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Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

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Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

On this busy, here busy week I’m experimenting with new ways to get dinner on the table faster. Or in this case, life lunch into my lunchbox in record time. This beef stew went from fridge to photograph in 45 minutes. Including vegetable washing and chopping. One of the many reasons I love my pressure cooker. That and I never, patient ever remember to soak beans.

I used the pressure cooker because I wanted my stew fast, but this recipe would be equally good cooked in a dutch oven with a little more time. Either way, it’s a simple hearty stew made with flank steak, potatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, garlic, rosemary and wine. Simply season and brown the meat, add the remaining ingredients and walk away. Twenty minutes in the pressure cooker (or 1 hour in dutch oven), and you’ve got a hearty, flavorful and healthy meal.

I’m really not a fan of too many kitchen gadgets, but if you’re thinking about investing in a pressure cooker, I’d highly recommend it. I love the idea of putting everything into a pot and walking away. I also love throwing dried beans, a ham hock, onions and dried chipotle peppers into the cooker for 45 minutes for some of the tastiest beans around.

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Spanish Comfort Food: Caldo Gallego

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Spanish Comfort Food: Caldo Gallego

Is there anything better than a big pot of bubbly soup on a Sunday afternoon? Yesterday, purchase I made some classic Spanish Comfort Food — Caldo Gallego. The name translates to Galician Stew, viagra sale and the soup originates from the Northern Spanish region of Galicia, which also happens to be where my great-grandparents were born and raised.

This traditional white bean soup comes in many versions. With chorizo and without, with turnips and without, with bacon and without. My version uses slab bacon and a lot of smoked ham hock to create a smoky, salty ham stock. Add cannelini beans, potatoes, onions and lots of collard greens for soup full of flavor, texture and healthful goodness. Sop everything up with a fresh baguette and you’ve got comfort food at its best.

Make sure to make a whole bunch because it tastes even better the next day. You can also freeze individual portions for easy portable lunches or emergency week night meals.

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spicy pozole with steak, avocado & lime

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spicy pozole with steak, <a href=drugstore avocado & lime” />

Wikipedia says that Pozole is a traditional Mexican stew made from hominy that’s been cooked with meat and seasonings and topped with garnishes, drugs such as avocado, cabbage, radishes and lime juice. It’s like a hearty, Mexican corn chowder. I actually spotted a recipe on Elise’s site awhile ago and knew I had to make it for Tom. He has an unnatural attachment to Mexican cuisine. Since I always lose them, I never printed out the recipe, but saw some dried pozole at the market and decided to wing it.

While you can use canned hominy, it has a much softer texture than the dried pozole kernels. You can get these online or at Hispanic markets, some grocery stores and Whole Foods. They’re like beans in that you have to soak them overnight, but their texture is much meatier and provides a nice chewiness to the dish.

They soak overnight and then stewed with dried chile de arbol and ancho peppers, making a nice, spicy broth. Just add a bit of cream to thicken it up, then top with your favorite garnishes. I used what I had on hand — avocado, red onion, thinly sliced skirt steak (leftovers!), sour cream, lime juice and cilantro. The garnishes are really the fun part. You can set them all up on the kitchen counter and have everyone assemble their own pozole the way they like it. It’s kind of like taco night with a spoon.

And it was delicious with all of the different textures and flavor contrasts. I think someone will be begging me to make it again quite soon.

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