Roasted Root Vegetables

1 lb carrots, medium dice
1/2 lb parsnips, medium dice
1/2 c onion, small dice
1/2 c leeks, sliced
1 tbsp fresh garlic, slivered
1/4 c medium quality olive oil for roasting
Salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp high quality olive oil for finishing
3 tbsp parsley, chopped

Toss the vegetables with cooking grade olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 375 about 30 minutes or until nicely browned and tender. Drizzle with Lucini or other high-end olive oil, add parsley and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Beef Stroganoff

We have a holiday tradition at the Sherman's. The family goes up north to Iron Mountain the week before New Years and I stay home because its a very busy week for me at work. (New Years Eve is a huge day in Restaurants.) So I usually cook something for everyone the day they return. My mother-in-law, Joyce, one year suggested Beef Stroganoff but I ended up making something else. Next year she said the stroganoff was great and could I make it again? I don't know what I made but it wasn't stroganoff. Well, now its a running joke. If I ever did make beef stroganoff this is how I would do it:

Serves 8-10

3 lb round steak, cut into 1/2" strips

1/2 c salad oil (more if needed)

1 1/2 c flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

 2-3 c white wine for de-glazing

1 1/2 c onion, minced

1 lb mushrooms, quartered, stems removed

3-4 nice size cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp herbs provence

beef stock

2 tbsp butter1 pkg pearl onions () frozen

8 oz sour cream

1/2 c cornishons, sliced

Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot. Combine the flour, salt and pepper; dredge the meat to coat and shake off the excess. Saute the meat until nicely browned. Work in small batches so the meat sears properly and discard any oil that remains in the pot. Set the meat aside for a bit.*

Now sweat the onions over low heat in a small amount of butter until soft. Add mushrooms and raise the heat. Cook until mushrooms start to brown. Add the garlic and herbs and cook a couple minutes to let the beauty out. Add the reserved meat and beef stock. Cover and cook over low heat for an hour or so until the beef is pretty tender. Stir it every once in a while so it doesn't scorch.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, melt the butter and cook the pearl onions over medium heat until soft and nicely  browned. Set aside.

By the time the meat is tender the liquid in the pot should be pretty dense. Finish by adding the rest of the cast- including the pearl onions. I like to reserve some cornishons and pearl onions to sprinkle on the top for style points.

*You're going to get a nice brown fond going on the bottom of the pot- be careful not to let it burn. For a recipe this size you'll likely want to de-glaze a couple times with wine and/or stock. After de-glazing I usually clean the kettle before proceeding.

Guinness Beef Stew w/ Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Root Vegetables

Serves 4-6

I've seen a lot of recipes for this- most of which call for demi-glace (who in Middle America has access to demi-glace- really) and something called a 'kilo' of meat. This recipe is written for the American cook in plain (American) English.

The Stew
3 tbsp butter
3 lb stew beef, 2" dice (Anything labeled 'chuck' or 'pot roast')*
1 c onion, small dice
1 c leeks, sliced
1 c carrot, small dice
1 c celery root, small dice (or celery if unavailable)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp herbs de Provence (or substitute parsley, sage, rosemary, and/or thyme)
2 c beef broth or water (if you can't get low sodium broth use water)
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp flour
1 cn Guinness beer (14.9 oz)
Salt and pepper to taste

Before beginning you might want to do a quality check on the beer. Select a can at random, pour into a heavy (stout) glass, and enjoy.

Melt butter in a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat and add the beef. Cook until the meat gives up its juice and you get a nice caramel color. Add the onions and cook until they are browned, then add the leeks. Continue cooking until leeks are soft. Now add the carrots and celery root- again, cook until browned. ** If using celery, add it after the carrots have caramelized. Celery has very high moisture content and will prevent the other ingredients from browning.

Once the vegetables have caramelized add the garlic, herbs, broth, salt and pepper. (Careful with the salt- this broth is going to reduce by half  and concentrate all the flavors.) Bring to near boiling then reduce heat until it only just simmers. Cover and cook for an hour, maybe an hour and a half, until the meat is nice and tender. Check occasionally to see if you need to add water. There should be just enough liquid to barely cover the meat. The vegetables will probably melt into the broth- that's fine; they're still there in spirit.

Once the meat is pretty tender- but before it starts to fall apart- make a roux by combining the 2 tbsp melted butter and the flour in a separate pan and cook a few minutes under low heat until it has a nice "nutty" aroma. Bring the stew to a rolling simmer and add the roux until well thickened. Add the Guinness and cut the heat. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

Mashed Potatoes
5 or 6 good size Yukon Gold or other potatoes (about 4 lb)
1/2 c cream (or milk)
6 tbsp butter, cut in chunks
Salt and White pepper to taste
Dash of Nutmeg (optional)

Special Equipment: Ricer (if you don't have one, get one)

Peel the potatoes and slice about 1/2" thick. Place in cold water and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook about 20 minutes or until potatoes are very soft; drain well.

Squeeze potatoes through a ricer. Place cream and butter in the pot and heat until butter is melted. (If using milk simply melt the butter by itself and barely warm the milk. Milk, unlike cream will scald if it gets too hot.)

Return the potatoes to the pot and fold into the cream mixture with a wire whisk or rubber spatula. Try not to smash all the volume out of your beautifully riced potatoes. Adjust with more cream and/or butter if desired. (Cream is for texture, butter is for flavor.) Add salt, white pepper, and nutmeg to taste.

Roasted Root Vegetables
1 lb carrots, medium dice

1/2 lb parsnips, medium dice
1/2 c onion, small dice
1/2 c leeks, sliced
1 tbsp fresh garlic, slivered
1/4 c medium quality olive oil for roasting
Salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp high quality olive oil for finishing
3 tbsp parsley, chopped

Toss the vegetables with cooking grade olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 375 about 30 minutes or until nicely browned and tender. Drizzle with Lucini or other high-end loive oil, add parsley and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

*Note: I suggest you get a chuck roast and dice it yourself rather than buy the 'stew meat' you find pre-cut in the supermarket, which is usually from the round. Chuck is from the shoulder of the animal and has more fat marbling and thus more flavor. (That's right- fat equals flavor.) Just trim it up to remove big chunks of fat, and leave the pieces pretty big- at least 2" square- they'll shrink up during cooking.

**This process is called 'caramelization'. You are extracting moisture from the ingredients and allowing the natural sugars to collect on the bottom of the pot. This produces what the French call 'fond' or 'base'.)