Uzbek Plov, Beef and rice stew

Rich and delicious beef pilaf with garlic
Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 3 (out of 5)
Source: Inspired by varied sources, mostly by Video Culinary

Ingredients:
- 1 kg stewing beef, cut into 5 cm cubes
- 1 kg basmati rice
- 1 kg carrots, cut into 1/2 cm thick strips
- 1/2 kg of onions, sliced into half rings
- 2 heads of garlic, whole, outer loose skin peeled off
- 200 ml cooking oil
- 1 l cold water
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- up to 1 l of boiling water
Serves 10.

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, rinse the rice with cold water to wash away the starch. This will help keep the rice grains separate in the final product. You might have to rinse the rice 3-5 times, until the water is clear. Cover the rice with more cold water so that the water reaches about 3 cm above the rice and let soak for 2-3 hours. Do not empty the water until you are ready to cook the rice, or the rice might get brittle.
2. In a large Dutch oven heat the oil on very high heat until it simmers and white smoke appears above the pot. Slowly (to prevent oil from splashing) place the meat into the oil. Sprinkle meat with salt as soon as all the meat is in the pot. This is supposed to make it tender. Cook on high heat, stirring, until the meat is golden brown and a crust forms.
3. Add the onions to the meat and cook, stirring, until the onions are golden brown.
4. Add the carrots, stir, add the salt and the spices, and stir more. Add 1 liter of cold water to the pot, stir to make sure all the meat is submerged. Bring the water to a boil on high heat. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible while maintaining the simmer, and simmer for 2 hours, stirring several times throughout. At the end of the 2 hours taste the liquid for salt and spices. It should be just a little too salty, to account for the addition of the rice. Add the garlic to the stew, root side down, and let it float close to the surface, don’t submerge.
5. Boil a kettle of water. Pour the water out from the bowl of soaking rice and transfer the rice into the pot on top of the meat-carrot layer. Flatten the top of the rice carefully. Slowly add enough boiling water to the rice so that it covers the rice by 1.5-2 cm. Increase the heat to high and cook until all the water evaporates. Do not stir.
6. When there is no more water to be seen, gather the rice into a dome shape in the center of the pot. Be careful not to mix the rice with carrots and meat. With a long wooden spoon poke 5-6 holes in the rice all the way to the bottom of the pot. Cook more until the water from around the rice dome and from the holes evaporates too.
7. Reduce the heat to low. Wrap the lid in a kitchen towel or place a paper towel between the lid and the pot and cook covered for 30-40 minutes. The towel will soak in the vapor and prevent it from dripping back into the rice.
8. When the plov is cooked remove it from the heat and let stand covered for another 10 minutes. Remove the lid, carefully open up the rice layer to extract the garlic heads. Carefully mix the layers of the rice and the meat and serve with the cooked garlic on the side.

Afterthoughts:
This plov takes 3 hours to cook with a lot of steps, and contains humongous amounts of oil, but the final result is really rich and delicious. Worth the time and the calories on a cold winter night.

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Sirloin Tip Roast

Super easy and just right
Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)
Source: trial and error

Ingredients:
- 3 lbs sirloin tip
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, halved

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425F (450F in my oven - the thermostat is off) and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and parchment paper.
2. Make 8 cuts in the roast and insert the garlic.
3. Coat the roast with salt and pepper on all sides.
4. Roast the meat at 425F for 20 minutes, then at 350F (375F in my oven) for 30 minutes, then at 300F (325F in my oven) for another 30 minutes.
5. Check roast temperature in several places. If it's around 145F - good for you, if not, turn the oven off and leave the roast in the switched off oven for another 15 minutes. At that point the temperature reached 148F and the roast was just perfect.

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Chilean Corn Beef Pie - Pastel de Choclo

Definition of Comfort Food
Source: Adopted from En Mi Cocina Hoy
Taste: 4 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 4 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
For the beef:
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 kg / 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 cup water or beef broth
- 3 onions, diced
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp flour
For the corn mixture:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 10 cups or 1 3/4 kg frozen corn
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup cold milk or water
- 10 basil leaves or 1 tbsp basil paste
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/4 tbsp black pepper
- 1/2 tbsp parprika
Other:
- 4 hard boiled eggs, peeled, cut into quarters
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, pulled with fork
- 10 olives halved
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
Serves: 8-10 people

Directions:
For the beef (to be prepared at least one day before serving):
1. Preheat the oil in a large frying pan and saute the onions until golden brown, stirring from time to time. About 10 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan, and leave to cool.
2. In the same pan saute the beef for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spices, the salt ant the pepper and stir for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the water and simmer for about 20-30 minutes, stirring. After the first 10 minutes add the onions. If someone in your household does not like the cooked onion texture, grind the cooled onions before adding them to the beef).
4. Remove from the heat, adjust the seasoning as needed, stir in the flour and leave to cool.
5. Cover and refrigerate or freeze if you don't plan to use it within the next day or two.

