Black Eyed Pea Stew

" We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day."

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I'm taking a little break from blogging till mid January. Until then please enjoy this Black Eyed Pea Stew I made in 2011. It is hearty, delicious, and perfect for a New Year Meal!
 

Happy New Year everyone! Like most of you know, eating black eyed peas on New Year's day is supposed to bring good luck. We had some ham and the bone left from Christmas, so I put it to use in this easy, and flexible stew. If you don't have black eyed peas, no big deal, use another bean, like navy, or even kidney beans. I used a bag of dried beans but you could use a few cans of beans instead.

 

This recipe makes quite a bit, but it freezes nicely.









Black Eyed Pea Stew

Ingredients

one bag (16 oz.) dried black eyed peas, or 3 cans
one ham bone with 3 cups diced ham
3 carrots chopped into bite sized pieces
3 ribs of celery chopped into bite sized pieces
1 onion chopped
2, 15 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, or 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

if you like some heat, you can add some dried chipotle pepper, or even a tablespoon or so from a small can of chopped chipotle peppers, (the smokiness works well with the smokiness of the ham) if you are using the canned peppers, and aren't familiar with using them, start with a small amount first, (they can get spicy), and adjust to your taste.

Directions

Cook the black eyed peas if using dried. I used a crockpot. (I think this is the best way to cook them, because all of the ham flavor gets infused into the black eyed peas.) Add the peas, a tsp of salt, the bay leaves, the ham, the bone and the chopped onion to the crockpot and fill the crockpot almost to the top with water. (I used a 4 quart crockpot.) If using a larger crockpot, I'd start with 8 cups water, add more later if needed.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or until the peas are soft. If you are using a larger crockpot and have the time, you can add everything else and cook until the carrots and celery are soft. (an additional 3 hours or so.)

I poured it all into an 8 quart pot on the stove and added everything else and cooked for 20 minutes or so, until the vegetables were tender.

If you are using canned black eyed peas, drain the peas and rinse, throw it all in a large pot on the stove, add 4-6 cups water or broth, cook on medium heat for an hour or so, until the vegetables are tender and the flavors have blended. If needed, add water or broth to get the consistency you like.

Breakfast Baked Potatoes

 

"Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal."

 

- Pamela Vaull Starr

 

Eggs and potatoes, a match made in heaven! I eat them all the time, but never with one inside the other. A brilliant idea! When I saw this done by another blogger, Our Best Bites, I thought why isn't everyone everywhere doing this all the time!

 

 

Slice off the top of the potato

 

It's perfect. Protein, potatoes and eggs all in one easy to manage vessel. And a great use of leftover baked potatoes.

 

 

Scoop out the insides, not all of them, but most. Salt and pepper the insides and brush them with melted butter.

Fill your potatoes with everything you love to put in an omelet. Cheese, ham, bacon, spinach, tomatoes, chives, chili. I love me a chili omelet. So I made a ham and cheese potato, and a chili and cheese potato.

Fill them up with yummy stuff. I did a ham and cheese, and a chili and cheese. Anything you would put in an omelet or a quiche.

 

I think these would be great to serve at a brunch, with some muffins, and fruit.

 

Crack and egg on top and more salt and pepper

 

This is just an idea, not really a recipe, so go wild! Bake up some potatoes and fill them with all kinds of yummy stuff you like. Potatoes are cheap, and eggs are a good source of protein, so it's all good.

 

 

 

 

Vintage Minton Gold Teacup and Vintage Orange Pumpkin Cloth Napkins available at my Etsy Shop, House of Lucien.

 

 Breakfast Baked Potatoes

 

 

 

Adapted from Our Best Bites

 

Ingredients

baked potatoes, cooked and slightly cooled - if straight from the fridge, I'd warm them slightly to just warm, or room temperature

melted butter

salt and black pepper

Shredded cheese (cheddar, Gruyere, Fontina, pepper jack, or other of your choice)

eggs

additional fillings of your choice: sauteed vegetables, bacon or ham, chili, etc. or raw veggies like chives or chopped tomatoes

 

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, 180 degrees Celsius, Gas Mark 4.

Slice a layer off the top of each potato. Use a spoon to gently scoop out insides, leaving a thin layer of potato against the skin and avoiding puncturing the bottom. Reserve scooped potato for another use.

