Beef Stroganoff 2.0

On a rainy, overcast day my body wanted some warm comfort food. Recently my kitchen has produced some great cold-weather meals including Chili, Guinness Beef Stew and Irish Fish Soup. Tonight I had a hankering for a classic comfort food that I haven’t made in years. Because I’m me…I wanted to elevate the traditional Beef Stroganoff. A bit. My version includes bacon, lots of white wine, tomato paste and a yet-to-be named processed cheese food. This whole meal was prepared in my 16″ iron skillet. First step was bacon. I had some in my freezer. So with a little olive oil , I cooked about 4 strips, cut in half. Put the bacon on some paper towel on the side. To the bacon drippings I added a thin-sliced sirloin (placed in the freezer while the...

Wild Atlantic Seafood Soup

For our weekly Saturday night dinner day, my pretty Irish lass suggested a meal from our favorite cookbook, My Wild Atlantic Kitchen. So we set our sights on Wild Atlantic Seafood Soup. I took a HUGE detour on this recipe for 2 reasons. #1, I live in a town with few options at the store #2, I don’t like fennel, star anise or tarragon I’ll run the recipe in full, but will note my departures with (*). Ingredients • 2 tbsp olive • 2oz butter • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped • 6 shallots, finely chopped (*used four) • 1 leek, washed and finely chopped • 1 fennel bulb, finely chopped (*used ½ if the bulb) • 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped • 1 tbsp tomato puree (*half a can of tomato paste) • 1140m1 / 2 pints shellfish stock (*I made my standard stock, water,...

Irish Pub Style Guiness Beef Stew

With the temperatures dipping into the 20s in both Colonial Beach and Albuquerque, my sweetheart Carolyn Flynn and I decided not to do a charcuterie board tonight and decided to go a heart warming soup/stew route. My darling went with a Kale, Butternut Squash and White Bean Soup (photo included below) and I decided on an Irish pub-style Guinness Beef Stew. I had never made this before, but we enjoyed this meal last summer while on vacation in Ireland…in a quaint Irish pub, of course. This recipe is a bit of a hybrid between My Wild Atlantic Kitchen and The Daring Gourmet. Irish pub-style Guinness Beef Stew • 6 slices bacon ,diced• 2 pounds beef chuck• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (with pepper, salt if you like,)• 2 medium-large yellow onions ,chopped• 4...

Albequreque International Balloon Festival 2022

October in Albequreque is all about the launching of hundreds of hot air balloons. It’s a wonderous thing to see. It was amazing to see the logistics of getting 500 balloons airborne in the early morning. If you have an open spot on your bucket list, put this on...

Tikka fish with spinach and braised leeks

Our standing Saturday Night Dinner Date was virtual last week, and my kitchen partner and loving fiance, Carolyn Flynn suggested a couple NYTs recipes, Sheet-Pan Fish Tikka with Spinach, and for a side, Braised Leeks with Parmesan. It was a wonderful, tasty meal and the leeks surprised me by how tender and full of flavor they were. They absolutely will show up as a side-dish on future meals at my table. Here are the links. A subscription is required, but I find they $5 a month subscription well worth the cost. https://cooking.nytimes.com/…/1023493-sheet-pan-fish… https://cooking.nytimes.com/…/12667-braised-leeks-with… FISH TIKKA Ingredients Yield: 4 servings 1½ pounds firm, white-fleshed fish (such as cod, basa or halibut, cut into chunks)...