For the corn:
6. In a large pot with a thick bottom, melt the butter over medium-high heat, add the frozen corn, cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Add milk, basil, salt, pepper, and paprika and continue to cook for 10 more minutes, stirring.
8. With a hand blender, blend the corn trying to not to go uniform, leave some chunky parts. Add the dissolved cornstarch and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. It will thicken slightly.

To assemble the pie:
9. Greeze a 13x9 inch baking dish
10. Spread the beef on the bottom of the dish. On top of the beef add chicken. Above the chicken layer add the eggs and the olives. You can also add raisins.
11. Pour the corn mixture on the very top. Sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake at 400F in a preheated oven for 45-60 minutes until the top is golden and bubbling. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Afterthoughts:
- This is a traditional Chilean dish. In Chile it is usually baked in clay pots, but if you don't have a large enough clay pot, a pyrex will do.
- This pie is really hearty and flavorful. It's perfect for a dinner on a colder night, but in Chile they eat it for lunch in the middle of the hot summer day, so I suppose it works for any time of day and year. Traditionally served with a salad of lettuce, onions and tomatoes.
- You can prepare all the dish in one go, it will probably take you about 1 hour, just the prep, plus one more hour to bake. But you can also prepare the different parts in advance, for example, you can prepare the meat mixture and freeze until the day of serving.

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Chinese Eggplant with Ground Meat

Delicious Asian dinner in about half an hour
Source: Salu-salo

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb ground turkey
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 lbs eggplant or Chinese eggplant 1 ½ lbs. Chinese eggplants, ends trimmed and cut on the diagonal into ½-inch slices
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water
For the sauce:
- 1 cup chicken stock (or 1 cup of chicken flavored Better than Bullion dissolved in 1 cup of hot water)
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp of sambal oelek or sriracha (or up to 2 tbsp for a spicy version)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Total: 6 servings

Directions:
1. Trim the eggplants and cut into 1/2 inch slices.
2. Combine the turkey with soy sauce and let stand for 10 minutes.
3. In another bowl, combine all sauce ingredients. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 10 to 15 seconds.
5. Add the turkey and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
6. Add the eggplants and the sauce and stir to mix well. Reduced the heat to medium, cover for about 10 minutes or until eggplants are tender.
7. Add cornstarch solution and cook, stirring until sauce thickens. Serve with steamed rice or cauliflower rice.

Afterthoughts:
This is a really delicious simple recipe and it works with any kind of meat: pork, beef, chicken, turkey. Might even work with ground tofu?! ;-)

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Coconut milk beef stew

 Delicious Indonesian beef stew, beef rendang, adopted for western ingredients. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words; in this case one whiff is worth a thousand pictures: your house will smell amazing all day!
Source: Adapted from Singapore Shiok and No Recipes

Taste: 5 (out of 5)
Difficulty: 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients:
- 1.5 lb sirloin steak, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 shallots
- 1/2 tsp ground chili pepper
- 1 stalk of lemongrass
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp chili sauce
Total: 4 servings

Directions:
1. Discard the outer leaves of the lemon grass, keep only the white part. Finely chop the lemongrass, the garlic and the shallots. Place in the food processor. Add the salt, coriander, turmeric, ginger, chili pepper and process until you have a smooth paste. You might need to scrub the sides a few times.
2. Preheat a frying pan on medium heat and saute the paste until fragrant (about 5 minutes), stirring frequently. Remove the paste in a bowl, do not wash the frying pan.
3. Add oil to the frying pan and in batches, not to overcrowd the pan, fry the meat until browned on all sides (about 3-4 mintues on each side). Remove the ready batches and keep in the same bowl with the paste.
4. Return the paste and the meat to the frying pan and add the coconut milk. Stir well, and let cook on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, until simmers. Add sugar, lemon juice and chili paste, stir, reduce the heat to low, cover with the lead and let cook for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so.
5. By the time the beef is ready the liquid will have almost completely evaporated. Serve with rice.

