Beefy, Beany, Barley Stew

I know i haven't posted in a week....But that doesn't mean that i haven't been cooking. I wanted to use the left over stock that i had from the French Onion soup I made. I also realized that I haven't put many recipes up that contain any meat, so I decided to make beef stew. It's a staple from my childhood, and a great dish to have this time of year. It's really great to clean out your fridge with a stew, so you don't have to stick with the exact recipe. Use what you have, and what you like. You can also use this as a guide for a day after after Thanksgiving meal. My secret ingredient is cherry juice, which really gives this dish some interesting depth and flavor. And along with some red kale, it gives it a very nice color. While my stew is cooking I'm going to watch The Proposal, and have a cup of delicious tea from Trader Joe's. My friend Michael gave me this beautiful vintage teapot.

Below I'm going to list what I put into my soup, and feel free to use anything else you'd prefer. Just make sure you don't over cook the Beef before you add the stock, or it will be tough.

Beef Stew: *Beef stew meat *any color onion (i had a red one) *carrots *fennel *potatoes
*kale (or any other green) *dried mushrooms (oyster or shitake) *1/2 bag of 17 Bean and Barley mix (TJ's) soaked overnight *garlic *beef stock *chicken stock *cherry juice *wine *thyme *sage *salt *pepper *water *and of course, butter

Start with a pot on med-high heat, I used a dutch oven, and toss in a half T of butter. Toss in the onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and fennel and cook for about 3 min. Add another half T of butter and toss in the shrooms, carrots, and potatoes. cook for another few minutes. Add some more butter and toss in the beef. Saute until lightly brown. De-glaze the pan with some wine, whatever you like. Then add the kale, stock and juice. You'll want to use about a cup and a half of juice in all. Add the bean mix, and bring the pot to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to Med-low and add herbs, a couple T of each if fresh. Then cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Adding water if the stew starts getting to thick.

Now it is a stew , so it should be pretty chunky. And be careful! This smells so good that you're going to want to try it immediately, and I blistered my mouth in a really hot potato. Try this recipe as a guide for any kind of stew you'd like to make. Like I said, use your leftover Turkey, and root veggies for a quick and easy way to use some of your Thanksgiving leftovers. Enjoy!