Showing posts with label tomatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tomatoes. Show all posts
Redoing Stew
1/24/10: Beef and Butternut Squash Stew with Fluffy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Meal details: For the main course I made a bright colored stew using round steak and butternut squash. And for a side, I made a special type of mashed potatoes using heavy cream and roasted garlic.
Defining moments: The first thing that pops into my mind is the cut of meat. My Papa, an old hand at choosing cuts of meat, chose a round steak for the stew. The steak was pretty darn big and it is probably the largest piece of meat I ever wielded. But I wielded it, and that is a good thing. Another significant part of this meal for me was the use of sun-dried tomatoes. I never used nor tasted them before. It's always very interesting to try out something new.
Recipe sources: The beef and butternut stew is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, the host of Everyday Italian and Giada at Home, both which air on the Food Network Channel. The mashed potato recipe is a George Duran creation. George Duran is the host of Ham on the Street (a show that comes on Food Network sometimes, but I believe it has been canceled), and now is the new host of the Ultimate Cake Challenge on TLC. I chose these two recipes because I am part of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the I Blame My Mother blog. Learn more about this challenge here.
What I learned: I learned that my Papa has had bad results with stew beef before so I needed a different cut of meat. When he was at the store he chose a round steak which is a lean cut of meat that comes from the thigh of the cow. Since it is lean it needs to be stewed or cooked in some sort of liquid (braising will work here) for a long time to make the meat more tender. So as you can see this cut works will with this technique!
I didn't want to cut the whole piece of meat when it was raw (mainly because we don't have a large cutting board specifically for meat), so I roasted it for about 25 minutes in a 375F oven. I was then able to cut it into 1"cubes with no fuss or mess.
About the mashed potatoes. I learned from Annemarie that beating the potatoes with an electric beater for a few minutes really makes them fluffy, especially with this particular recipe since it has heavy whipping cream.
Any modifications? Yes, I made some to the stew recipe. I used round steak instead of stew beef and I cut them into 1"cubes instead of 2"(easier to chew). I also prepared the meat in a different way and I used one acorn squash instead of butternut.
How it tasted? I am very happy to say that the stew was enjoyed! Stew doesn't have a great reputation around here. The stew had a muted orange color--much different from your typical dark and gloomy broth--and the beef was tender and flavorful. The addition of squash, wine, and tomatoes was the key to making this stew great. The squash was soft and it soaked up all the goodness of the broth and the tomatoes were like little pockets of flavor.
The mashed potatoes was also very good. I kept on the skins so they weren't totally smooth (we like it that way), but the cream really made it fluffy. I roasted the garlic in the oven and added it to the potatoes but I didn't detect much garlic flavor. Roasted garlic is mellow so I'm guessing I needed to use more; maybe 3 heads for 2 times the recipe?
How about a 2nd time? Yes, I would do both recipes again.
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Meal details: For the main course I made a bright colored stew using round steak and butternut squash. And for a side, I made a special type of mashed potatoes using heavy cream and roasted garlic.
Defining moments: The first thing that pops into my mind is the cut of meat. My Papa, an old hand at choosing cuts of meat, chose a round steak for the stew. The steak was pretty darn big and it is probably the largest piece of meat I ever wielded. But I wielded it, and that is a good thing. Another significant part of this meal for me was the use of sun-dried tomatoes. I never used nor tasted them before. It's always very interesting to try out something new.
Recipe sources: The beef and butternut stew is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, the host of Everyday Italian and Giada at Home, both which air on the Food Network Channel. The mashed potato recipe is a George Duran creation. George Duran is the host of Ham on the Street (a show that comes on Food Network sometimes, but I believe it has been canceled), and now is the new host of the Ultimate Cake Challenge on TLC. I chose these two recipes because I am part of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the I Blame My Mother blog. Learn more about this challenge here.