Afterthoughts:
- I love beef rendang, and this was probably the best one I've had. The beef was super tender and the sauce was amazing. And the house smells delicious for the rest of the day.
- The original recipes required some exotic vegetables that I could not find, like kaffir lime leaves and galangal, so I had to find substitutes. Also, I like my beef rendang very mild, so I significantly reduced the chili component, and increased the coconut milk. Also, I used a different cut of meat and smaller cubes, so I decreased cooking time.
- It is really challenging to grind lemongrass into a paste, because it's extremely fibrous. You might need to add water to your food processor, but even that might not necessarily help. The last time I made this stew I first chopped the lemongrass, then ground it in a meat / food grinder, then added water and processed in a blender. It was a very lengthy process but this was the first time I did not have lemongrass fibers in my food. I think next time I will prepare a large batch of lemongrass, and then make lemongrass paste cubes and freeze them for future use, similarly to roasted garlic cubes.

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Beef Stew from the Big Bowl of Love

An all-time favorite comfort food
Source
Slightly adapted from Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love


Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces (1800 cal)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (240 cal)
- 1/2 cup dry red wine (100 cal)
- 1 medium yellow onion (50 cal)
- 2 garlic cloves (10 cal)
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (110 cal)
- 1 cup chicken broth (10 cal)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 5 small new potatoes cut into eights (350 cal)
- 2 large Portobello mushrooms, cut into bite-size chunks (50 cal)
- 1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen (70 cal)
- 1/2 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen (80 cal)
- 2 small carrots cut into bite-size chunks (40 cal)
- salt
- pepper
Total 4 servings, 2910 cal, 730 cal / serving

Instructions
1. For this recipe you will need a Dutch oven or another pot with a lid that can be used both on the stovetop and in the oven.
2. Pat the beef dry with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat the Dutch oven on high heat for 2 minutes, until hot, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and the beef. Lower the heat to medium high and cook the beef for 2-3 minutes, turn the beef and cook for 5 more minutes. Add 1/4 cup of wine and cook for 5 more minutes until the meat sizzles. Transfer the beef to a bowl. Sprinkle the flour over the beef and toss to coat.
3. Add the second tablespoon of olive oil, the onions and a pinch of salt to the Dutch oven and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the onions become translucent. Add the garlic, stir and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining wine, the chicken broth, the bay leaf and the thyme, scrape the edges of the pan and bring the liquids to a simmer.
4. Add the meat back to the pot, and when it comes to the simmer again, cover the pot with the lid and place in an oven preheated to 375F. Cook for an hour.
5. After an hour, add the vegetables to the pot, you might need to add 1 more cup of water or broth. Taste and adjust the seasoning and place in the oven for 1 more hour to cook.

Afterthoughts
- I really loved this stew. The flavors are just great! Even veggies that I normally don’t like in stews like carrots and green peas, ended up delicious.
- The only “issue” was that some of the beef turned out a bit dry. Some was juicy and tender, but about half was a bit too dry. I don’t really know how to fix this in the future. Maybe I should add a bit more oil? Or marinate the beef before cooking? If you know the secret of unfailingly tender beef stew, please let me know :-).
- In May I won the Big Bowl of Love in a giveaway on the Chocolate Shavings blog, a beautiful blog that you MUST check out if you have not yet. I received the book right before I left on a short trip, and then I was on a detox and could not risk looking at tasty food, but now I finally got to this book. It’s really great, full of hearty comfort food recipes, with some useful tips for cooking and baking. I am so glad to have this book! Thanks so much, Jennifer, for the giveaway!

