Slow Cooked Beef Stew

A hearty stew to fill the tummy and it's easy to prepare.

This time round I am using the slow cooker and let it do its job. By the time we get home, dinner is ready. Actually it's not true, cos Mr W will want either rice or bread to go with his stew, especially beef stew.

This stew can be prepared the night before. This will save you the hassle of a rush morning. 

Updated: Slow Cooked Beef Stew

Ingredients

700g beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes

¼ cup flour

½ tsp of salt

½ tsp of ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder *updated on 24 Oct

3 garlic cloves

1-2 bay leaves

1 tsp of paprika

1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 cups beef broth *updated on 24 Oct

6 potatoes, diced

4 carrots, coarsely chopped
White button mushroom, sliced *updated 14 Apr 18

3 stalk of celery, chopped 1 inch long *updated 14 Apr 18

Method

1. In a small bowl mix the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Coat the meat with this flour mixture. Place them in the slow cooker. Pour the remaining mixture into the slow cooker, if any.
2. Pour in the beef broth and stir in the garlic, bay leaves, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, potatoes, carrots and celery.

3. Cover and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 4 to 6 hours.

And there you have it, a plate of hot flavourful beef stew. Serve it with baguette or over steam rice. 

Oh I just love stew! They are true comfort food.

Note: 

If you prefer more sauce, increase the amount of broth - which I did. My original recipe called for 1½ cup but I up it to 2 cups. *updated on 24 Oct

If you prefer more vegetables, add them in.

If you have fresh brown or white mushrooms, slice and add them to the slow cooker.

Sautéed Brown/White Shrooms

Mushrooms...my favourite!

Be it shiitake mushrooms, white mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, portobello mushrooms, abalone mushrooms, brown mushroom....you named it, I love them all.

Sautéed mushrooms are simply delicious. Add a little garlic or cheese or just salt and pepper to sauté. They taste wonderful and most importantly, they are nutritious. 

Today we will be cooking white/brown mushrooms. 

Ingredients
200g fresh white/brown mushrooms
1 tsp of butter
1 tsp of olive oil
1 slice of cheddar cheese
Kosher salt, to taste

Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste

Method
1. Slice the fresh mushrooms. Note: Do not slice too thinly as the mushroom will shrink in size.
2. Heat pan and add the butter and olive oil. Once the butter is melted, add in the sliced mushroom.
3. Over medium heat, toss the mushrooms till golden brown and caramelized.
4. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. 
5. Remove from heat, tear the slice of cheddar cheese in to slips and stir it into the mushrooms. 
6. Once the cheddar is melted, dish up and serve.

Well this is how I prepared my mushrooms. Sometimes I add finely minced garlic. Do note that if you are using finely chopped garlic, give it a few quick toss (make sure you don't burn the garlic) and add in the mushrooms. Omit the cheddar if garlic is added. But it's up to you. Cheers!

Oven Grilled Miso Chicken

Chicken is the most frequent cooked meat in my household. So I need to think of different methods to prepare this poultry.

I have oven baked with simple salt and pepper, you can refer to Oven Baked Chicken for the recipe. Simple and hearty meal with Chicken Stew. These are just a few recipe for your consideration. 

As for today, I'm going into Japanese cuisine, using white miso paste to marinate the boneless chicken thighs. This goes well with a bowl of steam rice. 

Of course, by the look of the photo before, I have made it into a Japanese-Western cuisine - baked baby potatoes and sautéed mushrooms.

A fusion of Western and Japanese

Ingredients
4 boneless chicken thighs
8 baby potatoes

Marinate
1/4 cup of white miso paste
3 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp sake
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp soya sauce

Method
1. Combine all ingredients in the Marinate, mix well and set aside. 
2. Wash the chicken thighs and trim off excess fats on the chicken thighs. *I left the skin on. Pat them dry.
3.  Marinate the chicken thighs for at least 3 hours, or overnight. 
4. Pre heat oven at 215°c. Drizzle some olive oil on the baking tray.
5. Wipe excess marinate from the chicken and arrange them skin side up. 
6. Coat all the baby potatoes with the marinate and place them around the chicken. 
7. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 215°c, turn the chicken over and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. 

Once done, slice the grilled chicken and enjoy it with a bowl of steam rice...as for me, I had mine with potatoes and sautéed mushrooms. 

Improvised Oven Roast Crispy Chicken

I have been wanting to make my very own crispy on the outside, succulent in the inside chicken. And I think I have created one just the way I want it!

When I first serve the dish to my hubby (Mr W), he turned and looked at me, asked, "What did you use to season? It tastes good." Aww...the green light that I needed. 

It's easy to make this crispy chicken thighs. 

Ingredients 

8 pieces of chicken thighs skin on

Kosher salt

Olive oil

Spices

Ground black pepper

Garlic powder 

Cayenne pepper

Cinnamon powder

Direction

1. Wash the chicken and trim away excess fats.

2. Pat dry the chicken pieces. Sprinkle and run the kosher salt and black pepper on all sides of the chicken. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes to take the chill off.

3. In a small bowl, mix all the spices. Set aside.

4. After 15 minutes, pat dry the chicken again. Sprinkle and pat the mixed spices on both sides of the chicken. 
5. Preheat the oven to 205°C. Drizzle olive oil on the baking pan. Arrange the chicken pieces skin side up. Remember not to crowd the pan, allow room between the chicken pieces.
6. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 205°c. This will brown the chicken. Then lower the heat to 170°c and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until the juices run clear.
7. Remove from the oven and transfer the chicken pieces to a serving dish. Use an aluminium foil to tent the chicken and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Note:
i) For those using a whole chicken, arrange the largest pieces (usually the breast) of the chicken at the centre of the pan.
ii) For those who has no intention of eating the chicken skin, leave the skin on for baking. This will help to keep the chicken pieces from drying out while they bake.

Give it a try! It's the simplest recipe so far for chicken. :) But be warned, the oven tends to get pretty oily afterwards.

Broiled/Grilled Salmon

My husband is not a fan of fish but I am!!! So I will find ways to prepare fish for myself. Well of course, for my guests too!

The sauce can be prepared in advance and freeze it for future use. All you need is a slice of fresh salmon, garlic, soy sauce and some other seasonings. 

Ingredients

• Salmon
• Salt 
• Lemon Pepper to taste
• Garlic Powder to taste
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/3 cup of soy sauce
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of olive oil

Directions

1. Rub some salt on the salmon. Rinse well. Pat the salmon dry. Lay the the salmon on the chopping board.
   
2. Apply and rub the lemon pepper and garlic pepper on the both side of the salmon fillets. Slice the salmon if you got something like mine, one huge piece. 
   
3. In a bowl, stir together the chopped garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, water and olive oil till the sugar dissolve. 
4. Place the salmon fillets into a Ziploc bag. Pour in the soy sauce mixture, seal and coat the fillets with the sauce. Make sure the fillets are well coated. 
   
5. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours.  
6. You may grill the salmon or wrap it in aluminium foil to oven baked it. 

• If you are going for the grill, 6 minutes per side for the fillet, depending on the thickness of the fish. Always flesh down first. 
• If you are going for the oven baked, make a foil packet to hold individual salmon and 2 to 3 tbsp of the sauce and close it up. Baked at 220 degrees celsius for around 15 minutes. 

If you are a sauce person, you can boil the leftover sauce into a pan and add a little cornflour to thicken it. Pour it over the salmon fillet and serve. 

This is a great recipe to use when preparing salmon. Especially in foil packets. This poaches gently in its sauce and juices. It always comes out tender and flavourful.