What I learned: I learned that my Papa has had bad results with stew beef before so I needed a different cut of meat. When he was at the store he chose a round steak which is a lean cut of meat that comes from the thigh of the cow. Since it is lean it needs to be stewed or cooked in some sort of liquid (braising will work here) for a long time to make the meat more tender. So as you can see this cut works will with this technique!
I didn't want to cut the whole piece of meat when it was raw (mainly because we don't have a large cutting board specifically for meat), so I roasted it for about 25 minutes in a 375F oven. I was then able to cut it into 1"cubes with no fuss or mess.
About the mashed potatoes. I learned from Annemarie that beating the potatoes with an electric beater for a few minutes really makes them fluffy, especially with this particular recipe since it has heavy whipping cream.
Any modifications? Yes, I made some to the stew recipe. I used round steak instead of stew beef and I cut them into 1"cubes instead of 2"(easier to chew). I also prepared the meat in a different way and I used one acorn squash instead of butternut.
How it tasted? I am very happy to say that the stew was enjoyed! Stew doesn't have a great reputation around here. The stew had a muted orange color--much different from your typical dark and gloomy broth--and the beef was tender and flavorful. The addition of squash, wine, and tomatoes was the key to making this stew great. The squash was soft and it soaked up all the goodness of the broth and the tomatoes were like little pockets of flavor.
The mashed potatoes was also very good. I kept on the skins so they weren't totally smooth (we like it that way), but the cream really made it fluffy. I roasted the garlic in the oven and added it to the potatoes but I didn't detect much garlic flavor. Roasted garlic is mellow so I'm guessing I needed to use more; maybe 3 heads for 2 times the recipe?
How about a 2nd time? Yes, I would do both recipes again.
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Freezing Tomato Soup
10/06/09: Freezing Tomato Soup
The tomato soup that was made last Sunday was so well liked that my family wanted some frozen so we can enjoy it during the winter months; along with Alton Brown's biscuits of course! I made a very large batch using our stainless steel stock pot--you should have seen the amount of roux I had to make! I used the exact same recipe from the Sunday before but I had to times it by 9.
When everything was done I managed to make 13 quarts of tomato soup.
The tomato soup that was made last Sunday was so well liked that my family wanted some frozen so we can enjoy it during the winter months; along with Alton Brown's biscuits of course! I made a very large batch using our stainless steel stock pot--you should have seen the amount of roux I had to make! I used the exact same recipe from the Sunday before but I had to times it by 9.
When everything was done I managed to make 13 quarts of tomato soup.
Not a Can Opener in Sight
10/04/09: Homemade Tomato Soup with Southern Biscuits
Meal Details: For the main course I made homemade tomato soup and for a side I made southern biscuits. I thought we absolutely needed something for dunking, that's how the biscuits came into the picture!
Defining moments: I made biscuits. Wow! They seem like such an everyday sort of thing, but I feel that baking these biscuits was a monumental achievement! I heard about so many black bottom biscuits before, maybe that was why I was scared to death about trying them out.
Recipe sources: The tomato soup recipe came from allrecipes.com and can be viewed here. The biscuit recipe is from the cooking show Good Eats and was specifically chosen because I am part of the Food Network Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. Learn more about this fun challenge by visiting this page. You can view the recipe here. And the YouTube video of the original show here.
What I learned: Let me first discuss the tomato soup. At first I was planning on using Roma tomatoes because I thought their meatiness would make for a velvety soup, but I went with the regular slicing instead. I'm glad I did because I later realized that the soup benefits from all the tomato juice and velvety texture is achieved by way of the roux.
Now on to the biscuits! For those who would like to try out Alton Brown's recipe I highly recommend that you look at both the recipe and the YouTube video, because Alton and his grandmother give very helpful tips in the video that are not included in the written format. The following tips are very important: 1) use 1/2 all-purpose flour and 1/2 cake flour, 2) touch the top of each cut-out-biscuit with your finger to prevent the biscuit from forming a dome while baking, 3) preheat oven to 450 degrees F, not 400 like the recipe states, and 4) have the biscuits touch each other when you place them on the baking sheet, but don't have them too close.
