Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Porcini, Beef and Wine….Oh My!


I made this about a two weeks ago. We had had our first cold snap and a good wine stew called to me. This is a bit of a variation on a wine stew I have made for years. It came out quite well. I also made a whole wheat loaf with balsamic and parmesan and it was great with the stew.

¾-1 lb beef (I happened to use filet, typically would not, but I got the whole tenderloin so it was less that most other cuts of beef)
¼ c seasoned flour (salt, pepper, red pepper, whatever you like)
1tbs oil
2 large potatoes cut into large chunks
3 large carrots cut into chunks
3 stalks of celery cut into large chunks
1 large onion halved then quartered
½ cup dried porcini
2 cup beef stock
1 bottle of dry red wine
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs browning sauce (if you don’t have this try ½ c. of old coffee)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dry thyme or rosemary
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt


I like the vegetables nice and chunky, but if you like smaller bits, go a head and cut them up to your liking.

Cut beef into pieces (again I like mine a bit bigger) and coat with your seasoned flour. Heat oil over medium high heat and add coated beef to brown. Add all ingredients except the potatoes. Cook for at least and hour over a medium low heat.

Add potatoes and cook another 20-30 minutes or until done. Enjoy!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

It Finally Came!


Okay I am a bit late in telling you guys about the saga of the wine. Part of being a featured publisher with food buzz means that I get to try cool products from time to time. So I let no moss grow under my feet when they offered up free wine. Yep you heard me, free wine. Free. Wine.

This offer was months ago and thanks to the joys of living in the fine state of Virginia and ABC laws aimed at…. Oh hold up… that is another blog all together. Lets just say getting the wine to me, because of the craziness that is Virginia ABC law, proved to be a long arduous process. Sadly when FedEx came to deliver said wine, we were out of town. Finally, through hoops and hoopla, we were finally permitted to have my husband drive to the FedEx depot to get it. Only to find out they sent it out for delivery again. Sigh… I got it.

The wine was Black Box, Sauvignon Blanc. My understanding about the company is that they are trying to reinvent the perception of the box o’ wine and target a…hmmm… lets say, more discerning clientele. Let me say, I have no problem with the concept of the box of wine. Really, it prevents air from getting to the wine, thus prolonging shelf life, yadda, yadda,. I have even had a decent box o’wine (I think my friend go it at Target). So I was pretty psyched about it all. Plus I like Sauvignon Blac, so we were in business. The day it came I put in the fridge to chill. The next day I made carbonara for dinner to go with my fancy dancy box o’ wine.

Pour….sip…. Huh??? Sad. Sad Vanessa. I love Sauvignon Blanc. If I were to have one complaint with them over the past…3 years or so is they have gotten bit homogonous. Homogony would not have been bad for this wine. It was watery. It did have nice acidy to it, but it was watery, and flat and…well sad. It retails for $20 a box and a box is 4 bottles. So not expensive. However, Trader Joes has some far better wines for the same price or less (in particular a vino verde that is 3.99 a bottle).

So my over take…

Would I get it again? No.

Was I glad it was free? You betcha.

Was it at least the effort to get it? Very questionable.


Sigh. Free Wine, since when is that not all it is cracked up to be?????

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Bistro 27 Deal

Hey, for all of you in Richmond...

If you are on Twitter go find Bistro 27 and follow them, you will get 50% off an entree. If you are not on twitter...might want to get on there.

Offer ends on October 15th.

http://twitter.com/Bistro27

Thursday, October 1, 2009

On Vacation!

Okay, we are down here in Rodanthe, NC. I can go to a place where I , literally, buy the fish off the boat. That said, there is nothing recipe inducing about super fresh fish. The best thing, I think, is not to mess with it too much. So I thought, while here, I would share some picts instead.....


Rough times getting Daddy to paint your toes....can you say wrapped around his little finger????



Loving our lovey



Ready for the beach...


One awesome sunset



And at the end of the day what it is all about...pure and simple....