Cast Iron Skillet: Steak and Guinness Pie

Earlier this month I won a cookbook:  Cast Iron Skillet Big Flavors by Sharon Kramis and Julie Kramis Hearne (thanks TNT Diner).  I'm pretty excited about this cookbook since I have a cast iron skillet and am always looking for recipes specifically for them.

The book has the usual section about pantry staples, and I was pleased to see a section covering how to care for your cast iron.  The recipes seem easy to follow and sound delicious.

For my first recipe I tried the Steak and Guinness Pie.  I think it was a stretch calling this dish a pie -- it's really a stew with a puff pastry top -- but it was tasty.  I cut the carrots and onions a little too fine and they practically dissolved into the sauce (next time I'll cut them chunkier), and I used crimini mushrooms instead of button.  So, did I like the dish?  Yes, but it was a little too rich for me.  Next time I think I'll cut the butter and oil by a third -- maybe even by half.   


Steak and Guinness Pie
Cast Iron Skillet Big Flavors
Yield:  Six servings


1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp water
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck or beef brisket cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 cup button mushrooms, cleaned and cut into 1/2 inch slices (I used crimini)
1 medium onions, coarsely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 cup beef broth
1 cup Guinness stout
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425F.

Take the puff pastry from the freezer and allow to lightly thaw (to not quite room temperature).

Gently roll out the puff pastry to smooth any creases.  Combine the egg and water in a small bowl.  Place the puff pastry on a baking sheet and brush with the egg wash.  Bake on the middle rack until the puff pastry is golden brown, about 25 minutes.  Cut the puff pastry into 4x4 inch squares and set aside.

Lower the oven temperature to 325F.

In a shallow dish, combine the flour, salt, and pepper.  Add half of the beef cubes and dust with the flour. Shake off any excess flour.  Add 1 tbsp each of the olive oil and the butter to a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Once hot, add half of the beef cubes, being sure not to crowd the pan.  Cook until the meat starts to brown, about 3 minutes.  Using tongs, turn the meat and cool for 3 minutes more.  Transfer to a platter and repeat with another 1 tbsp each of the olive oil and the butter to cook the remaining meat.  Transfer to the platter.

In the same pan, add another 1 tbsp each of the olive oil and the butter and cook the mushrooms until they start to brown and release liquid.  Transfer to a small bowl and reserve.  Add the remaining olive oil and butter to the skillet, and cook the onion, carrots, and celery until the onions become translucent.  Return the mushrooms to the skillet.  Add the garlic, thyme, and oregano, and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the beef broth, Guinness, and Worcestershire sauce and stir.  Add the beef cubes and gently mix in, coating well with the onion-mushroom mixture.  Cover tightly with foil and/or a lid and place in the oven for 2 hours.  remove from the oven and season with salt and pepper.

Serve the stew in warmed bowls, each sprinkled with cheese and topped with a puff pastry square.

Beef Mushroom and Onion Tart

I love to skim through magazines to find new recipes  When I find one that looks good I save it -- or rather I save the entire magazine which is how I ended up with a huge bundle that stacked up three feet high!

Tonight's dinner is a recipe I found in Better Homes and Gardens (3/10).  With the weather getting grayer and cooler I was looking for a hot and hearty meal.  Really delicious and easy to make -- I served it with some garlicky sauteed spinach.

Beef, Mushroom, and Onion Tart
Yield:  4 servings

12 oz. lean ground beef
8 oz package sliced mushrooms (I used baby portabellos)
1/2 medium red onion, cut in thin wedges
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
13.8 oz package refrigerated pizza dough
3 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
Fresh Oregano and/or pizza seasoning (optional)

     Preheat Oven to 425F.  In a 12" skillet cook beef, mushrooms, and onion over medium heat until beef is browned and onion is tender, stirring occasionally.  Drain off fat.  Stir in salt and pepper.
     Meanwhile, grease a large baking sheet or line with parchment.  Unroll pizza dough on baking sheet.  Roll or pat dough to a 15x12 inch rectangle.  Top dough with beef mixture, keeping filling within 1 1/2 inches of all edges.  Fold edges over the filling, pleating as needed.
     Bake tart 15 minutes or until crust is golden.  Top with blue cheese, oregano, and pizza seasoning.