And my tips for the biscuits is such: bake them on the Baker's Secret cookie sheet, the biscuits bake splendidly on it. I tried my first batch in a 13x9 Pyrex pan and they didn't rise as high as those on the Baker's Secret.
I don't know if there is any truth behind it but I think if I let the dough sit for a couple minutes (like 10) I think I will get higher biscuits. I say this because when my first batch was baking in the oven I left my dough sit on the counter for that amount of time. So when the second batch came out of the oven they were twice as high as my first. I will have to test my theory when I bake these again.
Any modifications? Actually, no. Quite amazing for me!
How it tasted? Both were exceptional. My whole family said that the soup is better than Campbell's. That's definitely good to hear. And the biscuits were tender, moist, and delicious. I don't quite remember having biscuits before (yeah, weird huh?) so I don't have anything to compare to. But Annemarie said that they were the best biscuits she has ever had. I'm blushing now.
How about a 2nd time? Yes, for both.
Mmm Mmm Good!
Sorry had to do it!
Meal Details: For the main course I made homemade tomato soup and for a side I made southern biscuits. I thought we absolutely needed something for dunking, that's how the biscuits came into the picture!
Defining moments: I made biscuits. Wow! They seem like such an everyday sort of thing, but I feel that baking these biscuits was a monumental achievement! I heard about so many black bottom biscuits before, maybe that was why I was scared to death about trying them out.
Recipe sources: The tomato soup recipe came from allrecipes.com and can be viewed here. The biscuit recipe is from the cooking show Good Eats and was specifically chosen because I am part of the Food Network Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. Learn more about this fun challenge by visiting this page. You can view the recipe here. And the YouTube video of the original show here.
What I learned: Let me first discuss the tomato soup. At first I was planning on using Roma tomatoes because I thought their meatiness would make for a velvety soup, but I went with the regular slicing instead. I'm glad I did because I later realized that the soup benefits from all the tomato juice and velvety texture is achieved by way of the roux.
Now on to the biscuits! For those who would like to try out Alton Brown's recipe I highly recommend that you look at both the recipe and the YouTube video, because Alton and his grandmother give very helpful tips in the video that are not included in the written format. The following tips are very important: 1) use 1/2 all-purpose flour and 1/2 cake flour, 2) touch the top of each cut-out-biscuit with your finger to prevent the biscuit from forming a dome while baking, 3) preheat oven to 450 degrees F, not 400 like the recipe states, and 4) have the biscuits touch each other when you place them on the baking sheet, but don't have them too close.
And my tips for the biscuits is such: bake them on the Baker's Secret cookie sheet, the biscuits bake splendidly on it. I tried my first batch in a 13x9 Pyrex pan and they didn't rise as high as those on the Baker's Secret.
I don't know if there is any truth behind it but I think if I let the dough sit for a couple minutes (like 10) I think I will get higher biscuits. I say this because when my first batch was baking in the oven I left my dough sit on the counter for that amount of time. So when the second batch came out of the oven they were twice as high as my first. I will have to test my theory when I bake these again.
Any modifications? Actually, no. Quite amazing for me!
How it tasted? Both were exceptional. My whole family said that the soup is better than Campbell's. That's definitely good to hear. And the biscuits were tender, moist, and delicious. I don't quite remember having biscuits before (yeah, weird huh?) so I don't have anything to compare to. But Annemarie said that they were the best biscuits she has ever had. I'm blushing now.
How about a 2nd time? Yes, for both.
Mmm Mmm Good!
Sorry had to do it!
Ah, the Love Apple Once Again!
