Tag: Cooking

Melting-tender beef chunks, perfectly cooked barley, and all the hearty veggies one can ask for. Best of all, it’s freezer-friendly!

I know. I’m sorry, guys. It’s a lot of soup recipes lately, but that’s all I’ve been eating lately!

But hey, if a recipe calls for wine in a cozy, hearty soup with some crusty bread, are we really going to say no?

I didn’t think so.

Plus, we have the most amazing melting-tender beef chunks here with perfectly chewy-nutty barley that soaks up all that stew-y goodness.

The house will smell so good, I bet you can’t wait until the 45 minutes are up when your barley has cooked through. Some peeking is okay, but make sure you keep that lid covered for faster cooking.

And my favorite part is that this is completely freezer-friendly! I made this right before I left for the holidays and coming home to this soup was everything I needed to feel right at home.

That and an extra glass of wine with my soup.

Beef and Barley Stew

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Melting-tender beef chunks, perfectly cooked barley, and all the hearty veggies one can ask for. Best of all, it’s freezer-friendly!

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds top sirloin steak, diced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1/3 cup dry red or white wine
• 8 cups beef stock
• 1 cup pearled barley, rinsed
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season steak with salt and pepper, to taste. Add to the stockpot and cook, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned, about 6-8 minutes; set aside.
2. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add garlic and mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the stockpot.
5. Stir in beef stock, barley, thyme, bay leaf and steak. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until barley is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove and discard thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Stir in parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.*
6. Serve immediately.

Notes:

*TO FREEZE: Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.

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Made with perfectly caramelized onions, fresh thyme sprigs, crusty baguette slices and two types of melted cheese right on top!

Guys. It is a cold winter in Los Angeles.

We’ve discussed this. Anything below 60 does not bode well with my LA peeps. Except every time I get in the car, it’s actually been 37 degrees F!

Nope. No bueno, guys.

So Butters and I have been holed up at home, making THE CLASSIC French onion soup.

And when I say classic, I mean classic. No fuss, no frills.

It’s just your classic, traditional French onion soup. With the most perfect caramelized onions in a cozy stock with fresh thyme sprigs, finished off with crusty French baguette slices and two cheeses – Swiss and Gruyere – conveniently melted on top.

See, I told you. It’s a classic.

Classic French Onion Soup

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Made with perfectly caramelized onions, fresh thyme sprigs, crusty baguette slices and two types of melted cheese right on top!

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3 pounds (about 5 medium) sweet onions, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 6 cups beef stock
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 12 (3/4-inch-thick) French baguette slices
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, and cook, stirring often, until deep golden brown and caramelized, about 30-40 minutes.* Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
3. Stir in beef stock, thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 15-20 minutes. Remove and discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
4. Stir in white wine vinegar; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
5. Preheat oven to broil.
6. Place baguette slices onto a baking sheet. Place into oven and broil until golden brown on both sides, about 1-2 minutes per side; set aside.
7. Divide soup into ramekins or ovenproof bowls. Place onto a baking sheet. Top with baguette slices to cover the surface of the soup completely; sprinkle with cheeses. Place into oven and broil until golden brown and cheeses have melted; about 2 minutes.
8.  Serve immediately.

Notes:

*If the onions begin to burn on the bottom of the pot, reduce heat slightly and stir in 1/4 cup water.

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Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious.

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If there’s one dish I appreciate my mother teaching me to make it’s one of my favorite warm salads; Ugba salad.

Ugba also known as Ukpaka by some Igbo dialects is simply Igbo for African oil bean.

Growing up in Nigeria, my mother had a restaurant where she made Isi ewu and sold drinks. She had a lot of customers and her business grew to be famous until she had to go to catering school. Through this Isi ewu dish, I learnt about ugba and how to make it. I also learnt how to make Nkwobi, which is a dish that can be made with both ugba and chopped cow foot.

Another thing in my childhood I am happy about is my mother opening my pallets to different Nigerian foods. Now, I do the same for my Ajebutters and they eat most Nigerian foods without questioning; including Ugba. At a young age, I started enjoying local Nigerian dishes you wouldn’t really expect a child to understand; talk less of enjoying. Eating ugba at home was one of the ultimate treats mommy could ever give us. There was something about noshing on chewy cow skin and soft/melt in your mouth ugba.

Now to the recipe.

Now I understand that a lot of people share “healthy” dishes after the holidays in order to help with shedding the weight packed on from enjoying holiday foods. But let me tell you something. It’s Winter and we all need a little cushion Besides, why not give a warm and hearty welcome to the New year. You can worry about fit fam when Winter is over

I come from a town in Nigeria where we make our local dishes a little different, but in sharing this recipe, I modified it to fit the general demand of my people. I’ll make note of how you can make it my own way so you may have both.

Oil Bean Salad And Stories From My Mother’s Kitchen

 

Save Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Nma

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• Ugba 4 cups washed and cooked ugba
• cooked and flaked stock fish (1 cup)(optional)
• cooked and chopped cow skin/ponmo(2 cups)
• Habanero(1 large one)
• Ehuru(4-8)
• [url:1]Ngo mix (4tbsps)
• [/url]
• Palm oil (1-2 cups)
• utazi(2tsps)
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Mix the oil and ngo liquid until it thickens; then pour half of the oil and ngo mix into a separate bowl and set both aside.
2. Toast Ehuru in a hot pan until fragrant; then smoothly crush with the habanero. Mix with the oil; then add the stock fish and cow skin and mix until it’s coated with the oil(make sure the ingredients are not hot so it doesnt break down the already thickened oil). Add the ugba and mix; then add salt in little increments. Set pot on low heat; stirring the salad often to incorporate a little heat. Add the utazi and some of the extra oil(as needed) to the mix. Enjoy with fried/griled peppered fish

Notes

*1) If your ugba is not washed. simply place in a fine mesh sieve and wash thoroughly with warm water. Place in a pot of water and just boil for a few minutes. Drain liquids and let cool

*2) for the Ncha, you may use the usual potash or use baking soda mix with water. I prefer the Ngo(ash) method.
*3) If you don’t want to use Ncha(thickened oil), simply mix everything in oil and season. Garnish with utazi and serve with fish
*4) you may use soft cooked gizzards if you don’t have any cow skin. Season and boil and cut the gizzards into bite sized pieces; then fry/sauté (optional); then add to the ugba mix
!measurements are not completely accurate, please eye ball your measurements for this recipe

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