Changes/Substitutions:   I cooked the ground beef with some oregano, 3 thinly sliced garlic cloves, red onion wedges, and salt/pepper to taste.  I removed the beef mixture, reserving the cooking liquids which I used to cook the mushrooms (I really hate an overloaded skillet).  I didn't have any blue cheese on-hand so I sprinkled a handful of shredded Parmesan before I put it in the oven (delicious!) and I made my own pizza dough -- really easy to do, and tastes so much better.  (You can find the recipe here.)  I didn't roll my dough out to a rectangle -- just tossed it into a round and baked on my greased air bake sheet.

I need a snack!

I was craving a salty snack, and as luck would have it my house has been purged of any kind of salty treat.  That's right -- you'll not find one potato chip, corn chip, salted peanut, or kernel of popcorn for me to eat.  So I decided to make some kale chips.  Paul and Kevin thought I was delusional when I went outside, plucked some kale leaves, and began my preparation.

Making kale chips is super easy, but you have to start with a big bunch to end up with just a few servings.  I used about 20 leaves, and divvied it up into three servings (honestly I could eat the whole batch by myself).  

First you need to preheat the oven to 275.  Then wash the leaves and remove the stems.  Cut leaves into smaller pieces (not too small -- about 2").

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil (maybe 1 tbsp) and give the kale a good toss.  Gently massage the leaves to make sure they get a even coating.  Sprinkle with sea salt and spread a single layer on baking sheet (I had to use two baking sheets).

Bake ten minutes, and carefully "fluff" the kale so it crisps nicely (and doesn't stick to the sheet).  Return to the oven for another ten minutes, and voila!  Okay, maybe it's not the prettiest snack but very tasty with some serious crunch!  Delicious!

Now what to do with all those beets in my garden?

Oh, the things you do for family!

 I have something shocking to confess.  Maybe you should sit down.  Okay, here it is:  I am not a big fan of desserts.  [insert gasp here]  Of course if you put a piece of cake, slice of pie, or a scoop of ice cream in front of me I'll wolf it down like everyone else 'cause I'm a hypocr-, er, I mean polite person.

So while Stephanie is visiting me she asked if we could make something sweet -- a reasonable request to which her reasonable aunt agreed.  Now what to make?  Well last year when she visited we baked a cake (a vegan chocolate cake -- yum!) so this year we decided to bake pies.  Stephanie has fond memories of tasting a bite of strawberry rhubarb pie so she asked if we could make that.  Of course as fate would have it guess what I hate more than anything else in this world?  You got it -- rhubarb!  Oh, the things you do for family!

I am convinced the only reason people say they like rhubarb is because it's prepared with a ton of sugar.  Case in point:  we also made a peach raspberry pie (just to shut me up about the rhubarb) and it called for HALF the amount of sugar for the recipe.  Okay.  Just saying.

We used the rhubarb from our garden (Paul loves rhubarb.  I know, right?), and bought local strawberries, raspberries, and peaches from Tacoma Boys.  We used two recipes I found online, and the pies went together easily and quickly, probably because I used prepared dough.  That's right.  I feel no shame in admitting that I totally suck at pie dough preparation so I use the kind that comes rolled up in a box.

The pies looked beautiful, and tasted great.  Of course I can only vouch for the peach raspberry pie because the other had, well you know.  Paul said they both tasted great but his favorite was the strawberry rhubarb, and Stephanie?  Well her favorite was the peach raspberry.  I love that girl!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (from Cooks.com):  The pie was pretty runny, but Paul said it was delicious.
 http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1837,153188-255201,00.html

Peach Rasberry Pie (from Allrecipes.com):  The pie had peaches and raspberries!  Do I really need to say more?
 http://allrecipes.com/recipe/peach-a-berry-pie/detail.aspx

Stephanie Comes To Visit

My niece Stephanie will be staying with us this week.  I try to plan enough activities so she doesn't get bored, and our number one favorite thing to do cook!  Last year I gave her a notebook to write down the recipes of dishes we prepared, and she'll be able to add several dishes from this visit.  I also bought her a cookbook from the editors of Eating Well:  Comfort Foods Made Healthy which gives a healthy makeover to many comfort food dishes such as Sloppy Joes and Chicken Pot Pie as well as appetizers, soups, sauces, and side dishes.

Tonight we made Chicken Divan.  Now this is the first time I've tried the dish so I have no idea how Eating Well's version compares to the original recipe, but I do know that everyone thought tonight's version was delicious!  

We served the Chicken Divan over egg noodles, and used fresh broccoli instead of frozen.  We substituted vegetable stock for chicken, and chicken tenders instead of chicken breast.  I didn't see the need to dirty two skillets so we cut the tenders into bite sized pieces and cooked them with a little olive oil, and transferred the cooked chicken to a plate while we made the broccoli sauce.  