9/28/09: Canning and Freezing Tomato Puree
On the Monday after I made my torte my family and I did our final batch of tomato puree using the Squeezo machine. See my previous post to learn more about how we make puree. After the puree had simmered for a couple hours it was time to can. Instead of using the hot water bath method we decided to go with pressure canning because it is faster. It takes only 10 minutes at 10 pounds. Here are some detailed facts for myself so the next pressure canning job will be quick and easy:
1. Check pressure gauge on green canner for any defects before starting. Add about 1 1/2" of water to the canner, insert rubber gasket in lid, make sure safety valve is correctly positioned, place lid on canner, and seal. (Tip: look at arrow on edge of lid for easy placement.) When canner is sealed, put the 1-piece pressure regulator on vent pipe. Wait until dial gauge reads 10 pounds (which usually takes five minutes), turn off heat and wait until arrow goes down to zero. If arrow doesn't reach this point I have to replace the gauge.
2. The jars do not have to be piping hot when being filled.
3. When filling jars, leave about 1 1/2" head space. I did the first batch with 1" head space and some overflowed. They sealed, though.
4. To maintain it at 10 pounds, I hovered around 200 and 300 degrees F.
5. It takes about 20 minutes to do one batch: five minutes to reach 10 pounds, 10 minutes at 10 pounds, and another five minutes for cooling.
6. Do not have the washing machine or dryer going when canning, or you would overload the circuit. I had four burners going, the oven, the washer, and dryer. Oops!
So in the end I canned 28 quarts and froze 4. Whew! What a job!
And the best part... They all sealed!
On the Monday after I made my torte my family and I did our final batch of tomato puree using the Squeezo machine. See my previous post to learn more about how we make puree. After the puree had simmered for a couple hours it was time to can. Instead of using the hot water bath method we decided to go with pressure canning because it is faster. It takes only 10 minutes at 10 pounds. Here are some detailed facts for myself so the next pressure canning job will be quick and easy:
1. Check pressure gauge on green canner for any defects before starting. Add about 1 1/2" of water to the canner, insert rubber gasket in lid, make sure safety valve is correctly positioned, place lid on canner, and seal. (Tip: look at arrow on edge of lid for easy placement.) When canner is sealed, put the 1-piece pressure regulator on vent pipe. Wait until dial gauge reads 10 pounds (which usually takes five minutes), turn off heat and wait until arrow goes down to zero. If arrow doesn't reach this point I have to replace the gauge.
2. The jars do not have to be piping hot when being filled.
3. When filling jars, leave about 1 1/2" head space. I did the first batch with 1" head space and some overflowed. They sealed, though.
4. To maintain it at 10 pounds, I hovered around 200 and 300 degrees F.
5. It takes about 20 minutes to do one batch: five minutes to reach 10 pounds, 10 minutes at 10 pounds, and another five minutes for cooling.
6. Do not have the washing machine or dryer going when canning, or you would overload the circuit. I had four burners going, the oven, the washer, and dryer. Oops!
So in the end I canned 28 quarts and froze 4. Whew! What a job!
And the best part... They all sealed!
Fall Means Freezing and Canning--And Lots of It!
9/21/09: Freezing Tomato Puree and Gravenstein Apple Slices
On the Monday right after I made my eggplant dish, me and my sisters did another batch of tomato puree. We did it with our old faithful Squeezo machine (see my previous post here). Here is the tallying for this batch:
Right after the puree was in our stockpot and simmering away we went onto our next task: freezing Gravenstein apple slices.
Gravenstein is the BEST apple for apple pies and we wanted to make sure we'll be able to savor this delicacy during the cold winter months. (The pies are so good that my Papa said that he would choose Gravenstein pies over peach pies. Now that's saying a lot!)
We prepared the apples by coring and slicing them with our Apple Peeler, similar to the one seen here. After they went through the peeler, we cut the slices into quarters. We then mixed the slices with a powdered produce protector, a bit of sugar, and lastly, placed them in quart sized freezer bags. For some of the apples we didn't add sugar; I'll tell you which one works the best in a couple months.
