Vegetable Guinness Stew

The Guinness meets the stew!

This week is the last week of winter and the week of everyone's favorite Irish holiday.  Since usually I try to avoid the frat boy-style, drunken helter-skelter of New York City on this notorious day, but still like to enjoy some authentic Irish flavors,  this year I celebrated with friends the weekend before.  A little cooking and a few people hanging out was the perfect way to catch up and slurp up one last meal of winter vegetables .  With a little motivation and some nice root vegetables I was inspired to make not just corned beef and cabbage, but also a vegetarian Guinness stew encouraged by the flavors and seasonings of the traditional Guinness beef stew that is typically found on pub menus world-wide.  The rest of the spread took care of itself since Irish food and drink are pretty simple and straightforward.

It's not Guinness.  It's Chocolate Guinness Pudding!

My gracious guests arrived with freshly baked Irish soda bread, sharp Irish cheddar with crackers and  Branston pickle, and brace yourself... chocolate Guinness pudding served in beer glass and topped with whipped cream with Guinness reduction folded in to top off the 'glass of Guinness' look.  We guzzled some Guinness, Black and Tans made with Smithwicks, and an adventurous Irish Whiskey cocktails made with freshly juiced ginger and oranges.

Prepping my mise

We ate, drank, and were merry and so I won't miss participating in the actual St. Patrick's Day one bit.  I got my fill and got to catch up with good friends and will enjoy these hearty leftovers at home in peace this Thursday.  Whether you are staying in or going out, this one is worth a try.  This recipe was a big hit and I just may have to make it part of my annual repertoire.

Vegetable Guinness Stew

4 T extra-virgin olive oil (or Irish butter, if you want)
1 large onion, cut into chunks
2 leeks, washed and sliced
1 t minced garlic
1 1/2 lb medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 lb parsnips, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 white turnip, approx. tennis ball sized, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 lb carrots, scrubbed and cut into large chunks
about 10 oz halved or quartered white button mushrooms
1 small head savoy cabage, shredded
2 springs rosemary
2 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 16oz. cans Guinness
3 T tomato paste
1 2" piece of orange peel
2 t vegetarian Worcestershire sauce or tamari
enough water to cover, if needed

In a large stock pot, warm olive oil and add onion and leeks.  Cook a few minutes to soften, then add garlic and cook 5 minutes.

Add veggies, rosemary, salt, and pepper.  Stir to mix them all up and cook for 10-15 minutes.  Add Guinness, tomato paste, orange peel, worcestershire or tamari, and just enough water to cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil, stir, then immediately lower heat to low and partially cover.  Cook for about 4 hours on very low heat.  Stir every now and again very gently, trying not to break up the root vegetables.

Taste and season for salt and pepper.  Enjoy a hearty bowl with some bread and Irish butter.

Tuscan Ribollita

Simplify, simplify, simplify.  Things are kooky, nutty, and chaotic here with me having one of my busiest seasons yet and my husband, Will, in his first semester of grad school.  Working around the clock with end-of-semester projects at one end of our railroad apartment.  At the other end, mounds of shopping bags, lists, cookbooks, recipes jotted on scratch paper, food labels, filthy food-splashed clogs, and somewhere that tube of hand cream that I can never quite locate.

The crack of dawn at Union Square

The place as a whole is surprisingly not trashed since we have been steadily trying to tidy up as we go to prevent a complete lifestyle meltdown.  No strolling around 'marketing' for our veggies right now.  We have been almost exclusively Fresh Direct (online grocery delivery, for the non-New Yorkers who don't know what that is).  I feel lucky on days where I have one normal meal, hit the gym at some point, and sleep at least 6 hours.  Wellness Fizz and green juice are a part of my agenda when I remember.  .  .That's where I am.  It's sad to not have time to reflect on the new experimental dishes and old favorites that I pretty much live with as my main focus every day.  The produce in season has long since changed since I had a moment to walk around at the greenmarket, photograph pretty veggies, and create a recipe to go with them. 

Brooding root vegetables, beautiful like Gothic architecture.

This past week, I was fortunate enough to have a cook-at-home day.  The client just wanted a homemade soup delivery and was craving a hearty Tuscan something with lots of seasonal veggies, plus one other of my choice.  With zeal and zest, I trotted down to our neighborhood's health food store at 8am on the dot.  I wanted to get this work day over with so I could catch up on other things.  I found big waxy looking bunches of lacinato kale, beautiful green cabbage with streaks of purple in the curly outer leaves, decent Roma tomatoes, local fennel bulbs, and a nice organic fresh herb mix.  Yes! Tuscan soup in the making!

