Beef Stew With Marsala Wine and Mushrooms

This is a recipe I created today based on the fact that I was in the mood for Boeuf Bourguignon but did not want to go to the store for a bottle of red wine.

1 lb. chuck roast, cubed and coated with 1 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 carrots, sliced
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed into large pieces
8 oz package white mushrooms, sliced thickly
2 cups beef broth
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup Marsala Wine
2 tbsp flour mixed with 1/2 cup water (thickener)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a heavy cast iron Dutch oven. Add olive oil and add beef cubes. Do not stir or turn until the beef is nicely browned. Turn over and brown other side too. Add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent. Add thyme sprigs and beef broth and mushroom. Bring to a boil and then lower to medium low.

When the beef is tender, approximately 45 minutes later, add the potatoes and carrots. Cook until potatoes and carrots are tender, another 20 minutes or so. Add thickener and cook another 2 minutes or so.

Serve with buttered noodles or rice.

Egg Fu Yung

This is my recipe for Egg Fu Yung that my son loves.

Serves 4

5 Large Eggs (beaten with 1 tablespoon water)
1/4 to 1/2 lb. cooked shrimp (shelled, deveined and cut into sections)
1/4 cup fresh mung bean sprouts

Brown Sauce:
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste (preferably white pepper)

Heat frying pan while you mix the batter for the egg omelets. Add two tablespoons vegetable oil to hot pan, making sure to coat the bottom evenly. Add approximately 1/4 to 1/2 cup of batter to make each omelet (depending on how big you want them). Cook until egg sets and flip over. Continue until batter runs out. Set aside.

For sauce:

Stir all ingredients for brown sauce together and simmer in a small saucepan, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and the sauce loses its opaqueness.

Serve the Egg Fu Yung with white rice and brown sauce over it.

Tabbouleh

This is my recipe for Tabbouleh.

1 cup Bulgar Wheat (dried) - Prepare by pouring 1 cup boiling water on dried Bulgar and let sit until all water is absorbed.
1 bunch fresh Italian parsley, chopped coarsely (you may add some fresh mint too)
1 Cucumber, peeled and diced
1 cup Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in halves
1/4 cup minced Green Onions
1/4 cup sliced green olives (or combination of green and Kalamata olives)
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice of one lime or lemon.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all above ingredients.

Serve.

No Reservations - Burning Questions

This week is the long-awaited Burning Questions episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Based on the results of the Travel Channel’s online poll, Tony answers the Top 10 viewer questions by using clips from past shows – even clips from Season 1. Personal favorites of mine make an appearance, such as the massage in Uzbekistan, trouble in Chile, and the priceless expression on his face when he’s at the Dracula Castle on Halloween (with a bit of background about how they got there - hilarious).

In the special he actually addresses cute critters that he has to eat (you’ll be surprised by his answer) as well as his feelings toward the fan favorite, Zamir (with a great ‘highlight’ reel of Zamir).

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Burning Questions airs Monday, August 31 at 10pm E/P on the Travel Channel.

New Episodes of Bizarre Foods - Next Cuba

Cuba Episode Description
To most people in the United States, Cuba is a strange country. It can seem so far away even though it is only ninety miles off the U.S. coast. In Cuba, you can find relics of the cold war era just about everywhere you look. But beyond the many reminders of the past, there is a vibrant people and interesting culture.

Millions of people spill into the streets to celebrate International Worker's Day, otherwise known as the May Day Parade. While marching with the people, Andrew meets world class boxer Teófilo Stevenson. Teofilo is one of the greatest Olympic boxers in Cuban history and he symbolizes the fighting spirit of the Cuban people.

Since the revolution in 1959, the embargo has stopped the import of new American cars. The law has kept classic American car culture very much alive. So, in true Cuban fashion, Andrew rents a gorgeous cherry red 1957 Oldsmobile convertible to get around the streets of Havana.

Andrew shares a delicious lunch with two locals from Vinales, Dago and Omar. They spend an entire evening preparing a freshly slaughtered pig and a Hoodia (a common tree rat) for a roast. The preparation is quite an event as Dago and Omar serenade both Andrew and the pig that will soon be their lunch. The entire neighborhood, including a full band, comes to celebrate the event by singing and dancing.

Even though one trip ends with a broken boat and a rainstorm, nobody Andrew is with seems to mind. Cubans are not wealthy, but they are incredibly rich in spirit. And they have learned to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Andrew's time in this beautiful nation taught him to better appreciate the privileged life he leads.

