Election Night Stew and Turkeys too
10/26/2008
We can barely believe that Election Day is less than 2 weeks away and close on its heels is Thanksgiving, and then the holidays. Whether you’re planning a quiet nail-biting evening at home or a big party to watch the results, we have what you need to celebrate with flair. Go to the meals-to-go page to see our party trays, cheese trays, and sandwich trays.
Another great choice is stew, and we can highly recommend the Jacques Pepin Beef Burgundy made with our hanger steak, a particularly rich cut that really stands up to the wine. You finish it with cipollini onions, carrots, mushrooms, and pancetta. Recipe below.
“Toby the ‘shroom guy” is bringing us fresh chanterelles today. $29.99/lb. Golden in color, with a faint apricot scent, these are best treated simply: sauté in butter and olive oil, add a little wine, finish with chopped flat leave parsley and S & P.
All Ela Family Farms apples, including Honey Crisp, Jonathan, Jonagold, Gala, Golden Delicious, and Arlett; and Ela Bartlett pears, on sale for $1.99 per lb. According to 5280, “the state’s prized apples are Golden Delicious, Jonathan, and Jonagold. Available only for a two- to three-week period during September and October (and on rare occasion in November), these delicate apples recall the simple truth of Colorado apple history. Fresh Colorado Golden Delicious–far from the prematurely harvested mush available in today’s grocery stores–have a crispy, light bite. Our Jonathans, a Slow Food-designated heirloom variety, are roundly tart, and the refreshing Jonagolds, a blend of these two historic apples, have a pleasant but sharp flavor.”
Fresh wild Alaskan salmon season is winding down, $14.99/#, what a great price!
Fresh halibut season is also coming to a close. $24.99/lb. Dense and firm, with a low fat content, halibut is prized for its clean fresh flavor. Try it sautéed with a “relish” of chopped scallions, black and green olives, tomatoes, oil and vinegar.
In addition to the new fish taco kits, we have new sous vide fish dinners ready for you in the fish case. Every week we’ll have four different recipes, like lemon dill halibut or Dijon tarragon salmon. You take the sealed bag home and simmer it in hot, not boiling, water, open the package and voila, dinner! No muss no fuss.
Colorado Raised
Jimmy is getting a weekly order of beef from Colorado’s Best Beef Company http://www.cobestbeef.com/. We have beef shanks this week. If you have a special occasion coming up and need Colorado’s Best Beef call 303 894-9499, talk to Jimmy.
It seems I was wrong about out Colorado chicken supply. The good folks in Nunn are doing so much Denver business that they are delivering fresh free-range all natural chickens every Friday. $4.49/lb, they have a rich taste and great texture.
Special Things
Pork cheeks, $4.99/lb, in 1 lb. frozen packages. This hard-to-find cut has always been popular in Europe but not so in the States, but now you’ll now find these braised on the best menus in town. Tender and flavorful, come give them a try.
Sweetbreads. $9.99/lb. If you know what you’re doing in the kitchen, sweetbreads can be one of the best special occasion meals ever.
Recipes
Beef Stew with Red Wine
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef, hanger or chuck.
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 bottle of red wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 15 cipollini or pearl onions
- 15 cremini mushrooms
- 15 baby carrots
- 5-ounce piece of pancetta
- 1/4 cup water
- Dash of sugar
- Chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Cut the meat into stew size pieces. (Pepin recommends larger pieces, and serves about 2 per person.)
Preheat the oven to 350°. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a cast-iron pot that is attractive enough for the table. Arrange the meat in one layer in the pot, and season it with salt and pepper. Cook on top of the stove over high heat for about 8 minutes, browning the meat on all sides.
Add 1 cup of finely chopped onion and 1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic. Cook over moderate heat for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1 tablespoon of flour. Mix in well so that the flour doesn’t form lumps. Stir in 1 bottle of red wine. Add 2 bay leaves, a sprig of fresh thyme, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir well and cover.
Place the pot in the oven and continue to cook for about 1 1/2 hours; the meat should be soft and tender and the liquid properly reduced. (Ours took about an hour longer.) The recipe can be prepared to this point up to a day ahead.
For the garnishes, peel 15 cipollini or pearl onions, wash 15 cremini mushrooms and peel 15 baby carrots. For the lardons, you will need one 5-ounce piece of pancetta. Bring the pancetta and 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan and simmer for about 30 minutes; drain. Cut the pancetta into 1/2-inch slices and then cut the slices into 1-inch-wide lardons.
Combine the onions, mushrooms, carrots and pancetta in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/4 cup of water and a good dash each of sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes; at this point, there should be practically no water left. Uncover and cook over high heat, sautéing the vegetables until nicely browned on all sides, about 4 minutes.
To serve, mix some of the vegetables and lardons into the stew and sprinkle the rest on top as a garnish. Add a little chopped fresh parsley and serve.
