Beef Stew

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1 lb Beef Stew Meat
1 Beef Bone
1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion
2 Cups Baby Carrots
2 Cups Yukon Gold Potatoes-cubed
1 Cup Celery
1 pinch Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
2 Cups Sliced Mushrooms

Instruction:

Take soup bone and boil in a med kettle 4 hours adding in 2 small bay leafs, a pinch of Thyme, 10 cranks on the pepper and salt mills. Chop yellow onion and 2 cloves of garlic and place in a skillet on medium high heat until the onions just starting to turn brown add 2 good shakes of teriyaki sauce and allow it to cook for 5 more minutes. With a slotted spoon move the onions into the beef broth-DO NOT RINSE SKILLET! We will have further use for it later…

Allow beef and onion broth to cook for a good 2 hours uncovered. In the skillet you cooked the onions in, sauté the beef tips and mushrooms (I use baby portabellas) in the same skillet. (You may have to add some oil). Then put them in the pot, deglaze the skillet with some of the beef broth and add it into the pot. About an hour and a half before serving add the baby carrots and the Yukon gold potatoes. After about a half hour reduce to simmer until carrots and potatoes soften. Serve with a hearty bread-I like Italian sweet bread, but that’s just me.

Discussion: This recipe takes a while. But after you get the beef broth going it does not bear a lot of watching. Do not good wild with the thyme or it will be too strong. Makes sure the onions are well on their way before you introduce the teriyaki. You want the onions to give up their complex sugars on their own. Teriyaki is a blend of soy sauce and a sweet Japanese wine called Merrin. After you ladle out the onions you want that flavor for the meat and mushrooms. I like portabellas because they have good mushroom flavor for the savory part of the dish.

I also like to give the potatoes a quick fry in the skillet as well. I use Yukon gold because they are pretty waxy and I want my broth thick and rich. I like to slice them in quarters.


Big D

French Onion Soup ala Dale

French Onion Soup

Ingredients:

1 soup bone (from butcher)
2 sweet yellow onions-medium large
3 cloves fresh garlic
1 bay leaf
1 pinch of thyme
¼ cup Kikkoman teriyaki
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 loaf French bread or baguette
1 cup of shredded provolone cheese

Instructions:

Fill a medium kettle with water and bring to a boil, add salt and pepper to taste, pinch of thyme, and one small bay leaf, and the soup bone. Reduce heat to simmer/slow boil.

Slice yellow onions (semi circle), smash 3 cloves of garlic (I put them through a garlic press), coat bottom of skillet with a little extra virgin olive oil, start garlic first to take off the sharpness, and then introduce onions and cook for 30 minutes. Added ¼ cup teriyaki sauce to help caramelize onions, after about 20 minutes add onions to kettle. Cook for 6 hours.

Slice bread to appropriate size and toast in oven for about 3 minutes (your time may vary).
Ladle in soup mixture in bowls or crocks place toasted bread in bowl and cover with cheese bake until cheese melts-serve hot.

Discussion:

This soup takes a long time to make but does not take a lot watching over after the first hour. It is important to cook the soup uncovered at a high simmer or slow boil; we want the soup to reduce. Don’t go crazy with dehydrated thyme or the bay leaves-they’re pretty powerful stuff.

I use teriyaki because it has Soy sauce which is very salty and a wine Merrin. It is a sweet Japanese wine that will add to the carmalization process. When I first start the onions I make sure they get coated with the pressed garlic and plenty of salt. This helps them cook down and the result is very sweet.

I taste this once an hour to make sure that I have enough flavor coming along.

Peking Chicken ala Dale

Peking Chicken ala Dale

Ingredients:

3 boneless Chicken breasts (into small cubes)
2 Large (sweet) carrots
1 can sliced bamboo shoots
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 cup Chinese pea pods (you will needs to slice)
2 green onions
1 cup mushrooms (shitake if you have them)
2 cloves of garlic
1 table spoon of grated ginger or ginger paste
½ cup of teriyaki sauce (or ¼ soy & ¼ Mirin)
½ cup honey
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
½ cup cashews

Make sauce:

½ cup Teriyaki
½ cup honey
1 table spoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic (minced in press)
1 green onion (already sliced)

Cook over low heat

Thinly slice or cube chicken and place in marinade for 1 hour in refrigerator.

Heat wok or cast iron skillet.

Use a neutral tasting oil like corn, canola, or peanut oil (one that can tolerate the high heat) then add another table spoon of ginger and the other clove of garlic to infuse cooking oil.

Add ingredients in this order:

Carrots
Bamboo shoots
Water chestnuts
Pea pods
Other green onion

Stir fry & remove to dish

Add Chicken and some of the marinade; stir fry until chicken is done. Heat the rest of the marinade in a small sauce pot and add 1 teaspoon corn starch.