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Gumbowl - Gumbo in Bread Bowl

For May 2011 Daring Cooks challenge
Source Minimally adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh

Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) rendered chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil
- 1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) flour
- 2 large onions, diced
- 1 chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.), cut into 10 pieces
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) Basic Creole Spices (recipe follows), or store-bought Creole spice blend
- 2 pounds (2 kilograms) spicy smoked sausage, sliced ½ inch (15mm) thick
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 green bell peppers (capsicum), seeded and diced
- 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 3 quarts (3 liters) Basic Chicken Stock (recipe follows), or canned chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 ounces (175 gm) andouille sausage, chopped
- 2 cups (480 ml) (320 gm) (11 oz) sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch (15mm) thick slices (or frozen, if fresh is not available)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Filé powder, to taste
- Tabasco, to taste
- 4-6 cups (1 – 1½ liters) (650 gm – 950 gm) cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)
Total 10-12 servings

Inatructions
1. Prepare homemade chicken stock, if using (recipe below).
2. Prepare homemade Basic Creole Spices, if using (recipe below).
3. Season the chicken pieces with about 2 tablespoons of the Creole Spices while you prepare the vegetables.
4. Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning.
5. In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes.
6. Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.
7. Add the chicken to the pot; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
8. Add the sliced smoked sausage and stir for about a minute.
9. Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic, and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.
10. Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
11. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.
12. Add the chopped andouille, okra, and Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper, several dashes of filé powder, and Tabasco, all to taste.
13. Simmer for another 45 minutes, continuing to skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice. Pass more filé powder at the table if desired.

Afterthoughts
- This was certainly the most challenging challenge I've participated in: stirring the stew non-stop for at least an hour - wheeeeew.... I don't think I can knowingly do that to myself again - will just have to do without a home made gumbo. But I will certainly treasure every bite next time I go to New Orleans and order it :-).
- I've made a lot of changes to the orignial recipes, and the final result is not worth reproducing, so I posted here the recipe just as it appeared on the Daring Cooks site, not my version. I could not rank the taste of this recipe, because the thing I have tasted was very different :-).

Blog-checking lines: Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

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Pelmeni - Russian Dumplings with Meat and Cabbage

The Daring Cooks August ‘10 Challenge called them Pierogi, but I believe that the original Russian name is Pelmeni :-)

Source 

Adapted from August 2010 Daring Cooks Challenge by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen

Taste 3 (out of 5)

Difficulty 5 (out of 5)

Ingredients

For the dough
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp salt
-  3/4 cup lukewarm water

For the filling

- 250 g cooked meat, minced or cut very finely
- 100 g sour kraut, drained
- 1/2 onion, diced and fried

- 1 cloves garlic
- 1 medium egg
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp dry breadcrumbs
- salt and pepper

If frying the dumplings

- 3 tbsp canola oil

- 3 tsp butter

Total: 30 dumplings

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients for the filling (it’s best to use one’s hands to do that) put into the bowl, cover and set aside in the fridge until you have to use it.

2. Place 2 cups flour in a large bowl or on a work surface and make a well in the center. Break the egg into it, add the salt and a little lukewarm at a time (you might need from 1/2 to 1 cup water). Bring the dough together, kneading well and adding more flour or water as necessary. Cover the dough with a bowl or towel. You’re aiming for soft dough. Let it rest 20 minutes.

3. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out thinly (1/8” or about 3 millimeters) cut with a 2-inch (5 cm) round or glass (I used 4-inch/10 cm cutter and got around 30 of them and 1 full, heaped teaspoon of filling is perfect for that size). Spoon a portion (teaspoon will be the best) of the filling into the middle of each circle. Fold dough in half and pinch edges together. Gather scraps, re-roll and fill. Repeat with remaining dough.
4. Bring a large, low saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop in the pelmeni, not too many, only single layer in the pan! Return to the boil and reduce heat. When the pelmeni rise to the surface, continue to simmer a few minutes more ( usually about 5 minutes). Remove one dumpling with a slotted spoon and taste if ready. When satisfied, remove remaining pelmeni from the water.

5. Serve immediately preferably with sour cream or fry. Cold pelmeni can be fried.  Boiled Russian pelmeni can be easily frozen and boiled taken out straight from the freezer.

Afterthoughts

- I have to admit that dumplings are not one of my very favorite foods, and in addition it always seemed way too much work. So I was glad to see this challenge, because it without it I never would have tried making dumplings from scratch :-).

- Maybe my dough was too hard, but it was just extremely difficult to roll out and it kept shrinking. As a result I think it was too thick compared to the amount of filling I managed to squeeze in. The only good thing about my dough was that it did not stick to the surface and the pin even without the flour. 

- Frying the dumplings in butter certainly helped improve the taste, but added an extra 1/2 hour and quite a few calories. 

