Beef Stew with Collard Greens

So we'll just continue on with this really intense winter. As a friend of mine posted on Facebook, she had thought whew! January is done, but "Well played February, well played." We had our 11th snow cancellation today. Tomorrow we are on a 2 hour delay. The county I teach in is on a level 2 snow emergency though. That pretty much means that unless the roads get a lot better it's gonna be day 12 tomorrow. 

Big tender pieces of beef, tender carrots, and delicious collard greens!

Fortunately, I now own a pair of snow boots. I ordered those at Christmas. And then I got some birthday money and ordered a pair of snow pants. And today the Princess and I frolicked in the snow after she woke from her nap and I finished snow blowing our enormous driveway. (Our driveway isn't enormous like long, it's enormous like a parking lot.) We had a BLAST!

Here's the interesting thing about parenting. At the same time as I'm experiencing pure joy, I could also be experiencing some pure frustrations. Today, the Princess was as cute as could be. See? Isn't she darling peeking out from behind the tree? Who can resist her? 

She told me to stay where I was because she was peeking!

And yet. She is full of bodily fluids and they all happen to come out on me. On snow days like today when I don't manage to get up before her and her nap time lasts only as long as the snow blowing, I don't get to shower and I get the vague feeling I smell like poo. Or throw up.

This morning, after a difficult start, the Princess sat in her high chair in the kitchen coloring pictures for Grandma Peggy while I whipped together this stew for the crock pot. I should probably say I started with a tasty looking stew that I found on Pinterest by Betty Crocker. But it's been very snowy. And I did not have any beef bullion granules. (really who does?) And I wanted to serve it over rice because my mother-in-law says that rice helps to stop up a baby with a digestive system on overdrive. So I left out the potatoes. And my mom always put celery in her chili and putting celery in stew made me think of her so I doubled it. And then I got a little fancy with the deglazing the pan with red wine. (But that might have been because at that particular point in the morning I was wondering how stay at home mother's don't crack open the wine before lunch. The length of time I deglazed was about equal to checking the Princess for a fever, picking up the crayons that were thrown on the floor, wiping applesauce off the floor, the counter, and the Princess, and then giving in and parking the Princess in front of Daniel Tiger. But that doesn't sound all nice and recipe like. So until it is reduced by half.) And then I had some collard greens in the fridge and I thought that they wouldn't turn to gross mush when sitting in a crock pot forever and they might be a tasty addition. And yeah I don't have any quick cooking tapioca. I bought some about 5 years ago for a mushroom pork chop crock pot meal and I haven't cooked it in forever and I haven't used the tapioca since. So I threw it away. Last week. So I smooshed up some butter and flour to thicken the sauce instead. I will tell you that it turned out great. The Princess loved it. The Brain liked it. It might be the leftovers that won't last long. I just wish it photographed better.

Beef Stew with Collard Greens
an original Shazamer recipe

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 pounds beef stew meat
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine (a cheap, but drinkable variety)
2 stalks celery cut into chunks
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 1/2 cups V8 (or other non-name brand vegetable juice)
2 big handfuls of chopped up collard greens
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour

Pat the beef stew meat dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a fry pan over medium high heat.  Working in 2 batches brown the meat on all sides. Put the meat in the slow cooker. Pour the half cup of red wine into the fry pan and scrape up the crusty bits in the pan. Simmer for a while until the red wine is reduced by about half. Pour it into the slow cooker. Add the celery, onion, Worcestershire, V8, and collard greens to the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours. Smoosh together the butter and flour, then stir into the slow cooker until it dissolves. Continue to cook for another half hour then eat. Serve over rice.

Salmon, Mustard Greens and Potatoes

Sometimes it's nice to come home and have something spectacular for dinner. It's nice too when it's quick. And easy. And the ingredients are easy to find. Tonight was one of those nights. After a day of bleak grey skies and the promise of a 20 degree temperature drop tonight, I reached into epicurious and came out with a fancy and yet super easy and comforting dinner.