Re-introduce vegetables stir fry, add mushrooms and cashews and stir fry for about a minute longer until mushrooms are cooked. Top with the sauce when it thickens.

Serve

Crab ala Dale

Crab ala Dale

1 package Crabmeat
1 Large sweet onion-pre-fried with teriyaki-finely chopped
5 Cloves garlic-roasted in butter in oven
2 strips beacon-rendered
1 half stick Velveeta
1 Loaf Italian sweet bread



Render 2 slices of bacon in skillet-cook large sweet onion (finely chopped) (high heat) in cast iron skillet with Bacon or canola oil (add Teriyaki to help caramelize). Preheat over to 400 and roast garlic in butter for about 30 minutes. . Add precooked garlic (pressed) and onion and toss. Place mixture in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.


Add in crab and toss to thoroughly coat in mixture. Add Velveeta or mild cheddar cheese and melt in pot.

Slice bread and spread mixture on bread, bake on 325 until cheese mixture is roasted.


Serve

Meatballs ala Dale

Meat Balls Ala Dale


1 LB ground Chuck
1 Vidalia Onion (or sweet yellow)
2 Cloves garlic minced in press and roasted before in butter and olive oil
3 Pieces of white bread
1 cup of Milk
1 thick cut piece of bacon rendered
1 Egg-beaten
Basil to tastle
Honey Dijon about 2 table spoons


Render and reserve bacon then finely dice yellow onion and fry in Bacon grease and olive oil, make sure to scrape all oil and grease.

Remove garlic from oven and press/minced keep all oil and butter.

Soak 3 pieces white bread and soak in milk.

Combine Ground Chuck, Egg, Bread, Onion, Garlic, Basil, and the Oils (and bacon grease) mix into balls add salt and pepper. Fry over medium heat in cast iron or oven safe skillet until browned. Finnish the entree in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Mongolian Beef ala Dale

Dales Mongolian Beef


Ingredients:

Marinade

½ cup Teriyaki (Kikkoman works best)
½ cup Honey
1 teaspoon toasted Sesame oil
2 teaspoon grated ginger or ginger paste
1 clove garlic
1lb Flank Steak

Mix the teriyaki, honey, ginger, and garlic over low heat, let cool then add thinly sliced flank steak, let marinade at least one hour.

Main course:

Beef (1 lb flank steak thinly sliced)
1 Large carrot (test for sweetness)
2 Green Onions
1 cup of Sliced Mushroom
½ Cup broccoli florets
1 teaspoon ginger (freshly grated or ginger paste)
1 teaspoon garlic (pressed)

Heat Wok or cast iron skillet to medium heat. Use enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan and add 1 teaspoon grated ginger-garlic paste to infuse the oil. Remove beef from marinade, set in bowl and combine with Green Onion. Put marinade in a small pot and bring to boil, adding 1 table spoon Oyster sauce and a table spoon of corn starch.

Add ingredients in this order, carrot stir fry for 5 minutes, then add beef and green onion, broccoli, and finally the mushrooms (mushroom should absorb any left over juices). Stir fry for about 5 minutes more or until done.

Sauce:

Bring marinade to a boil add Oyster sauce and cornstarch to thicken. Right before serving add sauce and let cook about 30 seconds.


Notes: One could substitute dark Soy and Mirin instead of using bottled Teriyaki. Because the ginger is first in the wok, the oil is infused with ginger, the carrots will have a sort of gingery taste. This is planned this way; if you are not a fan of gingery carrots this step could be omitted. Mushrooms should not be rinsed as they will boil and become tough and also cause the beef to boil, not sear. If you’re not a fan of oyster sauce, you could omit this also, but the oyster sauce adds a pleasing underlying savory aspect to the dish.

Chicken Ala Dale

Chicken Ala Dale


Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Bread crumbs-enough to coat the chickens
Dijon Mustard
Honey
Ginger paste or graded Ginger
Orange marmalade


Mix Sauce:

1 cup honey
1 cup Dijon mustard
2 Table spoon grated Ginger or ginger paste
1 Table spoon orange marmalade
(Reserve some for dipping)


Step 1 Mix on small pot over low heat when ingredients combine take off heat.

Step 2 pound chicken breasts flat with rubber mallet covering the chicken with plastic wrap.

Step 3 Spread on sauce mixture with spoonula

Step 4 Dredge Chicken in bread crumbs

Step 5 In a cast iron or oven safe skillet take one table spoon of grated ginger and a flavor neutral cooking oil (such as canola oil) and infuse with ginger, brown chicken. Then place in a preheated over at 325 for about 15 minutes. About 5 minutes later take extra marinade and liberally brush onto chicken and place back in over for about 5 minutes. Remove, let rest for 5 minutes, and serve.


Serve

An introduction

My name is Dale Miller, and I am an amatuer chef. I love food and have decided to share some of my recipes. I hope you like them!