Beef Barley Soup

I've been slacking at updating this sad little blog, mostly because I hate taking pictures. However I enjoy having a compilation of my hard work and an easily accessible site to send to my friends and family.

I decided it was time to use up the carrots and celery in my fridge that have been begging me to be put to use. Since I still have pots of chicken noodle in my freezer I figured why not beef barley! My Grandmother was an expert at beef barley soup, it was always slightly creamy and full of flavor. I remember sitting in my chair and eating it with my special spoon (her sugar spoon).

 Today I'm starting the process of writing down my attempts, maybe eventually I'll get it just right!

Here's today's attempt:

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 slices of bacon
• ~1/2 yellow onion- chopped
• 4-5 cloves of garlic grated
• ~2 lbs of beef round cubes- didn't have marrow pieces
• 5-6 carrots- sliced about 1 cup
• 5 stalks of celery- also slices about 1 cup
• 2-3 bay leaves
• Salt
• Pepper 
• Thyme
• 1 cup of barley
• 3 1/2 cups of water- or beef stock(didn't have any)

*Optional- Slow cooker

One. Wash and cut your carrots and celery into bite size slices. Slice your onion and grate the cloves of garlic.

Two. Using a large pot add olive oil and bacon slices. Cooking at medium let the bacon start to cook up, once it starts to sizzle add the onion and cook until slightly golden. Remove and place into slow cooker, leaving bacon slices inside your pot.

Three. Next add your garlic cloves and your beef, salt, pepper, thyme. Cook until beef is browned on all sides. If needed add a little water to remove the bits at the bottom of the pan. Once cooked turn off heat.

Four.  Add your carrots, meat, celery, barley, water, bay leaves and extra salt, pepper and thyme.

Five. Cook on high for 6 hours, mixing occasionally to move the barley and vegetables around. Check to make sure there is enough broth, add more water if needed.

This soup can be made without a slow cooker, simply add all the ingredients to the pot you cooked the meat in and simmer the soup for at least 1 hour. Once barley is cooked, soup will be ready. I prefer the slow cooker because the meat becomes more tender with time.

Update: Soup was definitely creamy, bacon flavor was slightly overpowering, next time look for marrow pieces, maybe even oxtail.

Zucchini fritters

Zucchini is probably one of my favorite vegetables, it's great grilled, or sauted in some butter and plainly dressed with salt and pepper. These were on sale at Publix and I had to take them home. After using about half the package, usually in a tomato sauce I always end up with leftovers. Using the wonder that is tastespotting I started to look around for alternative recipes. This is a slightly healthier version of potato (latkes or latkas) aka pancakes. 

They were AMAZING!!! I tweaked the recipe, mostly by whim and fried these up. They were great hot and cold and plain. When the boy came home I didn't want to share. We ate them so fast I couldn't even snap a picture of them. 

Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini
• 2 small yellow zucchini
• 2 medium carrots shredded
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 2 eggs
• Oregano
• Basil
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs
• 3 tablespoons of parmesan
• 3 tablespoons of shredded mozerella

One. Start by shredding zucchini and carrots with grater (larger pieces recommended). Place in colander or mesh strainer. Sprinkle your vegetables lightly with salt, this helps to get more water out of the vegetables. Let the vegetables drain as long as you can wait (recommend 1 hours). Squeeze more water out of vegetables.

Two. In a bowl add eggs, flour, breadcrumbs and variety of spices, pinches of salt and pepper. Mix until flour is moistened, add shredded vegetables.

Three. In a metal pot ( I prefer it to a frying pan, protects from splatter) add 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. Heat this to medium high. Once you see ripples in your oil it's ready to cook (or you can drop a piece and see if it bubbles). Using a 1/4 cup i spoon even portions into my pot, cooking 2 patties at a time.

Four. Once nice and golden brown, flip, should take less than a minute each. Place on a paper towel over a drying rack to help them stay crunchy. Salt to taste while warm. Eat and enjoy :)

Banana Toffee Blondies

If you're looking for a flat version of a banana muffin, here's a little sweet

Banoffee Blondies

Change up

For now, until I get to urge to start taking pictures of my creations I'll simply be adding links to recipes that I've used and have worked.

Tonight we made breadcrumbs, we'll be keeping them plain and keep them in the freezer.

Found the tips on breadcrumbs and croutons here

Blondies

Delicious Blondies

Posting this link to this wonderful recipe and blog writer.

Once crazy finals are over here are some recipes to look forward to:
Lemon curd
Blondies
Chicken matzo soup
Coconut custard pie

After that the possibilities are endless once free time kicks in!
So excited :)
Be back in 2 weeks!

Corned beef

I am making corned beef.
1. Because it is on sale
2. Because I want to try it
3. Because my boy is pretend Irish
4. Because people say its delicious
5. Because Publix tempted me with pictures

I looked everywhere on the internetz for recipes. Too many different kinds.

Later when I am being productive I shall post my new creation. Hopefully it will be great, or at least edible.

Ingredients:

• 2.3 ish lbs of corned beef in a bag at Publix
• 5 largely chopped carrots
• 5 stalks of celery
• 1/2 sweet onion
• 2 cups of apple juice
• 4 gloves of garlic
• 3 bay leaves
• Black pepper
• 1 cabbage chopped in 8 pieces
• 8 small red potatoes
• Water
• 3 tablespoons honey dijon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• sprinkle of brown sugar

One. In a large pot place corned beef at the bottom. Add carrots, celery, onion, apple juice, garlic, bay leaves and black pepper. Cover with water, bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer. Cook for about 1 hr per lbs of meat. I cooked mine for 3 hours. 

Two. Preheat oven to 400F.  In a small bowl mix honey dijon and honey. 

Three. Remove corned beef and place on a cookie sheet covered with aluminium foil. Place honey dijon sauce on top of roast, covered all top surfaces. Sprinkle a bit of brown sugar. This will make a lovely glaze for your corned beef. Place in the oven for 20 minutes or until glaze is nice and melted. 

Four. In the meantime take out vegetables from simmering water. Add potatoes and cabbage. Bring to a boil and cook for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. 

Five. Slice corned beef against the grain, serve with vegetables and enjoy :)