I also gathered my ingredients for Black Bean Soup (this is my go-to black bean soup since I tried this recipe from my friends at Grapes and Greens, FYI.) and headed home to get this soup party cooking, finished, and delivered.  Time's a wastin'.  As I chopped and prepped, I kept reminding myself to simplify.  Just focus on the soup and I can make our dinner, mop the floor, plan client menus, and sort laundry later.  Just because I can multi-task doesn't mean I always have to multi-task--a continually difficult concept for a chef, a New Yorker, or a high-energy person to accept and live with. 

As I sliced the fennel and munched on scraps, shredded cabbage and started simmering these pungent and earthy veggies, I simplified.  Focusing on each step, I stood over the pot while the fennel became translucent. This Tuscan soup gave me some much-needed respite from the frantic pace I'm used to.  It reminded and amused me that this fragrant traditional soup from Italy caused those around it to take on an easy Italian pace, each step producing new colors, textures, and fragrances to appreciate.   I highly recommend making some of this Tuscan Ribollita and slowing down the pace rather than rush out to the holiday crowds.  It is so good and packed with dark leafy veggies.  It might even ward off a cold if you are starting to run down.
I'm off to have another bowl right now.

Ribollita in the works!

Tuscan Ribollita

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large celery stalks, diced
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 large unpeeled Yukon Gold potato, scrubbed and cubed
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced crosswise
1 large pinch of dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 bunch of lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale), cut
     into 1” ribbons
4 cups thinly sliced savoy cabbage
5 large plum tomatoes, chopped
1 2-inch Parmesan cheese rind
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Pinch of crushed red pepper
2-4 cups vegetable broth

(opt.) serve with crusty ciabatta bread

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add onion; sprinkle with sea salt.  Cook until onion is translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. 

Add celery, carrot, potato, fennel, thyme, and sage; cook until vegetables are tender and bring t turn brown in spots, stirring often, 15-18 minutes. 

Add kale, chard, cabbage, tomatoes, cheese rind, 5 cups water and 1 teaspoon sea salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 1 ½ hours.

Moo Shu and Pancakes, yes, it's true.

I Moo Shu.  Do you?

I did a trial/tasting day for a new family on Monday.  I had had a long (very long) day before I even showed up to their house, but once I was there, I was sure things would go smoothly.  They are a really nice family with an absolutely gorgeous kitchen, great kids, and cute pets.  What could go wrong?

Like any trial/tasting day, I wanted to show my best work, yet stay relaxed and not be uptight.  For some reason, I always end up planning a menu that is easy in my mind, but something always happens that sends the day in the other direction.  Whether it is a crucial specialty ingredient that is nowhere to be found or some sort of kitchen disaster, an easy trial day is often anything but.  In the last decade I have been bitten by dogs, broken full, expensive bottles of olive oil on marble countertops, been 2 hours late due to NYC traffic, had to re-vamp an entire menu due to Chilean Sea Bass shortage, have been presented with broken stoves, been to homes without saute pans, accidentally de-koshered precisely 2 kitchens,and almost sliced my finger off and so spent the workday holding my right hand up in the air trying to stop the throbbing. Ohhhh, trial meals.

So what happened Monday?  The garbage disposal backed up.  It didn't just clog, it bubbled and gurgled and gross food bits swirled around as the level rose up and down.  It looked as disgusting as a clogged toilet that someone threw up in.

It doesn't sound like a huge deal except it had, apparently, never happened before.  AND the plunger wouldn't budge the clog.    AND they live in an historic building that doesn't technically allow garbage disposals so they didn't want to ask the super to help because he would find out that they had one.  AND they had to call in an outside plumber that made a huge mess that lasted through dinner.  The plumbers were still there and working amidst blackish-blue greasy sludge all throughout dinner and were still busy when I left (almost 2 hours later than planned.).  AND I couldn't properly clean up because I had no sink.  AND she was so nice about it.  When I return, I better make it good, that's all I can say.