We had Salmon, Mustard Greens and Potatoes with Mustard-Dill Glaze from Bon Appetit. Wow. Yummy. The mustard-dill glaze paired up super nicely with the zing of the mustard greens. The potatoes were roasted to perfection. And the Salmon was almost buttery paired so nicely with the sweet glaze. It really all comes together really simply and it hits the spot completely.

Mustard greens are terrific for you. They have really high amounts of Vitamins A, C, and E. They are also great sources of manganese, folate, calcium and fiber. They originated in the Himalayan region of India and have been grown and consumed for more than 5,000 years. They are staples in a variety of cuisines from Chinese to Southern American. India, Nepal, China and Japan are among the leading producers of mustard greens. The United States also grows a substantial amount of them. Mustard greens are also sometimes grown as "green manure" where its purpose is to act as a mulch. It covers the soil and suppresses weeds. Most importantly, they taste good. (Isn't google amazing?)

Salmon, Mustard Greens and Potatoes With Mustard-Dill Glaze

from Bon Appetit

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

3 Tbsp packed golden brown sugar

1/2 pound baby new potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices

2 4-oz salmon fillets

1 bag prewashed mustard greens

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix first 4 ingredients in small bowl. (Sauce can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) Place potatoes in small bowl. Spoon 1 tablespoon sauce over and toss to coat. Arrange potatoes in baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.

Remove pan from oven; push potatoes to sides of pan. Spread each salmon fillet with 2 teaspoons sauce and place in center of baking pan. Bake until salmon is cooked through, about 18 minutes. Meanwhile, place greens in large skillet. Toss with 2 tablespoons sauce. Stir over medium-high until wilted, about 4 minutes. Divide salmon, greens and potatoes between 2 plates. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.

I ended up with a lot of remaining sauce. It could be that I'm just not a big fan of sauce in general, or that there's too much sauce. It's really tasty though.

And now for something completely different

While at the grocery store this weekend, I stalked the fruit aisle, looking for my next victim, I mean attempt at finding a fruit I like. After a couple drive-bys with my cart, looking at all the fruit I don't like, starfruit, kiwi, mangoes, strawberries. And the fruit I'm just unwilling to try just yet, papaya, persimmon. And the fruit I wouldn't mind trying, but I just don't know how like quinces. Quinces smell great, but I'm pretty sure you can't eat them raw. Anyhow, after spending much more time in the grocery store than necessary, looking like a fruit stalker, I decided to head for vegetables instead.


This week is your standard week of gluttony so I decided to go healthy. Of course, there's the old formula, vegetables = healthy. However there's a difference between iceberg lettuce and turnip greens. Iceberg lettuce is pretty much nutritionally decrepit. Turnip greens on the other hand are crazy healthy. They're high in Vitamins A, C, E, B6, Folate, Copper, Calcium, and dietary fiber. They're like my little spot of healthy in a week of mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and marshmallows and pie. OK I'm totally busted again, I really don't like pie. It's kind of a double whammy, fruit and crust. Bleh. I do however like pumpkin pie filling and whipped cream. So the plate with just an entire piece of bottom crust on it is usually mine.

SO turnip greens provide one little point in the week where I can feel like I'm not slowly turning into Jaba the Hut. Well that and my Friday morning Spin class got moved to tomorrow morning so everyone else can go shopping, and I had to sign up for a Friday morning step class. So thank you Alton Brown for this delicious turnip green recipe, corny name aside.

Vlad's Very Garlicky Greens
Alton Brown

5 to 7 cloves garlic peeled
one clove garlic sliced
one clove garlic minced
enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a wide saute pan
1 bag turnip greens, cleaned and roughly shredded
salt and freshly grown pepper

Place saute pan over medium heat and then lightly crush the whole garlic cloves. When the pan is hot, add just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan and add the garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until golden brown (3 to 5 minutes). Remove from the oil.

Thinly sliver the sliced garlic clove and add it to the pan stirring constantly. Once the slivers turn golden, add the greens and toss to coat with hot oil. Season with salt and pepper as soon as the greens start to wilt. Add the minced garlic during the last 30 seconds of cooking and toss the greens to distribute. Keep the pan and the greens moving constantly, if you can.

Serve as a side dish or toss with pasta and serve as a main course.