Chicken Divan
EatingWell Comfort Foods Made Healthy: The Classic Makeover Cookbook (EatingWell)

Serves six

1 1/2 pounds bones, skinless chicken breast

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cups diced leek, white and light green parts only (about 1 large)

1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp all purpose flour

1 14 ounce can reduced sodium chicken broth

1 cup low-fat milk

2 tbsp dry sherry

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

2 10 ounce boxes frozen chopped broccoli, thawed, or 1 pound broccoli crowns chopped.

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1/4 cup low fat mayonnaise

2 tsp Dijon mustard

     Preheat oven to 375.  Coat a 7"x11" (2 quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.

     Place chicken in a medium skillet or saucepan and add water to cover.  Bring to a simmer over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center, 10 to 12 minutes.  Drain and slice into bite size pieces.

     Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add leek and salt and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 3 to 4 minutes.    Add flour; stir to coat.  Add broth, milk, sherry, thyme and pepper and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.  Add broccoli; return to a simmer.  Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan, mayonnaise and mustard.

     Spread half the broccoli mixture in the prepared baking dish.  Top with the chicken, then the remaining broccoli mixture.  Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan.  Bake until bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.  Let cook for 10 minutes before serving. 

Nutritional information per serving (w/o pasta):  308 calories; 10g fat (4g sat, 4g mono); 76mg cholesterol; 20g carbohydrate; 35g protein; 4g fiber; 712mg sodium; 401mg potassium.

Nutritional bonus:  Vitamin C 70% daily value, Vitamin A 35% daily value, Calcium 30% daily value, Folate 19% daily value. 

Farfalle with Spicy Broccoli

Of course the day after I post a note saying I'll be away for a while I get this amazing cookbook, A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, and find a great recipe for Orecchiette with Spicy Broccoli (I didn't have any Orecchiette so I'm substituting with Farfalle).  I mean, I have to start cooking sometime, right?

One of the neat things about Calorie Count is that I can create recipes.  This feature helps me figure out the nutrient content of my recipes -- pretty cool.  So after entering in the information for this dish I see that it's 434 calories a serving, provides 32% of my daily requirement of carbohydrates, and 28% of my dietary fiber -- based on a 2,000 calorie diet. I think I'll start adding this info at the bottom of each recipe.

I liked the dish but I did have to add one thing to my serving-- 2 teaspoons of shredded Parmesan cheese!  Pasta without Parmesan is just a travesty (in my humble opinion).  The recipe suggests adding some capers, olives, or lemon zest for variety which all sound good, but I think next time I make it I'll add some roasted red peppers.  I've changed the nutritional information listed below to include the added cheese.

Farfalle with Spicy Broccoli
A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen
Yield:  4 Main Course Servings

1 1/2 pound broccoli
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp hot red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/2 cup water
Kosher salt
1 pound Farfalle

     Follow directions of packaging to prepare pasta, and reserve 1 cup of the cooking water when draining the pasta.
     Separate the broccoli florets from the stalk.  Remove woody end from stalk, and peel.  Cut the stalk in half lengthwise, and then again into small bite-sized pieces.  If necessary separate the florets into smaller segments.
     Heat the oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook until the garlic is golden, about 2 minutes.  Add the broccoli and stir to coat well with the oil.  Cook until the broccoli is well seasoned, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the water, cover the pan, reduce the heat, and steam until the broccoli is tender, about 4 minutes.  If the broccoli is not tender and the pan runs dry add a few tablespoons more water and throw the cover back on.  Adjust the seasonings, adding salt and pepper flakes to taste.
     Toss the pasta with the broccoli and 1/4 cup of the cooking water.  Add more water as needed to moisten the pasta and serve immediately.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:
Calories: 43
Total Fat: 16.4 grams
     Saturated Fat: 2.1
Cholesterol: 1 gram
Sodium: 70 grams
Total Carbohydrates:  96.8 grams
     Dietary Fiber:  7 grams
     Sugars: 5.4 grams
Protein: 19.4 grams
Vitamin A: 21%
Vitamin C: 255%
Calcium: 10%
Iron: 10%

A Hiatus, if you will...

So I'm taking a break from cooking from books.  I'm starting a program to track my food to help me lose some weight (I've posted a long explanation here).  After a few weeks to get used to my new food requirements I can hopefully incorporate my diet into my love of trying new recipes.

I'll keep you posted!