So, what, you may wonder, did I make for this kind and appreciative family?  I had planned a menu by request--Moo Shu Chicken and Tofu, Scallion Pancakes, and Steamed Dumplings.  Also, a batch of blueberry muffins just for fun.  Well, the Moo Shu is something I have made a thousand times, the muffins were a new recipe, but straightforward, but the pancakes?  I usually buy them frozen and fry them up, as needed.  Guess what.  Whole Foods no longer carries them.  I learned this the hard way.  In a time crunch.

Good thing my Moo Shu recipe has a Mandarin Pancake recipe adjacent to it.  Never read it.  Never made it before.  Why not try it in a kitchen I have never cooked in before and serve it to a family that I just met?

I made them amidst the disposal debacle and must say that they are delicious.  Not just pretty good, but excellent.  The frozen kind and take-out version (likely one and the same) are greasy and heavy, but still taste good.  At least they did.  Now, I know that flour, boiling water, sesame oil and my addition of scallion is all it takes.  Try these because they will become a family favorite. The Moo Shu is my own simplified version.  The pancakes are based on a Moosewood recipe.  The results are overwhelmingly YUM. 

Make the Moo Shu whatever you like.  It can be chicken, veggie, tofu, shrimp, beef, pork.  I like to do a combo of two or three different things for a deluxe Moo Shu experience.

Moo Shu

Sauce:

1 cup Hoisin Sauce (Kikkoman makes an msg-free version now)
1/2-1 cup rice wine for cooking
a little tamari
a little Sriracha

Canola or Sunflower oil for stir-frying

1 T ginger, grated on a microplane
1-2 T garlic, grated on a microplane
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 cups thinly shredded cabbage
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thinly into 2"strips
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks or grated
1 cup mung bean sprouts (opt. only use if you can find them really fresh)
2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 bunch scallions, washed and thinly sliced at an angle

CHOOSE 1-3 options below to equal about 3-5 cups or omit and just do veggies
(opt.) 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced into 1/2" strips and marinated in a dash of soy sauce & ginger
(opt.) 1 lb cleaned shrimp, marinated like above chicken
(opt.) 1 package baked sesame tofu or plain tofu (marinated like above chicken)
(opt.) 1 lb strip steak, sliced into thin strips and marinated like above chicken
(opt.) 1 lb pork tenderloin, sliced into thin strips and marinated like above chicken


1 recipe Scallion Pancakes (below)

Prep ingredients by chopping as instructed above and transferring ingredients to separate small prep bowls.

Heat a large wok or frying pan.  Add a quick splash of high-heat oil (canola or sunflower) to coat the wok.

Stir fry in batches on high, adding a splash of fresh oil as needed and de-glazing each batch with a little rice wine, a dollop of hoisin, and a little tamari and a little Sriracha sauce to taste.  Cook each batch until veggies are tender and beginning to brown with sauce, mixing combos of veggies with ginger, garlic, and onion.  Make sure batches of chicken have been cooked through and don't come in contact with the veggies or other stuff until cooked.  Try to be conscious of the beef and pork, as well.

As you stir-fry, transfer each batch to a large oven-safe serving dish.  Toss together when all is stir-fried and reheat in an oven, if needed.  Serve wrapped in Scallion Pancakes.

Scallion Pancakes

4 cups unbleached white flour+ extra for rolling
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3 large minced scallions
toasted sesame oil

Beginning to stack the pancakes!

 Measure flour out into a large mixing bowl.  Pour in boiling water gradually and mix with a spatula, adding scallions as well.  Mix the rest of the way with clean hands and knead until uniform.  Continue kneading 4-5 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.  Cover with a damp towel and rest for about 30 minutes.

On a floured surface, knead dough about 50 times.  Divide dough in half and shape into two cylinders.  Cut each cylinder into 12 equal pieces.  Flatten each piece into a little circle and roll out into a circle about 5-6 inches in diameter.  Repeat with a second piece.  Brush each with a bit of sesame oil and place one circle atop the other with oiled surfaces facing in/facing each other.  Roll them out with a rolling pin together, making sure surface is well-floured--the oil can make things sticky.  When you have roughly a circle about 8-10" in diameter, it is ready to cook.  Set aside.  Repeat with remaining pieces.

Heat a cast iron pan till very hot and turn on an exhaust fan.  Spray a little high-heat oil on the pan.  Cook each pancake about 3 minutes on each side, or until browned and bubbly looking.  Transfer to a plate.  Continue till all are cooked.  These can be covered and reheated or served immediately.

Serve on their own or with Moo Shu like above.