The Jerk!

Ahh, I am finally sitting down to blog! I have been inundated with great food this month. As soon as I get the pictures from my belated birthday fete I will post about that smorgasbord of yummy goodness. I am also excited that my Honey is taking me on a hot date this weekend, and we will be able to blog about Nonna Tata's! Stay tuned for those blogs!


I spent the first part of March out of town, I was only home a short time when Mike left to go out of town for work. This put a damper on our cooking together, but it gave me time to contemplate what I wanted him to fix for me when he came back home. Finally, after all the soccer games on Saturday, Mike took us to our favorite place... Central Market. They were in the middle of an Eat the Heat event so there was an assortment of peppers and peppered goods throughout the store... and samples! We hit the jackpot! I had already asked Mike to make Caribbean Jerk chicken, but we needed to pick up some jerk, and Central Market sells it in bulk. This is really the cheapest way to buy spices, FYI. We bought several ounces for $1.44. 
We couldn't just run in and buy the seasoning, we had to check everything out. We were going to pick up some shrimp to also throw on the grill, but when we got to the seafood counter we noticed a treat we couldn't resist... bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed with a New Mexico green chili. Grabbing some fresh herbs, chicken breasts for us and drumsticks for the kids, and of course some good beer (Hofbrau Original Lager), we headed home with our bounty. 
I decided I would make cilantro lime rice to accompany the chicken, so my job was easy. 
I melted a tablespoon of butter in a medium pot and threw in a cup of rice. I toasted the rice and then added the juice of one lime and a teaspoon of salt. I cooked it for about a minute and added 1 and 3/4 cups of water. I brought the water to a boil and then I covered it. I turned the temperature down to low and left it cook for about 20 minutes and then turned off the heat. I chopped up a handful of cilantro and tossed it into the rice. Voila. 
Mike was assigned the chicken and shrimp. He decided he would trick it up a little and after rubbing the chicken with extra virgin olive oil he made a marinade with honey, about one and a half tablespoons jerk seasoning, and a little Guinness we had on hand. He brushed it all over the chicken breasts. (The jerk is a little too spicy for the kids, so we just rubbed their drumsticks with evoo and kosher salt.)
He then took it out to the grill and proceeded to make Mike magic. He continued basting the breasts with the marinade throughout the cooking process. All I could do was rub my hands in anticipation! Finally, he came in with all the goodies. 
We started off the meal with the shrimp which were fantastic. The shrimp were tender and sweet and combined with the saltiness of the bacon and the bite of the pepper were little bites of amazing goodness. 

We moved on to the chicken. The honey caramelized on the chicken binding the jerk to it. It was incredible. The sweetness of the cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ginger combined with the savory onions, chili, garlic, black pepper, and paprika pulled together an amazing dish. This was one for the books! Good job Mikey!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In the spirit of our favorite green holiday my Honey and I decided a good ol' Irish stew would be the way to go for dinner. Now, wanting to keep it authentic I had to google a good recipe. I found one the included both red wine and Guinness, so you know it had to be good. I found the recipe at :

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/irish_beef_stew/

This was our creation. =-)

Of course, I didn't follow it exactly. I didn't have tomato paste, so instead of adding the paste and sugar and Worcestershire I substituted ketchup. I used red potatoes instead of russet, and I used round steak (from the side of beef we purchased). I made sure to tenderize it first, since round steak can be tough. 

I also didn't have two hours to devote to cooking the stew, so once I sauteed the veggies for 20 minutes I went ahead and threw them into the pot to finish cooking. I cooked the stew a total of an hour and it was still delicious. 

I served it with a nice chilled Killian's Irish Red and a loaf of potato rosemary bread. I also made a side of broccoli since my kids needed a green side, and this is the green holiday. =-) Slainte!

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (NOT extra-lean)
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
• I cup of Guinness beer
• 1 cup of fine red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

METHOD

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Lightly salt the beef pieces. Working in batches if necessary, add the beef (do not crowd the pan, or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook, without stirring, until nicely browned on one side, then use tongs to turn the pieces over. Continue to cook in this manner until all sides are browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2 While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.

3 Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

Yield: Serves 4 to 6.

Irish Beef Stew Recipe