I've had my eye on this recipe for awhile. I found it in an obscure soup cookbook and had never heard of anything like it before.....Beef and Onions in Red Wine Soup....yum right? OK, so maybe not for everyone but you have to understand that I come by this one honestly. My grandfather ate a steady diet of steak accompanied with red wine. I mean, like 3-4 times a week you could find him devouring this meal with such gusto and refilling that wine goblet afterwards with such a satisfied look on his face. My grandfather knew how to live life and he knew how to eat! So maybe it was a little bit of nostalgia that attracted me to this recipe.

Let me start off by saying that my esteemed panel of judges were not expected to try this one. I knew that Jason may have been the only one who would like it and the thyme in the recipe pretty much made even that a far stretch. That said, I did get the vegetarian husband to sample the broth and he agreed it was good. To start this soup you had to create the broth. I was surprised that the base of the soup included cubed beef (don't tell vegetarian husband!), carrots, onions, garlic and turnips. I'm not sure that I've ever put those ingredients together before. Let me just tell you that after sauteing this concoction in a little bit of butter, the kitchen began to smell heavenly.


After browned, you add a 1/2 c. of red wine (I bought cheap and dry) and 1/2 c. of beef broth. You boil this until there is barely any liquid left....I'm really not sure what this creates, but I think it has something to do with infusing the wine/broth flavor into the base ingredients.


I then got to do something else I've never done before and made a bouquet garni which is basically a bag o'spices. It involved cheese cloth, and fresh herbs such as parsley, bay leaf and thyme. You add your bag o'spices to your base ingredients and a whole lotta wine and broth.



OK, this is starting out really well.....After simmering for 2 hours (yeah I know, who has the time? Trust me it's worth it!) you strain the solids and discard. Wait, hold the phone, throw out a wine-infused "stew" of beef and veggies?! Not this Dutch girl!....I saved it and plan on using it as a base for a stew to serve over egg noodles.....So now that we have this amazing rich broth you can keep it as it is, or thin it out a bit. I chose to add about a cup of cold water (use only cold water when adding to broth otherwise the broth will get cloudy) to thin it out a bit and I was very satisfied. Now onto the fun! You brown another pound of cubed beef (I used a lovely marbled piece of beef loin shell steak) for a few minutes on the stove and then roast it in a 500 degree oven for 20 minutes


.....in the meantime you caramelize onions with lots of thyme (I love thyme btw, it's such a fresh herb!). Bringing the broth to a boil once more you add some cremini mushrooms and fresh chopped chives. You only cook the shrooms and chives for 4 minutes and then take the soup off the stove.


Taking a hefty helping of those yummy onions and placing them in the center of your soup bowl, you pour the broth over the onions and then add as much of that roasted meat as you want. I opted to eat this with a crusty bread accompanied by smoked cheddar.

So how was it? It was amazing! The flavor was multi-layered...there was so much depth to it with the spices in the background and the wine in the forefront. The sweet onions were just the perfect bedfellow to the mushrooms and beef. You could certainly serve a crispy green salad with this but definitely have that crusty bread along for the ride! Enjoy!

Let's Go to Morrocco!

OK so I was inspired by my friend Stephanie Steen to start sharing some of my more daring recipe experiences via my blog. Today's judges are yours truly and 5 very opinionated children. Tonight's new try was Moroccan Tangine of Chicken accompanied by Moroccan Couscous....See a theme here? OK so first off let me say that anytime my kids get wind that I will be trying a new recipe panic sets in. I'm not sure exactly why as many of my "new" recipes have become family favorites, (i.e. pasta with pesto, fish tacos, shrimp bake and much more). It must be like when something traumatic happens and we just seem to remember them more clearly. There were a few failures although I've blocked them out....So where were we? The chicken. So what exactly is a Tangine? Just as the cook in many American kitchens has her own potato salad recipe, in Morocco, the tangine is the dish that is defined household by household. In a nutshell it's an easy braised stew This dish called for either skinless, boneless thighs or skinless, boneless breasts. You could also use a combination of both. I prefer thighs when I'm making a slow simmer dish and opted for organic thighs. The dish starts with a spice rub that included Hungarian sweet paprika, ground ginger, turmeric and black pepper. After cooking the chicken in a little olive oil for 3 minutes on each side in a non-stick skillet you remove the chicken and cut it into strips. Add onion, fresh plum tomatoes, salt and garbanzo beans and you simmer this fragrant dish covered. While the chicken was simmering I moved on to the dish that made me the most nervous.

Can You Just Smell This?!

The Moroccan couscous. Now, I've made couscous before but it has come out of a box. This was my first attempt at making it from scratch. This delicious dish came from my favorite website allrecipes.com It included toasting some interesting spices that included ginger, garlic, cayenne, cumin, cardamon, coriander and allspice. Onions, sweet red peppers, raisins, garbanzo beans, zucchini, orange zest and a broth of chicken broth and orange juice made my kitchen smell amazing!! After the concoction boils you mix in the couscous and cover, removing it from the heat until the couscous absorbs the liquid and fluffs up. Here's where I ran into a problem. My couscous never exactly did that. I tried cooking it a little longer, soaking it longer and well, it never really fluffed up.

The Spices and Orange Zest Were Amazing!

I wasn't calling it a failure yet, so I garnished my chicken with freshly chopped cilantro, skipped the fresh mint garnish that was called for in the original couscous recipe and dished out the aromatic food.

