Venison stew and a new piece of hardware!

Picky bought me a beautiful Le Creuset oval French oven in flame, to match my collection.

I am supposed to be studying, so I decided to stall by making venison stew. My wonderful, generous hunter neighbor shared some wild boar and some venison shoulder with us. I roasted the boar shoulder intact, but I boned the two venison shoulders, and decided to try to make a stew.

I pieced together some recipes and this is what I ended up with. Pictures and a review to come. Right now it is just stinking up the house with lovely smells.

I put a few T of oil in the French oven (any heavy lidded oven safe pot will do)
I made a roux with some flour (next time I may wait to add the flour)
I added the cubed venison and browned it
I added two onions, thinly julienned, let it cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally
Added about a cup of chopped carrots and three stalks of celery, chopped, and cooked a few more minutes
I added two cups of red wine, two cups of chicken stock (I would have used beef if I had it) and two cups of water. I scraped the lovely brown bits with a wooden spoon
I added a few T of concentrated tomato paste, a few springs of thyme, and four peeled, whole garlic cloves
I let the whole thing come to a boil, and put it in a 300 degree oven with the lid on for two hours
I am making egg noodles to spoon it over. Hope it's a hit!

Edited to add: It was a big hit. Dee-licious. It wasn't especially photogenic. I may add the photos at some point, but I haven't uploaded them yet, and I really really should study.

So, it was a fantastic party

I had such a great time, and the food was so good and went so fast, I didn't have time to post bad photos of the food. I have been pretty swamped with school and family since then.

I will try to pop in and psot new recipes soon. We had a delicious lo mein today with julienned onions, baby corn, leftover steak and pork, ginger, garlic, mushrooms, soy sauce, mirin, sesame seeds, and noodles. Mmmmmm. I also have a huge pot of broth going. It's chock full of goodies: celery tops, onion with skin, a cheese rind, garlic cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, carrots, and half a leftover chicken and a chicken base. Yum.

I lied

I made the Ahi tartare. And skewered the shrimp. And pureed the tasty marmalade.

Now I may be ready to face the won ton assembly. Sheesh. Wish me luck!

Pineapple marmalade

Pineapple marmalade is simmering deliciously on the stove. I tripled the amount of pineapple and almost tripled the sugar. It has a little pinch of red pepper flakes in it. I am tempted to add some shredded basil at the end. The marmalade is a dip to go with the fried brie and macadamia nut won tons. I am going to start making the shrimp skewers (to go back in the fridge). Then I'll start prepping the won tons.

Pictures to come.

Inauguration party

Countdown to the inauguration celebration and food orgy!

I happened to get a Hawaiian cookbook for Christmas. I figured since Obama was born and raised in Hawaii, and I want to try some of the recipes, why not have a Hawaiian themed event?

I am not calling it a luau, and I am not serving poi. But I am serving some potentially yummy stuff from Hawai'i Cuisine by Chef Sam Choy. I just finished making a batch of traditional Lomi Lomi salmon, a dish with diced smoked salted salmon, tomatoes, red and green onions and chili pepper flakes.

I am about to make one of my own salad combinations: chick peas, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, olives, some fancy onions, some greens from the garden, some fresh herbs from the garden, and some dressing.

I am roasting some sweet peppers and some garlic for an antipasto. I, uh, burned some asparagus that I forgot I put on the grill. I never should cook anything while I'm eating dinner.

We are really enjoying our new charcoal grill.

Seasonal eating

Sometimes, even in South Florida suburban living, you can eat with the seasons. I received a lovely, loaded New Year's ham bone from my mother in law. Neither Picky nor S will eat any beans. So, I went off in search for a ham bone recipe sans beans.

I found this recipe for Somma Borscht aka Weed Soup.

Of course, summer for Russian Mennonites is winter for Floridians! So, for this seasonal recipe, I have a seasonal bone and what is growing in my garden.

I am changing the recipe a bit (but of course!) I have dill (in the recipe) growing in my garden, but the main bitter green I have is arugula. So, I am subbing arugula for the sorrel in the recipe, which I have in abundance. I usually grow French sorrel in my garden, but not this year. I am not sure if that is the same species of sorrel in the recipe. I also decided to add some chicken broth to boost the broth flavor.

I will post pics and reviews soon!

I have two words for this recipe. Yuh and ummmmm. It was a big hit.



We had it with crusty grainy bread chunks and sour cream. Except for Picky, who doesn't do sour cream. Unless it's in paprikash.

Planning a feast

I am going to hold a bye bye Bush, hello Obama party at my house. It is going to be a Hawaiian themed party. I am very excited to use my new Hawaiian cookbook. I got it from a conservative brother in alw who is married to my liberal sister in law. So, I am sure one will be pleased, and the other, not so much.

Many fancy things planned. Stay tuned!