Pens, Paper, & Ammo

I actually finished a project!

Despite my appearance, I am quite happy with my accomplishment.

Obviously, as you can tell by my lovely picture, I need more coffee. I also have a lovely green shirt. Calm down, I know you’re all envious.

There is nothing more comforting than bread and stew. There is just something about soup and stew recipes that attracts me. Maybe it’s the ability to feed two people for a long time… or the fact that you can throw just about anything in the pot and get a hot, healthy meal.

Recipes for my basic beef stew and Italian bread follow:

Beef Stew (note: I make the recipe for this as I go… you may need to alter it to suit your personal tastes.)

***For the dredging: Flour (a cup?), Cocoa Powder (1 tbsp?), Powdered beef bouillon (2 tbsp?), Garlic powder (1 tsp?), Onion powder (1 tsp?)

***Everything else: ~1 lb lean stew meat (lamb works well too), Olive oil (enough to coat the bottom the pan), 1 can beef stock (I used low fat, low sodium), 2 bay leaves, ~4 medium potatoes, 3 carrots, 3 stalks celery, 1 medium onion

1. Mix all the ingredients together for the dredging. Trim any excess fat off the stew meat and dredge it in the flour mixture.

2. Heat the olive oil in the pan. After coating the meat in the flour, drop the meat into the hot oil and allow to brown evenly.

3. Deglaze the pan by adding the can of beef stock slowly. Add the bay leaf. Boil for about 5 minutes or until the mixture seems thick. Continue cooking on low for about a half and hour.

4. During this time clean and chop all the vegetables.

5. Add the vegetables to the pot and continue cooking until soft. Add water or additional beef stock if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste.

Italian bread:

***2 c. lukewarm water, 1 package fast-action dry yeast, 1 tsp salt, 5 c. unbleached flour, 1 tbsp olive oil

1. Combine the lukewarm water and yeast in a large bowl. Stir until completely dissolved. Add the salt and stir until dissolved.

2. Add the flour one cup at a time. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. If the mixture seems too sticky just add a little more flour.

3. Pour the olive oil into another large bowl. Put the kneaded bread in the bowl, turning it over a couple times to coat it evenly. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place for 2 hours.

4. After two hours, punch the dough down and let rise for 35 minutes.

5. After 35 minutes divide the dough into two halves and form into long logs. Place dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Let rise for 20 minutes.

6. Sprinkle the logs with some cold water and make three shallow diagonal slashes (each) on the top of the dough-log. Let rise for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

7. Bake dough for 45-50 minutes at 400 degrees or until slightly brown and crusty.

Pictures to come eventually.