OK B- for Presentation

My kids saw the food and the whining started immediately. After I reminded them that this is not a restaurant and whatever I cook is what they eat, they reluctantly started to try it. Jason said the chicken was edible in spite of his two least favorite ingredients in it (tomato and garbanzo beans). He definitely didn't love the couscous, but he cleared his dish and walked away grumbling something about starving to death. OK so 1 fail. Charlotte's vote doesn't really count here because unless it's tacos or macaroni and cheese she pretty much says she hates it. That said, she did eat all of her chicken and some of the couscous. Luke ate everything with gusto except for the zucchini which he picked out. Maddie ate it all and Gwen who doesn't like chicken actually went back for seconds. My opinion was that it was quite excellent. The couscous didn't have that fluffiness that I was looking for but the flavors were amaaaazing! The chicken was great too, but I felt that it needed a little more salt. So votes.... 1-No Way, 2-Maybes and 3-More, More! Will definitely make again!

Leftovers Anyone?!

Well, I started having dreams about tropical locations while asleep the other night. That means one thing.....it's the dead of winter. It's interesting that something primordial inside of me immediately rejects reality and brings me to places of warm tranquility in my subconsciousness when the harsh reality of...well reality...is sub-zero wind chills and feet of snow.

When I was a kid I used to love this time of year. I remember listening for the firehouse sirens at 7am which would signal a snow day. If there was a snow day I didn't go back to bed. Oh no, I used every ounce of that day to do the things that I couldn't do while wearing the shackles of a student. I watched early morning cartoons until my Peanuts eye-glasses needed a stronger prescription. I donned my snow gear, (Which, btw, never consisted of snow pants. I'm sure they were invented when I was a kid, but apparently my parents never heard of them because I knew it was time to come in from my fun when my Jordache jeans were soaked straight through, frozen stiff again and my legs burned with the warning signs of severe frost-bite), went outside and played until well, see my side-bar... We'd go to the County Park, rub the rust off of our sled blades and cruised down that hill over and over again. I remember snow piled so high in my front yard that I'd climb it and be as tall as the second floor windows. Snow men with real coal for eyes and buttons were built in my backyard. I'd come inside to a steaming hot cup of Ovaltine with marshmallows and my mother would lay all of my wet snow gear on the furnace so that I could go back out again. I remember fondly the hissing of the radiators as they dried my mittens and I'd curl up next to them and play with my toys until everything was dry.

Not to be too nostalgic, but what the heck happened? Now, when I get the automated call in the morning or blessedly the night before, I breath a sigh of relief because I know that I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn. I sleep right through those early morning cartoons. I use my day to catch up on organizing, dusting and laundry. When the kids start to kill each other I throw them out in the snow. They don't have to trudge 1/2 a mile to the park to sled and yet they complain. We have a few great hills right in our own backyard and inevitably they're in the house faster than it took me to get them in all of that snow gear, which yes, includes snow pants! They of couse want hot chocolate and so I whip them up some Drostes on the stove with organic cane sugar, complete with Jet-Puffed marshmallows and then promptly throw their gear into the dryer so that if they do want to go back out it's all ready for them. Boots are toasted by the wood-burning stove even....yet....they never seem to want to go back out there. This is when the cabin fever sets in for Sara.

I often wondered if we were a snow-sports family if winter would be a little more fun. After looking into the cost of being a snow-sports family, I quickly decided that $1500 for just the kids wasn't possible for us and would actually make for a nice vacation for me and the hubby. Not that we have $1500. So without the chance of being snow bunnies, what's a girl/mom to do?

Oh we cook together...henceforth I put on my winter coat of extra weight. We play games....did I ever tell you how good I am at "Pictureka!"? We do go out sledding in the yard....I threw my back out last year but so far so good this year. I dream of ice skating, but again it's not so cost effective. Not to mention I actually find that once I get out into that cold...gasp....I'm cold! I mean really, really, cold. Like old-lady cold. Like, give me a hot cup of tea and an afghan because I really don't like this stuff anymore, cold. Don't get me wrong, I push through it. Never to be a quitter, I go hiking in the snow, take the kids out, stand at the slopes to watch my 14 year-old snowboard. I just would prefer it to be about 60 degrees warmer, that's all. I know, I know, we're not supposed to rush these things. We should revel in all that life gives us as it's just a fleeting moment and will all be done in a flash. I can't help but feel...blah, blah, blah...yadda, yadda, yadda to that one.

I will admit, I love the beauty of nature the day after a heavy snowfall. The way the snow covers everything in a sparkling coat of white. I value the comfort of a warm blanket while listening to the wind whistling outside. I love the crackle of the wood in the wood-burning stove and the soft hiss of the kettle on top. I enjoy the savory creations in the crock-pot that help to warm our insides. I just can't help but look forward to the crocuses popping their heads up. The pussy-willows soft buds appearing. The vibrant yellows of forsythia and deep purples of lilacs decorating my property.

I won't rush winter away....what choice do I have I'm not Mother-time? I will keep that bin of snow-gear ready in my dining room. I will keep a box of Droste's Dutch cocoa stocked in the pantry. I'll continue to mop up the melted snow on my kitchen floor. I'll play play referee to the cabin-fevered children. I'll make as many snowmen as I possibly can. I will wake up early to help my daughter prepare a crock-pot meal for us all. I'll just continue to do it all with one eye on the warmer seasons with the fragrance of sweet flowers in the air and the opportunity to shed my winter layers and come out of hibernation with a new found appreciation for the time of year where everything seems to wake up and come to life. I guess that includes Spring sports, dance recitals, violin concerts, graduations and the parties that follow, and the craziness of the end of the school year. Now that I think of it, this time of year isn't so bad after all. :)