- Overall, I probably spent 5 hours on these 30 dumplings, which makes it 10 minutes per dumpling (kneading the dough, rolling the dough, filling the dumplings, boiling and frying in batches, preparing the filling). And 2 days later my wrists still hurt from all the rolling :-). And I think the best part is the filling, anyway, which is really quick and easy to make. So why not just meatballs, and save all the extra work and calories from the dough? 

Blog-checking lines 

The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling.

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Brunswick Stew

A great recipe for a cosy family meal when it’s cold outside (and my first Daring Cook challenge)

Source 

April 2010 The Daring Cook Challenge
Adapted from Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 1 sausage (130 cal)

- 1/2 tsp sambal oelek (very spicy East Asian chilly paste)

- 2 tbsp canola oil (240 cal)

- 400 g / 14 oz stewing beef, cubed (860 cal)

- 400 g / 14 oz skinless, boneless, chicken thighs, cubed (475 cal)

- 1/2 tbsp sea salt for seasoning

- 2 cups chicken broth (20 cal)

- 1 bay leaf

- 1 celery stock (10 cal)

- 450 g / 1 lb potatoes (350 cal)

- 2 medium carrots (25 cal)

- 1 large onion (65 cal)

- 1 cup frozen corn kernels (135 cal)

- 1 1/2 cups cooked beans (365 cal)

- 2 cups / 6-7 whole peeled tomatoes, drained (140 cal)

- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (5 cal)

- juice of 1 lemon

Total 2820, servings 6, 470 cal/ serving

Instructions

1. Very thinly slice the sausage. Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet to medium-high heat and add the sliced sausage with 1/2 teaspoon of sambal oelek. Fry until the sausage is well done. Transfer into a small bowl and set aside to cool. Reserve the oil in the pan. 

2. Season the chicken and the meat with salt and black pepper to taste and brown in the pan on high heat for up to 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken into a large bowl. 

3. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock to the frying pan to deglaze it and simmer until it reduces in half. In the meantime peel and dice the potato and chop the celery. Puree the sausage in a blender to a uniform paste. Add the sausage puree to the reduced stock, add one more cup of stock and mix well. 

4. Pour half of the hot broth in a slow cooker then place the meat, arrange the potatoes and the celery on top. Pour the remaining stock over the vegetables. Add a bay leaf, close the lead and cook on high for 3 1/2 hours.

5. In the meantime, chop the onion and cook with 1 tbsp of oil over low heat for about 30 minutes until caramelized. Stir occasionally. When the onion is ready you can either puree it in a blender or leave it as is.  Chop the tomatoes. 

6. After 3 1/2 hours, take out the bay leaf from the stew. Add the onions, the beans and the corn. Stir them well to evenly distribute them in the stew. Spread the carrots and the tomatoes on top and cook for 1 1/2 hours more. 

7. Remove from the heat and add the vinegar and the lemon juice. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce if desired.

Afterthoughts

- It turned out really good, but I think it would been ready much faster and would have been even softer and juicier without the slow cooker. 

- This was my first daring cook challenge, which I enjoyed a lot. So thanks to the Daring Kitchen for the forum, to Wolf for the recipe and to Audax Artifex for all the slow cooker tips.

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Slow Lamb Chops

Very simple slow cooked lamb chops in tomato sauce - all cooked in one pot. 10 minutes prep, 3 hours cooking, 315 calories eating.

Source 

Improvised

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 1 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 2 lamb chops - about 4 oz each including bone (400 cal)

- 1 tbsp canola oil (120 cal)

- 1/2 onion (30 cal)

- 1 garlic clove (5 cal)

- 2 cups chicken broth (20 cal)

- 1/4 cup white wine (35 cal)

- 2 tbsp tomato sauce (20 cal)

- 1 tbsp lemon juice

- bay leaf, sage leaf, thyme

- salt and pepper to taste

Total 630 cal, 2 servings, 315 cal/serving

Instructions

1. Preheat a small saucepan on medium-high heat. Pour a tablespoon of oil and when it’s warm (about half a minute) add the chops. Braise them on each side for about 3 minutes. 

2. In the meantime, process the onion with the garlic in a blender until a smooth paste forms. Mix the paste with the rest of the ingredients. Add this mixture to the saucepan with the lamb, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and let cook for 2-3 hours, until the lamb is very tender. 

3. Periodically stir and check that the sauce is still liquid. Add water if need be. At the end the sauce should be relatively thick, so don’t pour too much liquid. 

4. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes (in the picture).

