Beef Stew with Rosemary and Mushrooms, by Diane

I loved making Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon a few years ago, but the process was so time consuming (about 12 hours) that I haven't made it since. In a doctor's office the other day I saw an article in Family Circle for a slow cooker version that is modeled off of Julia's famous recipe and decided to give it a try!

The stew takes 8 hours to cook, with about 35 minutes of prep time beforehand. It's a little annoying to have to cook beef in the morning, but since I wasn't sure if I could cook it then refrigerate it overnight I did it anyway. Overall, this is a pretty good substitute but doesn't hold a candle to the original recipe. A big part of the problem was the mushrooms and the onions. Both were done as separate steps, but what set them apart is her cooking method with lots of butter and herb packets and simmering both until the sauces boiled down into almost a syrup consistency that was loaded with flavor. In this recipe, they just tasted like mushrooms and onions. Next time, I think I will add these steps to improve it.

Ingredients:

4 lb. boneless beef chuck, well trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces
1/2 C all-purpose flour
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 C olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 T tomato paste
1 C dry red wine
2 C beef broth
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4″ thick
1 C chopped canned tomatoes
1 fresh rosemary sprig
1 bay leaf
2 T unsalted butter
1 ;b. white button mushrooms, quartered
2 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley


Directions:

1. Pat beef dry with paper towels.  In a bowl, combine flour with salt and pepper to taste.  Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and toss until lightly coated.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add beef in batches and cook until browned on all sides, about 20 minutes total.  Place meat in a large slow cooker.

3. Add onions to skillet and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garlic and tomato paste.  Add wine and cook, scraping the pan, until liquid comes to a simmer.

4. Pour contents of skillet over meat.  Add broth, carrots, tomatoes and herbs to slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until beef is tender when pierced with a fork.

5. When beef is almost ready, melt butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are golden, about 10 minutes.

6. Stir mushrooms into stew and discard bay leaf.  Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley.

Chicken Tortilla Soup, by Diane

I love Mexican food, and I love soups on a cold day, so this recipe is a perfect combination! I found it in a Rachael Ray magazine, and it looked easy and really delicious. The soup itself turned out to be really great, tasted delicious, and had just enough spice to it that it really warmed you up! It was also really filling.

I found a lot of problems with the recipe itself though. The tortilla strips in the oven burned after ten minutes, causing me to throw out the batch and use the extras I had left. In the future, I would reduce the cooking time to ten minutes and watch them carefully!! Also, the 3 tbsp. of oil was not enough to keep the tortilla squares from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning, despite low heat and constant stirring and scraping of the bottom. I ended up having to add in a bit of chicken stock just so that I wouldn't burn the base of the soup, and then everything cooked fine. Finally, the directions never said to remove the bay leaves, and since there are so many chunky things in this soup I wound up eating one- so next time I will remove before serving!!

Here is the link to the actual recipe: http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe/jane-foxs-famous-tortilla-soup/

Toppings Bar- minus the red onion and jalepenos!

Ingredients:

12 corn tortillas, 6 sliced lengthwise into 1-inch-wide strips and 6 cut into 1 1/2 squares
Vegetable cooking spray
Salt and pepper
1/4 corn oil (I used EVOO)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 - 3 cloves garlic, chopped
A handful cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons mild to medium chili powder, such as Gephardt's or ground ancho chile powder (about a couple scant palmfuls)
1 tablespoon ground cumin (about a palmful)
6 cups chicken stock
1 15 ounce can  diced tomatoes with green chiles
2 rotisserie chicken breasts, skin and bones discarded, meat shredded or diced
2 avocados
2 limes, cut into wedges
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 large jalapeno chile peppers, seeded and chopped
Crumbled queso fresco and sour cream, for topping


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees . Arrange the tortilla strips on a baking sheet in a single layer; spray with cooking spray. Bake until deep golden, about 15 minutes. Season with salt.
2. Meanwhile, in a soup pot or dutch oven, heat 3 tbsp. oil over medium heat. Add the tortilla squares and cook, stirring, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tbsp. oil, the yellow onion, garlic, cilantro, bay leaves, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the spices are toasted and the onion is softened, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the stock and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and lower the heat to a simmer until ready to serve.
3. Peel, seed and dice the avocados. Place some at the bottom of each soup bowl and douse with a healthy squeeze of lime juice. Pour the soup into the bowls. At the table, top with the red onion, baked tortilla strips, jalapenos, queso fresco and sour cream. Serve with the remaining lime wedges.