Tag Archives: epicurious

Winter Warmers

Don’t you just adore good winter warmers, like the ultimate classic dish boeuf bourguignon?

This dish has been on my Culinary Bucket List, and I’m a tad bit embarrassed to say that it intimidated me and it kept getting pushed towards the end of my must make or bake list. Eek.. Speaking of bucket lists, do you have any? I use an Iphone and keep a huge list using the notes app of culinary things I want to try to make, and that way it’s always handy when I’m getting our shopping list together.

After actually making the dish, I realized that there is quite a bit of prep work before actually getting to cook it. BUT First, don’t make the same mistake that I did… forgetting the beef needs to marinate over night. Oops. It delayed our dinner by one night. Double oops. Secondly, prep all your ingredients the night before. Trust me! Major time saver if trying to serve on a work/ school week night. And third, enlist someone to help or do the kitchen cleanup along the way. (Thanks Mr. B). HUGE HELP!

We just received our new Le Creuset Dutch oven as a Christmas gift to one another, so I figured what better way to break her in than with an extra special meal like boeuf bourguignon.

Maybe you haven’t tried, or are unfamiliar with the dish. That’s okay! Together lets dive right into in with our forks and spoons. This rich beef stew is made with beef braised in red wine and beef broth, it’s flavored with thick cuts of bacon batons, mushrooms, garlic, onions, carrots, and salt/ pepper to taste. Oh my stars, it is out of this world d-elicious! We ended up serving it over some nice buttery Cavatappi noodles.

So where can you grab this recipe?
…..Well you can intrust in good ‘ol Julia Child and follow along with this video.

Or, search the internet for slightly adapted versions like the following:

Epicurious
Food.com
Simply Recipes

Whatever you decide in the end, you will not be disappointed.

In our greatest Julia Child impersonation we leave you with this quote, “See, I enjoy cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food…” BON APPÉTIT!

Backpackbees

Angry Shrimp

Funny story….we thought these shrimp were really ANGRY after we cooked them one night last week. Yes, so much so we thought we had food poisoning from these bad little as$ suckers. No bueno! After a reallllyyyyy rough weekend we Bees are recovering slowly but surly.

I felt like Monday morning came way to fast and way to early today. I picked myself out of bed and went to work all responsible like, only to find out my co-worker came into the office incredibly ill and showing the same symptoms that we had over the weekend. AHH! Attack of the angry shrimp? Nope, he didn’t have any of our angry shrimp. Ohhhh noooo even worse, STOMACH VIRUS! Yep! Ew!

Well now that I’ve been living on toast, tea, slowly transitioning over to soup and graduating onto a grilled cheese sandwich, I think it’s time to share the angry shrimp recipe with all of you. Not to mention that it’s a little victory to even be able to fathom the very thought of anything food related after this weekend.

Pair with a nice cool simple cucumber salad and keep those hands washed!

Enjoy!

Angry Shrimp
Slightly altered from: Epicurious

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons pepitas
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 cup diced white onion
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
2 teaspoons chipotle powder
4 teaspoons chopped garlic, divided
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 cup Triple Sec liqueur
20 ounces low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 pounds medium-large shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
1 tablespoon orange zest
6 cups leafy spinach, chopped
3 cups cooked brown rice

Instructions:

In a small pan over high heat toast the pepitas until lightly brown, 1 to 2 minutes. In a food processor or chopper, puree raisins and 1/4 cup water 1 minute. In a large pan over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add onion and cook about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in raisin puree, cherries, chipotle, 1 teaspoons garlic and cumin; cook 1 minute. Add in Triple Sec and cook, stirring, until alcohol is cooked out about 1 to 2 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. In a separate bowl, dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoons cold water. Slowly add in cornstarch mixture to broth mixture to thicken. Reduce heat and simmer mixture 10 minutes. Add in shrimp and cook about 5 minutes, or until pale white. Stir in fresh orange zest; season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer shrimp to a covered bowl and set aside. Lastly, in a pan, heat remaining 1 tablespoons oil. Cook spinach and 3 teaspoons garlic, make sure to stir until spinach starts to wilt, this will be about 3 to 5 minutes. Strain all spinach juices and combine in with brown rice. Plate rice mixture and top with those angry shrimp.

Backpackbees