to make it into an actual dish before being picked up and just eaten as is. This is a great dish because it uses frozen peaches, which you can get any time of the year. The flavors in this dish come together beautifully, sweet and savory all at once. We served it with roasted asparagus and fried plantains.

3-4 (1-inch-thick) pork chops
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
1-2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme
1/4 cup brandy
1 (10-ounce) bag frozen peaches, thawed
1/3 cup peach preserves

Sprinkle pork chops on both sides with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper (total) and coat lightly with olive oil.

Heat 12-inch cast iron skillet in oven for 10 minutes at 500 degrees, bring pan back to the stove top and cook pork chops over high heat, turning once, until browned, 3 minutes on each side. Return pan with pork chops to 350 degree oven for 6 minutes, until cooked through. Transfer to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered with foil.

Return skillet to stove top. Heat butter in skillet over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook shallots with thyme, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden-brown, about 5 minutes.

Add 1/4 cup brandy to skillet, then cook over medium heat, scraping bottom of skillet to loosen brown bits. Add peaches, preserves, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and any meat juices from platter. Nestle pork chops in the sauce and cook, until peaches are tender and juicy, about 3 minutes. Plate pork chops and spoon sauce over chops.

Adapted from epicurious.com

mushroom mushroom badger badger mushroom

I found this recipe back in 2005, and I can't actually remember if I've ever made it, but it certainly looks good and relatively easy. Been craving mushrooms lately, so if I find a good assortment I may just have to whip this up.

Thyme and Mushroom Soup

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (removed from the stems)
10 cups sliced assorted mushrooms (One very full brown paper mushroom bag will slice up into about 10 cups)
1 cup white wine
4 1/4 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon sea salt (depending on how salty your stock is)
1 teaspoon cracked pepper

Melt butter in the bottom of a large stockpot. Cook and stir onions, garlic and thyme over medium heat for 5 or so minutes, until onions begin to brown and the scent of thyme fills your kitchen.

Add mushrooms and cook, over med-high, heat stirring only occasionally, to brown the mushrooms a bit before they start giving off too much water. Continue to cook, stirring for 6 to 8 minutes.

Add in remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Ladle off 1/2 the mixture into a bowl. Use immersion blender on one half the soup. Combine the two portions again and heat through.

Adapted from Lex Culinaria