Monday, November 27, 2017

Irish Stew at the Rainbow House

We have cooked for this charity before but this is our first time flying as a solo family. Mackenzie signed us up for the Sunday after Thanksgiving and it came upon us in a flash. The last thing on my mind was cooking again after all that fuss a few days ago. I had started buying groceries a few weeks ago as the chuck was on sale and I had to save some money. Cooking for 45 can be pricey.
I started thinking about my Instant Pot and how this could help shave some kitchen time off the day and if I borrowed Mackenzie's, all the better.  I had 12 pounds of chuck roast that has to be fork tender.  Potatoes and carrots in mass that needs to be dealt with and a very large 10 gallon pot to cook in ( that won't fit in the fridge). Brenda was helping me contain the considerable mess I was making. Browning that much beef is a greasy mess but worth the tasty results.
I decided to stage the cooking, deconstructing the recipe and then assembling the finished parts. I can control all the variables this way and make sure each part adds up to a delicious whole. Seasoning along the way.




Job one...prepping everything. I started with onions on the stove top. Cooking them along with garlic and celery, adding flour and broth to make the base of the stew. Seasonings and umami flair to deepen the flavors and concentrate the base for later diluting. Then on to the meat prep. Cubing the 12 pounds of chuck then browning in a cast iron skillet and setting 6 pounds into each Instant Pot on a bed of mushrooms and 2 cups of water. 45 minutes with Natural Pressure Release.  Lastly was peeling 3 pounds of carrots and 7 pounds of russets. Brenda made a great Sous chef for me as my hands got weary of all the peeling. I used the Instant pot to cook those also but 4 minutes was too long and 3 minutes was too long. Not sure where to go with those in the future but they were softer than I cared for. They still were great in the final product though.

Guinness Irish Stew for 45

12 pounds of chuck roast, cubed into 2 inch pieces, trimmed of excess fat and gristle
3 tbl oil
1 cup red wine for deglazing pan
1 pound mushrooms, sliced, divided
4 cups of water, divided
5 large onions, chopped
1 garlic bulb minced
1 pound celery, chopped with leaves
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup flour
2 - 32 oz cartons of Chicken broth (I used low sodium)  I used 4 total
2 tbls dried thyme
1 tbls dried Rosemary
3 bay leaves
2 tbls salt
1 tbls pepper
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
2 tbls Better Than Bullion, Roast Beef flavor.
1 small can tomato paste
Kitchen Bouquet
3 cans of Guinness beer
3 pounds of carrots, peeled and 1 inch chunks.
7 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and uniformly cut.

I browned the beef in batches and added them to a 8 ounce bed of mushrooms in each pot.
I added about 2 cups of water to each pot and processed them for 45 minutes with a natural pressure release.
I used an 8 quart stock pot to sauté the onions in oil, adding the garlic and celery as they cooked. The dried herbs went in then the flour. After cooking for a few minutes, I added 2 cartons of the broth and a bit of Kitchen Bouquet to color the sauce a bit. I added the Soy sauce and fish sauce.
After setting aside the beef, I skimmed the broth, reserved the fat, and added the broth and cooked mushrooms to the stock pot. Add the beer, tomato paste and stir, allowing it to cook a bit. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The pot should be full now.
I checked the overall texture for a nice body but I can adjust the thickness of the gravy latter in the second part assembly.  Everything in the fridge until the main event.

The day of the event, I broke out the 10 gallon pot. I had the reserve fat I skimmed the beef broth from the IP and added the fat from the cooled base stock. I had about 1 cup of fat that went into the large pot. After heating up the fat,  I added an additional cup of flour, cooked for several minutes then added 2 more cartons of chicken stock. This thickened up after coming to a boil then I added the contents of the stock pot and adjusted the seasoning. The texture was perfect, like a thin gravy.  To this I added the picked over beef, removing any excess fat and objectionable content. Then the cooked carrots and potatoes. A good stir and we packed up for the Rainbow House.

We served the fine folks at the Rainbow House from crock pots, to keep everything warm with a nice side salad and French baguettes. It was warm and inviting and the staff remembered the stew fondly  from March when we had made it for St. Patrick's day. Mackenzie made some great brownies (especially the salted caramel ones).




Monday, November 20, 2017

Pear Spice Cake with Pecan Praline topping

I was looking for this recipe to share with my sister and I am not sure I ever posted it. The perfect fall/ Thanksgiving dessert.

Ingredients

    • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
    • 1 box spice cake mix (1 pound 2.25 ounces)
    • 3/4 cup canned pear nectar
    • 3 large eggs
    • 2 tablespoons mild-flavored (light) molasses
    • 1/2 cup minced crystallized ginger
    • 2 pears, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
    • 3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
    • 1/4 cup whipping cream
    • 1 1/3 cups pecan halves, toasted

Preparation

    1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Stir 1/2 cup butter in small saucepan over medium heat until melted and brown, about 3 minutes. Pour into large bowl. Add spice cake mix, canned pear nectar, eggs, molasses and crystallized ginger. Using electric mixer, beat batter 2 minutes. Fold in pears. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until cake is dark brown and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour 10 minutes.
    2. Cool cake in pan on rack 15 minutes. Run knife between pan sides and cake to loosen. Release pan sides. Place cake on platter.
    3. Stir golden brown sugar, whipping cream and remaining 1/2 cup butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat until smooth. Boil 3 minutes, stirring often. Stir in pecan halves. Spoon warm topping over warm cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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