Irish Stew

In preparation for St. Patrick's Day we had some "Irish Stew".  I didn't follow the recipe exactly, as Giant Eagle didn't have "lamb stew meat" and "pork stew meat."  I actually bought what they had labeled as "Pork and veal for city chicken", took it off the skewers and cut each big cube into two or three pieces.  Two pounds seemed like a ton of meat, but actually was very well proportioned once everything was put together.  The only other thing I changed from the original recipe was to use bullion cubes instead of a can of beef broth.  

This recipe marks my first time buying, cooking, and eating parsnips and a turnip.  It's kinda funny going to a grocery store and looking very closely at the labels trying to figure out what the heck a parsnip looks like.  To all you turnip and parsnip skeptics out there, I purposely dug some out of the cooked stew to see what they taste like.  Pretty much nothing.  They taste like a vegetable in a stew.  Who knows, maybe they contributed a ton of yummy, or maybe none - just added a root veggie to my dinner.

Enjoy your Saint Patrick's Day with some Irish Stew!

Irish Stew

(makes about 8 servings)

• 2 T olive oil

• 1 small sweet onion, diced

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

• 1 T dried Italian seasoning

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• 2 lb. pork and/or lamb stew meat

• 1 (14.5 oz) can beef broth

• 3 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• 1 medium turnip, peeled, quartered, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 medium sweet onion, cut into large chunks

• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• 1 can beer (12 oz)

• 8 small red potatoes, quartered

• 2 T cornstarch

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Place diced onion in skillet and season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.  Mix in garlic.  Cook and stir until tender.  Mix in meat and cook until brown.  Reduce heat to low and pour in beef broth.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes.  

2. Transfer the skillet mixture to a large pot.  Mix in the carrots, turnip, parsnips, peppers, remaining onion, and celery.  Pour in the beer.  Cover and cook for 2 hour over low heat.

3. Remove 1/2 cup stew liquid.  Stir potatoes into pot and continue cooking for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  About 15 minutes before serving mix cornstarch into the reserved liquid.  Stir into the stew to thicken.  

Enjoy!

A leprechaun stopped by and liked it so much he left us this....

Source: Allrecipes.com - Irish Stew, My Way by CLWEST47

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/irish-stew-my-way/detail.aspx

Beef, Mushroom, and Noodle Soup

This soup was surprisingly good.  I think it's because I rarely eat soup like this.  Maybe if I ate soup like this more often it wouldn't have been as exciting for me.  I definitely recommend it.  It's kind of like a beef stroganoff in a soup form.

I think the only thing that I changed in this recipe was to add extra noodles.  I added 3 cups of uncooked noodles instead of the 2 cups of uncooked noodles the recipe called for.  We liked it like this, but if you'd rather have more broth, 2 cups might be better for you.  Oh, also, my cheap beef broth substitution of bullion cubes.

Also, if you prefer, drain off the fat after cooking the meat.  I was afraid of losing flavor, so I didn't, but it would probably look a little better.

Beef, Mushroom, and Noodle Soup
• 2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1/2 cup)
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
• 1 8 oz. package sliced fresh mushrooms (3 cups)
• 1 1/2 lb. beef boneless top sirloin steak, cut into bit sized pieces
• 6 c. beef flavored broth
• 1/2 cup dry sherry or beef flavored broth
• 1/4 c. ketchup
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups uncooked egg noodles
• 8 oz. sour cream

In a 5 to 6 quart dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat.  Add onion, garlic, and mushrooms.  Cook 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are cooked.

Stir in beef.  Cook 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until beef is no longer pink.

Stir in remaining ingredients except noodles and sour cream.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to med-low.  Cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the noodles.  Cover and cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender.

Stir in sour cream.  Cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until well blended.

Source: Carrie's Sweet Life

Broccoli Cheese Soup

It's quite possible I ate half the bowl before I took this picture.

I really really like broccoli cheese soup.  I made it in a crockpot a while ago and it wasn't creamy, so it wasn't that great.  To make sure this was better, I consulted a number of recipes.  And also... I added as much cheddar cheese as I had.  And I probably would have added more if I had it to add!  This is the recipe, just as I did it, and it was very good... but like I said, we like cheese here... it can never hurt to add more!  And I added the cheddar cheese soup to get some extra cheese flavor... I might next time just add more cheese and a tad more milk.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup:
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 lb. broccoli (I used a frozen bag)
2 chicken bullion cubes
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
1 can Campbell's cheddar cheese soup
4 oz. Velveeta
3/4 cup cheddar cheese


Directions:
Begin by putting water and broccoli into a large pot and cooking on medium until broccoli is soft.

While broccoli is cooking, melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a small pot.  Add flour and whisk for about 2 minutes. Whisk in milk and cheddar cheese soup.  Cook until soup is dissolved.  Cut Velveeta into small pieces and add 4 oz. Velveeta and 3/4 cup cheddar cheese to the small pot.  Stir until completely melted.

Bring your large pot to a boil and add bullion cubes.  Stir until they are dissolved.  Then get a potato masher and mash up your broccoli until it looks like a weird green mess, like this.

You can decide how much you want your broccoli mashed and how big of broccoli pieces you like in your soup.  Pour the cheese mixture into the large pot and stir until it looks uniform.  Add 1/2 tsp. onion powder and 1/2 tsp. garlic salt.  Let simmer at least 10 minutes before serving.

Sources: ideas from The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen blog, Annie's eats, and Campbell's Kitchen shared recipes