04 May 2008

Stuff I've Made

I actually have been cooking quite a bit lately. Here's the challah that I made using Joanna's recipe. Shane said it was the best bread he's ever eaten. He's really happy we're doing soup this month cause I'll be making this bread a lot.




Here's some Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits that I got from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I couldn't find the recipe online and I've already returned the book to the library so I can't post the recipe. Sorry. It was interesting to make because I've never made biscuits before. It was a good excuse to buy a pastry blender. I think they came out pretty good, but they were so rich. I don't want my cooking to turn out to be detrimental to our health, so I'm not sure I'd make them again.



And here is a bowl of Beef-Chipotle Chili from Food Made Fast: Slow Cooker (Williams-Sonoma). This book is so awesome! I've only had it for three weeks and so far have made three things out of it. Shane has loved all of them. And I love making stuff in the slow cooker. I thought this chili was way too hot though. But I will make it again because Shane loved it so much even though it lasted about 4 nights. I'll just dig out some of the seeds from the chipotle peppers, that should make it more tolerable for me.



Beef Chipotle Chili

Flour, 1/4 cup
Salt and Pepper
Boneless beef chuck, 3 lb. trimmed of excess fat and cut into chunks
Olive oil, 4-6 Tbsp
Dried oregano, 1.5 tsp
Garlic, 4 cloves, minced
Red onions, 2, finely chopped
Beef broth, 2 cups
Chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, 1 7oz. can

1. In a resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, 1 tsp. sale, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Add the beef chunks and shake to coat evenly with the flour mixture; reserve the excess flour mixture. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 4 Tbsp. of the oil. Add half of the beef chunks and cook, turning as needed, until evenly browned on all sides, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to paper towels and drain briefly, and then transfer to the slow cooker. Repeat with the remaining beef chunks, adding the remaining 2 Tbsp. oil if needed. Sprinkle oregano over the meat.

2. Return the pan to the medium-high heat. Add the garlic and all but 1/2 cup of the onions and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with the reserved flour mixture and saute for about 1 minute longer. Pour in the broth and add the chipotle chilis with their sauce, breaking up the chilis coarsely with your fingers. Raise the heat to high, bring to a boil, and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up the browned bits on the pan bottom. Pour over the beef.

3. Cover and cook on the high-heat setting for 3-4 hours or the low-heat setting for 6-8 hours. The beef should be very tender. Spoon the chili into bowls, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup choppied onion and serve.

That makes it sound time-consuming, but it really went fast. I put this all together in the morning before going to work. I wasn't even late. I just got up 30 minutes earlier.

6 comments:

Joanna said...

Wow, everything looks fantastic! Too bad you didn't post the recipe for the chili because that looks awesome.

Unknown said...

oh! i can post it. i actually have that book. i'll do it tomorrow though cause i'm prepping the challah for tomorrow and then after that shane and i are going to drink wine and watch suze orman :) i'm going to be in heaven :)

i'm making the potato and leek soup for lunch tomorrow since i will be home cooking... uh, i mean studying. i just went and bought all the stuff and the cashier asked if i was going to make leek soup. i said i was and that it would be interesting cause i've never eaten leeks. she got really excited and said i would just love it so much. now, i can't wait to try it.

Joanna said...

You're so funny. Wine and Suze Orman? That's really cool that the cashier was excited about your soup, too.

Unknown said...

Ok, i posted the recipe. just remember not to use all of the peppers. take some of the seeds out if you are going to try to feed it to kids. it was hot! hot! hot!

Tina said...

mmmm, looks yummy. How hard was the bread? I keep promising Katherine we are going to make it, but boy I have a hard time getting around to doing anything these days!

Unknown said...

it mostly takes timein the beginning, when you mix the dough and knead it. after that, you just let it sit. then break it, braid it and stick it in the oven. it took me a while to try it also because i thought it was intimidating. but i'm sure that after you make just one, you'll be making it often. i'm sure Katherine would love it and also be a huge help!