Ginger and Licorice

Ginger and Licorice
Our cats and Labrador

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Mushroom and Burgundy Stew - Hearty and Tasty

Another tasty meal from Rachael Ray's "Week in a Day" show.  I bookmarked this a WHILE ago and just got around to making it.  It was cold this week, so I decided to give it a shot.  The original recipe
Mushroom and Burgundy Stew, didn't have any protein in it, so I decided to try it with beef tenderloin tips - they were on sale this week - YEAH!  Don't get me wrong, the ratio of mushrooms to beef cubes was 2 mushroom : 1 beef cube, plus I used baby bellas (aka cremini), so the mushroom mouth-feel was a bit meatier.

My start time: 4pm; My end time 7:30pm

Rachael Ray's Prep Time: 20-30 mins; Cook time: 45 mins

1.  I started by cutting 4 oz pancetta slices into pieces appx 3/4 inch squares - hrmmm wonder where I can get the pancetta in chunks like I see on Giada's show - it was a little difficult to separate the pieces after I had stacked and sliced them.  Add 1/4 cup olive oil to your dutch oven and warm to medium-high heat and add the pancetta pieces.
2.  After the pancetta was browned and had rendered some fat into my Lodge Color 3-Quart Dutch Oven, I added appx 8 oz beef tips and browned them on all sides.
3.  While the beef tips were browning, I wiped 16 oz baby bellas, and then halved them. Some of the beef tips were a little larger than "bite size", so I pulled them out after they were par-cooked and cut them into 2-3 pieces.
Switch cutting boards.
4.  Add the mushrooms to the pot and let cook until until brown and tender - about 15 minutes or so.
5.  Add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, bay leaves, salt, pepper, marjoram, and thyme.
The mushroom-beef stew players
6. Cover and cook/simmer until vegetables are tender - about 10 minutes
7. Stir in 3 tbsp flour for 1 minute to incorporate.
8.  Add 2 tbsp tomato paste and 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
9.  Add 2 1/2 cups dry red wine (always use wine you would drink - none of that "cooking wine" you buy in the grocery store) and reduce by half - this took me maybe 20 minutes
10.  Add 4 cups beef stock.  BGS purchased Mushroom Base for me to use with this recipe, so I added 4 tsp of the base to the beef stock and dissolved it the best I could before adding it to the pot.  Simmer to thicken.
11.  Cool completely on the stove and then store in the fridge for your make ahead-meal.

As you can see by my start and end times, I was in the kitchen longer than my tv counterpart.  I chock that up to me not chopping often and not having a great deal of counter space.  *shakes fist at the horrible kitchen arrangement*

12.  On the day you want to serve your stew, take it out of the fridge and bring it to a simmer in the dutch oven while you boil water for your noodles.  I chose whole wheat egg noodles.  Cook your chosen noodles according to the directions on the package and then drain.  Put the noodles back in the pot; add 2 tbsp butter and a handful of fresh parsley, chopped.

To serve, dish noodles into a soup plate or shallow dish and then ladle stew over the noodles.

All in all I LOVE this meal!  BGS said it was too rich, so he only ate it twice.  That's fine.  More for me :)
We got four servings from this meal - so he ate it once and I ate it 3 times.  YUM!!  BGS also said it was "ruined" by the whole wheat noodles hehe - I wasn't phased by them.

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