Brush inside of each potato with melted butter and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Sprinkle a layer of shredded cheese into each potato and add fillings as desired (vegetables, diced meat, etc.) Fill each potato about 1/2 full. Crack one egg into each potato. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper. Top with additional cheese and toppings if desired.

Place potatoes on a in an oven safe dish and cook for about 20 minutes, it could be as little as 15 minutes, or as many as 25 minutes or more. (The amount of time depends on how large your potato is, if it's warm or cold, etc.)  Egg whites should be set and yolks soft.

Beefy Mac and Cheese

 

 

"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

 

-Thomas Alva Edison 

 

 

 

This is my husbands kind of food. He eats about 5 different meals over and over again. Sure I tried cooking different varieties of things for him over the years but a long time ago I stopped trying. It was like fighting against the tide.

 

There is a quote that I am reminded of about this, which is:

 

"What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?" Lin Yutang

 

 

You see all of these meals are nostalgic to him, they make him feel comfortable, like home. So I can respect that. Now I'm accustomed to it. Usually I cook food for him, and something different for myself since we have different tastes. However, I feel completely the opposite. My sister Melanie as well. I've heard her say, "I'll never eat another lunch meat sandwich again for the rest of my life." Since we ate so many of them in our lunches as kids. But my husband? He grew up eating ready made sandwiches out of the fridge, and he still loves them. So we're all different, I guess.

I add a layer of cheese in the middle so it's nice and cheesy

When I saw this recipe from Michael Rhulman on pinterest, (from his blog back in 2010) I was like, "heck yeah!" Now that's a recipe my husband could add to his repertoire. It has all the essential elements, beef and noodles. Many of his favorite meals consist of those elements in different forms, such as spaghetti with meat sauce, homemade macaroni and cheese with ground beef and beef noodles, a version of beef strogonoff with no sour cream, he hates sour cream.

Ready for the oven

I told him, "I have a new meal that you'll like, beefy mac." He said, "I love beefy mac! I'm hungry, can you make it now?"

I did and he loved it.

Thank you Michael Rhulman for posting a simple, heartwarming, easy and well liked recipe. My husband thanks you too.

 

Beefy Mac and Cheese

 

adapted from Michael Rhulman's Macaroni and Beef
 

This makes a lot. Feel free to halve it. It also freezes well. 2 pounds of beef to one pound of macaroni may be a lot for you, it's pretty beefy, (but just right for us) feel free to only use 1 pound. This fills my deep dish 9x13 dish to the top. If you don't have a deep 9x13 pan you may need to use a second pan. I reheated some later in individual ramekins as seen in the above picture, so cooking some up individually is another option.

Ingredients

 

1 large onion, diced

1 tablespoon oil

salt to taste

optional seasonings: black pepper, oregano, cumin, coriander, chopped garlic, hot smoked paprika, chili powder—whatever you’re in the mood for (I just used black pepper and a tsp. of granulated garlic.)

2 - 15 oz cans (850 g. total) diced tomatoes

1 - 15 oz can (425 g.) tomato sauce

2 pounds (907 g.) lean ground beef

1 box (1 lb.) (454 g.) elbow macaroni

4 cups (1 lb.) (454 g.) grated sharp cheddar cheese or you can use a mixture of different cheeses

 

 

Directions

 

Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, 200 degrees Celsius, Gas Mark 6.

 

Cook the macaroni a few minutes less than the package directions; drain and place back in the pan, add the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce to let the pasta absorb the tomatoes.

 

Heat the oil in a large skillet; add the onion and and saute until soft. Add the ground beef and saute until browned. Add plenty of salt to taste, and pepper and spices if using.

 

Add the ground beef mixture to the macaroni mixture and stir. In a greased deep dish 9x13 inch casserole dish, add about half of the macaroni. Add a layer of cheese, about half, (2 cups.) Add the rest of the macaroni and top with the rest of the cheese. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and broil the top for another few minutes so it gets nice and bubbly, brown and melted. Let sit about 10 minutes before serving.

 

Tortellini Salad

 

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

 

~ Albert Einstein

 

O.K. so it's August 25th. August to me means summer. We have one whole week left of it. Everywhere around me I see pumpkins, and apple pies and Halloween. But hey, it's not really fall yet. I want to say, "take it easy, fall will come soon enough." I'm working on being present, so here now in the moment, it's summer and I want to enjoy it till I can't anymore.