Afterthoughts

- This is a really simple recipe: no marinading the lamb, everything is cooked in one pot, the sauce is prepared together with the meat... And it turned out pretty good, and very soft. 

- In the beginning I could feel a very strong bitter smell of onions, and I started regretting that I had not sauteed them first before pureeing, but there was no trace of this smell in the final product. 

- Most of the recipes ask to place the meat in the oven, but whenever I did that my meat turned out too dry. Stovetop worked much better for me so far. If you know secret tips on using the oven, I would certainly appreciate them :-)

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Gheimeh - a Persian Meat and Split Peas Stew

Source 

Used to be a great site with Persian recipes, but it’s gone :-( 

Taste 5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 3 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 750 grams stewing lamb or beef (1500 cal)

- 250 grams split-peas (850 cal)

- 3 medium onions (180 cal)

- 500 grams potatoes (465 cal)

- 1/2 cup of cooking oil (960 cal)

- 2-3 tbsp of tomato paste (20 cal)

- juice and zest from 2 lemons or 3-4 crushed dried limes (25 cal)

- 1/2 tbsp of turmeric

- 1/2 tbsp of paprika

- salt and pepper to taste

Total 4000 cal, 10 servings, 400 cal / serving

Instructions

1. Prior to cooking, soak split-peas in warm water for 2-3 hours, then drain out the water.

2. Peel and thinly slice onions, then fry in oil until golden. 

3. Wash and cut meat into small pieces and fry in onions until color changes. 

4. Add 3 glasses of water and bring to boil. Let boil slowly for 1-1.5 hours until mostly cooked, adding more water if needed.
5. Wash and cut the potatoes. Add potatoes, split-peas, salt, pepper, spices and tomato paste and continue boiling slowly until cooked. Add more water if needed during cooking.

6. If using dried limes, they should be added in with the other ingredients. If using juice, add in towards the end and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes. Adjust seasoning according to taste.

7. Serve with white rice. 

Afterthoughts

- Very good stew. This recipe is for a huge amount. You can freeze it in serving size portions or you can make half of the amount. 

- The stew should be liquid, almost like a sauce over the rice, so add more water as needed. 

- The rice in the picture is crispy, cooked with oil on low heat for about 40 minutes, until a hard layer is developed at the bottom of the rice, it’s called “tahdeeg” and I should post a separate recipe for that some time.

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Meat and Potato Gratin

Source

Bistro - French country recipes for home cooks by Laura Washburn with changes

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 4 (out of 5)

Ingredients

Beef layer

- 3 tbsp unsalted butter or 2 tbsp oil (240 cal)

- 2 onions chopped (120 cal)

- 2 garlic cloves (10 cal)

- 1 1/2 lb = 700 g ground beef, turkey, chicken or mix of the three (1820 cal - if using beef)

- 4 tbsp brandy or 1/2 cup of white wine (50 cal)

- handful of flat leafed parsley chopped

- spring of thyme leaves chopped

- 2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes or tomato paste (20 cal - if using tomato paste)

- 2 oz/ 3/4 cups freshly grated hard cheese, preferably Gruyere (240 cal)

- 1 cup corn kernels (120 cal) - optional

- salt and black pepper to taste

Puree layers

- 3 lb potatoes (1040 cal)

- 1 lb turnips (130 cal) - optional, can be substituted with 1 lb of potatoes

- 1 fresh bay leaf

- 1/2 cup of hot milk (65 cal)

- 2 tbsp unsalted butter cut into pieces (200 cal)

- salt to taste

Total 4055 calories, 8 servings, 505 cal / serving

Instructions

1. Put potatoes, turnips and bay leaf into a saucepan of cold water. Bring to a boil, cook until tender and drain.

2. Mash potatoes coarsely with a wooden spoon. Using an electronic mixer add milk, butter and salt, beating until the mixture is smooth. Mix the turnips with a little milk and salt in a separate bowl to have layers in different colors, or together with potatoes if you prefer one color.

3. Heat the butter in the skillet and add the onions. Cook over high heat for 3-5 minutes until brown. Add garlic and meat and cook until completely done. Add the wine (or the brandy) and cook until almost evaporated. Steer in the parsley, thyme leaves, tomato paste; taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

4. Spread half the potatoes in a 19’‘x13’’ greased baking dish, add the meat mixture and level with a spoon, place the corn on top of the meat, add the turnip layer, spread the remaining potatoes and sprinkle with cheese.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Afterthoughts

- The original recipe only called for 2 potato layer and 1 meat layer. I just try to make it a little more colorful. It turns out really good either way.