Anything you can do to help us spread the word about this new show would be greatly appreciated! Below are a couple sneak peek videos you can embed on your blog or link to from other social media sites. (The second video is from Andrew himself!).

Tune-in: Tuesday, September 1st, at 10 E/P on Travel Channel.
Sneak peek video
Shout-out from Andrew: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p8pfjco8iU

Connect with the show:
Web: http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Bizarre_World/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/azbizarreworld
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BizarreWorld

No Reservations - Montana

In the next episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Tony travels to Montana, where the scenery is breathtaking and all varieties of wildlife make for an interesting trip.

While there, Tony visits the Metclaf family, fourth-generation ranchers in Big Sky country that run a cattle operation and take-on tourists who want to experience a working ranch in order to make money and ‘stay viable’, as Mrs. Metcalf says. There, Tony gets a taste of their long work days (mostly unpaid) in testy weather. To gain more insight into what it means to be in Montana, Tony visits native Montanan Dan at the Old Saloon in Livingston, a jack-of-all-trades who really knows Montana. Livingston was once a laid-back town full of railroad workers and cowboys, but in recent years it has become inundated with artists, actors, and corporate types.

Whie in Livingston, Tony is outfitted with the latest (and most flattering!) fly-fishing gear and heads out with fly-fishing shop owner and Dan Lahren; determined to make an on-camera catch. Another mainstay in Livingston is the Murray Hotel, a ‘hotel with a past’ that has seen Buffalo Bill and Calamity Jane as prior occupants. The bar in the Murray is where Tony meets up with friend Jim Harrison, a writer who is a longtime visitor of Livingston and a fishing enthusiast. His love for Montana, ‘the solace of empty spaces’, is quite apparent, as is his love of food. Chef and owner Brian Menges, of the Second Street Bistro, also located in the Murray, has prepared a wondrous meal of all local ingredients for Tony, Jim, and Russell, who have stopped in for lunch. Dish after dish of short ribs, beurre blanc, pork belly, local potatoes, rack of lamb arrive at the table, each one more delicious than the next, all locally-sourced.

Another episode highlight is The Paradise Valley, a beautiful area of land, nestled among the towering mountains. Tim, a local guide, takes Tony and Chef Brian on a trek across the valley while voicing his concerns that someday, the beautiful landscape will be filled with houses of those who visit seasonally. At base camp, they enjoy a meal of ‘game meat’ cooked by Dan (yes, fly-fishing Dan) – deer hearts, foie gras, pheasant… The conversation circling around meats, old-time ‘tough guys’ like Clint Eastwood and John Wayne, and right vs. wrong. Good all-American food, all-American men, and America’s beautiful land.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Montana airs Monday, August 24 at 10pm E/P on the Travel Channel.

Here is a link to the promo if you'd like to post to your blog:

Tony will also have a post about the episode on his blog:
http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com/

Summer Fun - Foraging for Food

Picture source

One of my favorite memories as a little girl was searching for edible plants in our backyard and making a salad. I owe the idea to a kiddie book I once read. I remember it was about Raggedy Ann and a backyard picnic with her friends. As a little girl, this idea of a backyard picnic made me want to explore my own backyard.

I do not recall what plants I found and ate other than young tender dandelion leaves. I guess I also used mint that grew everywhere in our backyard. I really wish I had kept a journal back then.

I do remember the Honeysuckle plants and flowers with fondness. Nothing better than carefully pulling the bottom of each Honeysuckle flower out and enjoying the sweet nectar that clung to that stem.

My friend Alexandra is responsible for bringing back these memories.

In the article she shared Food Foraging: Finding and enjoying wild edible plants they feature Purslane.

This plant or as I would have referred to it... weed...still grows in the yard of our family home in New Jersey. I had no idea it was edible. However, it does explain why a lady from somewhere in central America would often ask my mother to share some with her. My mother happily obliges each time.

Some of the other plants I remember growing in our backyard were not necessarily those I ventured to try eating... for instance Pokeweed. I believe we called it Pokeberry. Mulberry trees also grew all over the yard. They grew quickly and became large fruiting trees. We did not really like the taste of Mulberries as kids. Wild Grapes was yet another plant that grew in our yard and another one we did not like to eat.

It was mainly because we had the most delicious Green Apple, Rainer Cherry and dark red Cherry trees growing in our yard that the wild ones were not eaten. We also had a pear tree and a peach tree but I do not remember their fruits being as sweet as the aforementioned ones.

If we did not have those wonderful fruit tress, I think we would have found the wild berries and grapes to be tasty to eat.