 

I purchased this fresh cheese tortellini at Trader Joe's for about the same price as dried. I liked it.

So, you know, since it is summer, I bring you a great summer salad. Easy to make and full of awesome stuff most people love.

I bought my salami at Trader Joe's too, then cut it in chunks.

I used salami but you can easily leave it out if you have any vegetarians. This salad also has fresh spinach cut into slivers so it sort of disappears when it's tossed with the other ingredients and the dressing. The fresh basil and tomatoes add a burst of freshness.

It's so easy to make too! Just throw it all together. The most difficult thing to do is cook the tortellini and chop a little veg.

May you enjoy these last days of summer, whatever you do. Weather it's eating a cold salad, or enjoying a warm pumpkin pie.

Tortellini Salad


This is an original recipe by me, Melissa, The Alchemist


Ingredients

2 -  9 or 10 oz packages of fresh or dried cheese tortellini - Cooked according to package directions, rinsed and cooled slightly.

A bunch of fresh spinach - about a bag of it. I used some from Paradise Organics fresh picked from the farm, so I didn't measure it.

2/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese - or a little more to taste -sorry I didn't weigh this! About a handful.

A dry pint (2 cups) (170 g.) of cherry tomatoes - washed and halved

2 - 2 oz. (a total of 117 g.) cans sliced black olives, drained

8 oz. (227 g.) salami or pepperoni, diced in bite sized chunks

Fresh basil - washed and cut into slivers - to taste, about a small handful of leaves

Italian Salad Dressing to taste - Use something good. I used Paul Newman's Olive oil and Vinegar dressing since it's my husbands favorite - about a cup, maybe a little more, I didn't measure.

Optional -artichoke hearts would not be amiss here, but sadly, I was about to add some, from a can, I opened them and wow, they had no taste at all, so I didn't add them. Next time I might add the type that are marinated in a jar.


Directions

Wash and dry the spinach and cut it into about 1 or 2 inch slices. Add the cooked tortellini to a large bowl and all the rest of the ingredients except the salad dressing. Start with a smaller amount of spinach if you think you may have a lot. Toss it all together. Add salad dressing to coat lightly. Taste it and add salt and pepper to taste. Add more spinach if you think it needs it. If you are going to put it in the fridge for later, I'd do it now with a light coat of dressing so the flavors can marry. If you are going to eat it now, go ahead and more dressing if you think it needs it.

Beef and Guinness Stew

"Who cares how time advances? I am drinking ale today."

- Edgar Allan Poe

My husband's favorite beer is Guinness. We have it in the fridge at any given time. So every year around St. Patricks Day when I see beef and Guinness recipes, I always think, "I should be making that." But I hadn't till now, don't ask me why. In fact, I make beef stew often enough. Silly, I say.

My very large hunk of beef chuck ready to be cut up for stew

Silly indeed, because folks, this is delicious! Absolutely scrumptious! Beef and Guinness were made for each other, I'm telling you. Once it cooks down and all of the flavors have melded, you probably couldn't even tell that is what you were tasting. So it doesn't have a strong alcohol taste, or even a strong beer taste like I thought it might due to the fact that I added 2 bottles of it. The gravy tastes slightly like malt. It's savory and beefy with a hint of fresh flavor from the herbs.

Cutting up the chuck for stew

I made a large batch. I used 4 lbs of beef chuck and it filled my 6 quart slow cooker. You could easily make half that amount, and use a 4 quart crock pot if you'd like.

My pieces of beef that have been dredged in flour in the oil to be browned

I prefer using chuck for beef stew, and pot roast for that matter. I find it gets the most tender, and has the best flavor. My butcher sells it in that large piece (pictured above). That adds a little more work than if you were to have purchased stew meat that is already cut into pieces. The problem is, beef stew meat is usually beef round. It's much leaner than chuck and well, fat = flavor, and round doesn't have much of either.

Beef getting seared

Whenever I want to cook something low and slow like this, I go for the slow cooker. I prefer the results to oven cooking. But if you need to cook it in the oven, go for it. I've added oven directions in the recipe as well.

Fresh herbs into cheesecloth

This recipe is best made the day before serving for two reasons. One is so that the flavors can really marry. The second is while it is cooling overnight in the fridge, the fat rises to the top and solidifies, making it easy to skim off the next day.  This makes it a great dish to serve to company. Paired with a nice salad and some crusty bread you'll have quite a tasty meal.