- Next time, to save some calories, I might substitute turnips for 1/2 the potatoes - and have the lower layer of turnips and the upper layer of potatoes. Should save about 30 calories per serving. - I used Mozzarella and Havarti cheeses on top instead of Gruyere, and liked both variations.

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Loobia Polo - Persian Green Bean Pilaf

Source

Improvised

Taste 4 (out of 5)

Difficulty 4 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 2 lb / 900 gr ground beef or lamb

- 2 lb / 900 gr green beans

- 1 large onion

- 2 tomatoes

- 3 tbsp tomato sauce

- 1 tbsp lemon juice

- 4 cups rice

- 1 tsp turmeric

- 4 tbsp canola oil

- salt and black pepper to taste

Total 6-8 servings

Instructions

1. Place the rice in a bowl, fill the bowl with warm water and gently wash with your fingers. The starch from rice will make the water white. Drain the rice and repeat 3-4 times until the water remains clear. Washing out the starch makes the rice less sticky, so that the grains remain separate after cooking. Fill the bowl with water, add about a teaspoon of salt and let stand, preferably for 3-4 hours, but can be less if you did not plan it ahead of time.

2. In a large pot, preheat 2 tbsp canola oil. Slice the onion and fry on low-medium heat until golden brown for about 10-15 minutes. Remove the onions from the pot, add the ground meat and saute on medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. In a separate medium sized pot boil water. Place the tomatoes in the boiling water for about 30 seconds to a minute. Remove the tomatoes and let cool or wash under cold water to speed up the cooling. Now it should be easy to peel to tomato skin with your fingers.

4. Now use the boiling water for the rice. Wash the rice one last time and add to the boiling water. Let boil for 5 minutes, at the end add the turmeric, stir until all the rice is equally yellow colored, remove from the stove top and drain.

5. In the meantime grind the onion and the peeled tomatoes in a blender. Add the resulting mixture to the meat. Cut the green beans in halves and also add to the pot. Stir in the tomato sauce, lemon juice, salt and pepper and let simmer for 15 more minutes.

6. Temporarily remove the meat into another dish. Do not wash the large pot. Add 2 tbsp of canola oil and let warm a little. Now spread a layer of rice at the bottom of the pot. Add a layer of meat. Continue building layers of rice and then meat until you have about 3 layers of each kind (6 layers total). Do not stir. With an end of a wooden spoon, create 3 holes across all the layers touching the bottom of the pan (to allow the steam to escape from the bottom). Cover the pot and place a paper towel right below the cover to absorb the vapors. Cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes without lifting the lid. This process will allow the rice to cook evenly and will generate a crispy rice layer at the bottom, called tah-deeg.

Afterthoughts

This is a nice warm dish, great for cold evenings. Once ready it’s easy to store and reheat for later use, since it’s a one pot dish. But cooking takes a while, so it’s much more fun if you have company.

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Meatballs with Zucchini

Source

Improvised

Taste 3.5 (out of 5)

Difficulty 2 (out of 5)

Ingredients

- 360 g of ground beef (936 cal)

- 130 g of onions (53 cal)

- 170 g of bread (400 cal)

- 110 g grated zucchini (18 cal)

- 2 garlic cloves (10 cal)

- 1/2 cup of milk (65 cal)

- 3 egg whites (45 cal)

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 1 teaspoon of salt black pepper

- 1/4 cup of combined chopped fresh parsley, mint, oregano, cilantro

Total 1526 calories, 11 meatballs, 138 cal / meatball

Instructions

1. Grind zucchini, chop the onions and the garlic and fry with a little oil until onions are lightly brown. Let cool a little and mix well in a blender.

2. Soak the bread in milk and mash it with hands.

3. Add all other ingredients and mix well.

4. Line a baking sheet with aluminum paper and grease it. With slightly wet hands form the meatballs (about 6x4x1.5 cm) and place them on the sheet.

5. Broil the meatballs (on medium rack) for 12 minutes, flip over and broil for another 10, flip again and broil for 6 minutes. Let cool on the tray.

Afterthoughts

- Turned out a little wet inside, maybe next time should add less milk or eggs.

- Next time can try broiling for 15 minutes on each side and flipping only once.

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