Here is the full recipe for the apples:
Freezing Apples Without Sugar
Wash, peel and core apples. To prevent darkening, dissolve 1/2 teapsoon ascorbic acid powder or equivalent of finely crushed vitamin C tablets in 3 tablespoons water. Sprinkle over apples. Place apple slices in zip-closure freezer bags, lable, date and freeze. Freeze up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
Dry Sugar Packed Apple Slices
Follow directions for "Freezing Apple Without Sugar"; mix 1/2 cup sugar to each quart apple slices. Seal and freeze for up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
On the Monday right after I made my eggplant dish, me and my sisters did another batch of tomato puree. We did it with our old faithful Squeezo machine (see my previous post here). Here is the tallying for this batch:
- Used Super Marzano (aka Roma) tomatoes for the puree, four 5-gallon buckets in all.
- Was able to fill the large stock pot, the corn pot, and the 8-quart pot.
- Took us about two hours to do puree from start to finish.
- In the end, we managed to have 28 quarts of puree.
Right after the puree was in our stockpot and simmering away we went onto our next task: freezing Gravenstein apple slices.
Gravenstein is the BEST apple for apple pies and we wanted to make sure we'll be able to savor this delicacy during the cold winter months. (The pies are so good that my Papa said that he would choose Gravenstein pies over peach pies. Now that's saying a lot!)
We prepared the apples by coring and slicing them with our Apple Peeler, similar to the one seen here. After they went through the peeler, we cut the slices into quarters. We then mixed the slices with a powdered produce protector, a bit of sugar, and lastly, placed them in quart sized freezer bags. For some of the apples we didn't add sugar; I'll tell you which one works the best in a couple months.
Here is the full recipe for the apples:
Freezing Apples Without Sugar
Wash, peel and core apples. To prevent darkening, dissolve 1/2 teapsoon ascorbic acid powder or equivalent of finely crushed vitamin C tablets in 3 tablespoons water. Sprinkle over apples. Place apple slices in zip-closure freezer bags, lable, date and freeze. Freeze up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
Dry Sugar Packed Apple Slices
Follow directions for "Freezing Apple Without Sugar"; mix 1/2 cup sugar to each quart apple slices. Seal and freeze for up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
Mission Success!
9/17/09: Freezing Bell Peppers and Tomato Puree
Fall harvesting can be the most wonderful time of the year, but when you have to do about 24 quarts of peppers and half a deep freezer full of tomato puree, sometimes it seems like it is mission impossible. But me and my sisters succeeded and managed to do all of this in four hours. Whew! What a job!
I wanted to write down some notes here because we had a hard time remembering how much to freeze when we started out!
Tomatoes:
Peppers:
The peppers are a lot easier to do. We simply chop them up as if we were to cook with them, place them in a freezer bag, then freeze flat. Really that easy, and we have been doing it for as long as I can remember!
Fall harvesting can be the most wonderful time of the year, but when you have to do about 24 quarts of peppers and half a deep freezer full of tomato puree, sometimes it seems like it is mission impossible. But me and my sisters succeeded and managed to do all of this in four hours. Whew! What a job!
I wanted to write down some notes here because we had a hard time remembering how much to freeze when we started out!
Tomatoes:
- Used Super Marzano (aka Roma) tomatoes for the puree, four 5-gallon buckets in all.
- Was able to fill the large stock pot, the corn pot, and the 8-quart pot.
- Took us about two hours to do puree from start to finish.
- In the end, we managed to have 26 quarts of puree.
Peppers:
- Used long and square bell peppers, four 5-gallon buckets in all.
- We noticed that the long bell peppers (the Big Early and Giant Marconi varieties) were easier to cut up because they had less seeds.
- Took us about two hours to do.
- In the end, we had 23 1/2 quart bags of peppers.
The peppers are a lot easier to do. We simply chop them up as if we were to cook with them, place them in a freezer bag, then freeze flat. Really that easy, and we have been doing it for as long as I can remember!
Here are a couple photos of our tomatoes and peppers straight off my family's farm. They were taken in 2005.
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