My stew just placed into the crock pot (I used a 6 qt. since I made a large batch)

Looking for some more Irish recipes?

How about some Irish Coffee Cupcakes- (these are very good!)

Or some Luck Of The Irish Cookies- O.K. these aren't really Irish, but they are fun and yummy!

Or complete your meal with some traditional Irish Soda Bread- this is a great bread for novice bread bakers, and it would be perfect with this stew.

It took me a while to make it for the first time, but it won't take me long to make it for the second time!

My little Papillon, Lucien. My husband took this picture and I fell in love with it, so I wanted to share it with you.

Beef Stew with Guinness

this makes a large batch, enough for 8 roughly, but it can easily be halved

Keep in mind this recipe is best eaten the day after it's made.

Ingredients

4 pounds of Beef Chuck, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces, and with large pieces of fat trimmed off. There should be fat marbled throughout it, but if there are large pieces of fat, cut them off.

2 bottles of Guinness beer

6-8 cups (1 1/2 - 2 liters) beef stock, homemade is better, or a good brand that is low sodium

5-7 carrots (depending on size and how many you want), peeled and sliced diagonally

1-2 large onions, peeled and chopped

3 bay leaves

fresh herbs- I used a combination of a few thyme sprigs, a large rosemary sprig and some parsley (I have fresh herbs growing in my garden) if you need to buy fresh herbs I would just get either some thyme or rosemary whichever you prefer and use either 3 thyme sprigs or 2 rosemary sprigs.

salt and freshly ground pepper

flour for dredging

olive oil or vegetable oil for browning meat

about 5 cooked cubed potatoes to add after stew is cooked, (so they don't get over cooked in the stew if using crockpot, or alternately add them raw halfway through cooking time. If cooking in oven, add them raw per directions below.)

1-2 Tablespoons cornstarch for thickening the sauce if needed

fresh parsley- minced, for topping individual servings (optional)


Instructions


The day before you want to eat this, start by browning the meat. Cover all sides of the cubes of meat with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place some flour (about 1/2 cup, you can add more as needed) into a shallow dish like a pie plate. Dredge the seasoned meat cubes in the flour.  Use a large dutch oven or large frying pan and add a few Tablespoons of oil and turn onto medium high heat. When pan is hot, place an even layer of cubes into hot oil. Don't crowd the pan, you're going to do this in batches. Get it nice and brown on one side (not grey, but brown) then turn the cubes and cook till brown on all sides.This is only about getting some color on the meat, it doesn't matter if they aren't cooked throughout. Remove them when done into another clean dish, and repeat until all the cubes are browned on all sides.

In the same pan, add a little of the beef stock and with a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom to remove the fond (the bits from the browned meat) and pour it all in the crock pot/slow cooker.

Add the ingredients in a few layers to your slow cooker. First add about half of the meat, then add about half of the carrots and onions, then more beef, then more carrots and onions. Add the bay leaves, and add the 2 bottles of beer. Now add enough beef stock to cover it all well, for me it was around 8 cups.

Place the fresh herbs in a cheesecloth bag, or tie them up with twine for easy removal later. Add the herbs and submerge into the stew.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

When finished, turn off cooker, remove the crock from the base if you can to let cool slightly. Place the covered crock in the fridge to cool overnight.

The next day remove from fridge and scrape off the fat that has risen to the surface and discard. Pour or ladle the contents of the crock into a large dutch oven to heat. When it's heated, taste it to check for seasoning. Add salt and pepper if needed. If you would like the sauce to be thicker, either reduce it., or add a cornstarch slurry by placing 1-2 Tablespoons of cornstarch (use 2 Tablespoons if you want it thick) into 2 Tablespoons of cold water and mix well. Add that to the hot stew and bring to boil. Right before serving add the cooked potatoes. Top individual servings with chopped parsley if desired.


For Oven Cooking-

Follow directions above, except when placing all the ingredients into the slow cooker place into a large dutch oven, like a big Le Cruset pan that has a tight fitting lid.

Cook with the lid on tight, at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, 150 degrees Celsius, or Gas Mark 2, for about 4 hours. After 3 hours of cooking you can add the diced potatoes, raw, and continue cooking for another hour. Then continue recipe as stated above.