Beef Stew!!!

Alright, now that the fall seems to be upon us I thought I would share with you my ultimate favorite comfort stew recipe. This recipe calls for beer but you don't need to use it. You can double up on the beef stock and the add a little more vinegar. Yum!!! Serve it with crusty rolls, fresh bread or biscuits as well as a couple drips of Tabasco.

Oil
1 pack stewing beef, cut into small cubes
Salt and pepper
2-3 sweet onions cut up, not sliced
1 head of garlic, each clove smashed and pealed
brown sugar, about a table spoon
1-2 TBS flour
bay leaf
thyme
1 biggish bottle of beer, something like a honey brown or maple something is nice. Nothing bitter or too crappy
1 carton of beef stock
1 splash malt or cider vinegar
3 boiling potatoes, cubed
1 big carrot, pealed and cubed
6 white or brown mushrooms, quartered
4 ribs celery


Ok, so first season the meat. Get it all tossed in with the salt and pepper. I like to use a little steak spice too, but i love steak spice so maybe that's just me. Now heat the oil in a big ass pot and brown the meat. the trick here is to do it in small batches and actually let the meat brown. Don't get impatient and take it out when it's kinda brown/gray. You want that browned flavour, so wait it out. When all the meat has been browned, put it in a bowl and leave it somewhere in the kitchen. Now toss the onions in the pot, put on the lid, put the heat to med.low and let them wilt a little. When I say cut up onion I don't mean chopped. i mean cubed it that were possible with an onion. You want the to have some size since they are gonna get melty and delicious. Yummm! Stir the onions every few minutes or so until they start to brown. Now throw in the whole smashed garlic gloves. Like the onions, the garlic will get all melty too, so don't chop them up. Stew is all about big yummy chunks of stuff in an amazing broth. let the ingredients be big enough to stand up for themselves!
Ok after a few more minutes of this, you can take the lid off and check it out. Smell good? Yes, yess it does. So now, add the sugar and give it a stir. this will help brown and caramelize the onions after a minute of stirring this, add the flour. How much? I don't know, go with your gut on this one.stir it in and let it cook for a few minutes. you want some of the flouryness to cook out of it, so don't skip this part. When the flour start to cook, add the beer. Oh man, that first sizzle when the beer hit the pot is magic! Stir it as you poor making sure to scrape all the yummy parts off the bottom. Now put the meat back in. Add the vinegar and about half the carton of stock. Now toss is the thyme and bay leaf and step away from the pot. for the next hour and a half to two hours you should only go near the pot for stirring. Nothing else.Yes this takes awhile. go watch a movie or something. ok, 2 hours are up. How is the liquid holding out? not enough? Add some more stock. Now is the time for the other veggies. Toss in the potatoes, carrots and mushrooms. Hold of about 15 minutes on the celery because nothing is grosser than soggy celery!.
ok, cook another 30 minutes or so, let sit for ten off the heat and eat it!!!
Yes, you can use turnips and parsnips and any other crazy veg you want. I've made a really good veggie stew using veg broth and tons of odd ones and barley. the main thing is the herds, onions and a fair amount of time.
Now, go eat stew!!

The Name of my Blog

Ok, so just a quick note about the name of this blog and then I will share my awesome chicken recipe with you. (You? Who are you? Maybe you are just Michelle?)
The name of this blog is because i always get food in my shirt. This may be for a wealth of reasons. Maybe my shirts are too low cut. Maybe I am a very messy eater. It's probably the first one, but i didn't want you all to think I'm some kind of skank. I'm not! That's just how shirts ride on me. I can't help the fullness of my bust. I admit, i kinda like it. But there you go, after almost every meal, i will find something in my shirt. Kinda gross.

Easy Yummy Thai Chicken

Ever had the spicy Thai Peanut Noodle at Noodle Box? This is better, Cheaper and sooo easy! Thanks for the base recipe that became this Michelle ( Michelle is getting so many shout outs in here, i should get paid for ad space!)

You will need:
Chicken ( you can use breasts or bone in pieces. I like pieces because they are cheap and the bone adds flavour and thickness to the sauce. Yum!)
oil
onion
garlic
ginger
shitake mushrooms (just 4 or so, don't want to break the bank)
chicken stock (one cheap can of the Asian stuff works well)
coconut milk (same as above)
peanut butter (what ever you got, smooth, crunchy, natural, insane Skippy sweetened)
Fish Sauce (this is Thai people! Fish sauce is a must!)Asian condiments ( I love the fridge forage! What do you have? Hoisin, soy sauce, mirin, sweet chili, spicy chili, oyster, sesame oil? get creative!!)
Veggies ( I like snow peas, sweet peppers and broccoli because they all cook at the same speed)
Lime (one for the sauce and one to cut up for garnish. fancy!)
Cilantro (Dear cilantro haters, you are silly. You actually like this stuff when you don't know it's there.)

Cooking:

Ok, oil in Wok (woks are awesome. go get one if you don't have one) hear it and start browning the chicken. I like a medium brown, try not to burn the pan or yourself. This is just for flavour, don't try to do it until the chicken is cooked through. Take out the chicken and add the onions and let them cook for a few until they are softer than raw onions. Add garlic, ginger and mushrooms. How much garlic and ginger? I don't know, how much do you like? Ok, Cook until you get that nice shitake smell going or until the onions are browning and you are getting a little bored. this should be done over med low heat. Burnt onions taste gross. Add the chicken stock, almost the whole can. stir. add coconut milk, almost the whole can. stir. add peanut butter. stir a more until it's in there. How much peanut butter? Taste it and figure it out! there's no raw chicken in there right now, so don't be a pussy about it. Ok, enough of the peanut flavour is there so put the other flavour stuff in, just hold off on the lime and cilantro. Tasting good? put the chicken back in, put it on simmer and let it go. check it every five or ten, give it a stir, turn the chicken but no more tasting. Raw chicken is back on the scene. after about 30 minutes toss in the veggies. they will take about 5 or 10 minutes depending on if you have teeth or not. When it's all cooked squeeze in some lime, toss on some cilantro and serve it over rice or noodle.

Note: if you use breast pieces this whole process will go faster but you will have to thicken at the end with cornstarch and cold water.

Ok, go eat this!

Next blog, bitching about walmart!! yay!