For Jordan

The most wonderful thing about moving to DC has been that I get to see one of my dearest friends at least once a week. This past Saturday, Jordan and I spent most of the day together eating and chatting, and drinking red wine...at lunch. Scratch that, she had a $12 beer. Words cannot describe how thankful I am to live near her!

Because Jamie can't eat chicken and is iffy on seafood Jordan is in need of red meat ideas; hence the title of this post. I've been meaning to write down the recipe for ages (instead of just winging it, in true Rhonda Mapes fashion) and I finally got my act together, although my measurements are still a little vague...

Beef and Mushroom Stew (2-3 servings)

salt and pepper
3-4 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 lb. (ish) stew meat
1/3 white onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup red wine
1/8 cup soy sauce
4 oz. sliced white mushrooms (I think... I used half a standard package of whole mushrooms from TJ's)

Put stew meat in a ziploc bag with salt and pepper to taste (several shakes of each). Add flour one spoon at a time and shake until all the meat seems to be evenly coated. Place meat in slow cooker and use your hands to separate the pieces; add more flour, or salt and pepper if the meat looks too bare in places, or until it looks something like this:


Sorry, I'm sort of regretting posting that photo but I feel like it's somewhat necessary. Add the water, wine, soy sauce, onion, and garlic and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 10 minutes before serving, saute the mushrooms briefly in butter, red wine and soy sauce and add them (without juices) to the slow cooker. Serve this stew with mashed potatoes, or maybe white rice (it kinda sucked with brown). Note: this recipe is mushroom heavy because I'm slightly obsessed... if I was making it for a non-mushroom lover (read: Nathan Lockett) then I would probably cut that amount, and maybe reduce the liquids slightly.

Totally not a typical Gwynne meal, but delicious all the same!

Coming to a Panera near you...

Roasted chicken, homemade apple cider vinaigrette, fresh pear, pecan, extra sharp cheddar. All that was missing was the side of baguette! 

Brussels

Recent favorite: roasted brussels sprouts with mushrooms, garlic, olive oil, S&P.

Small things

It's winter, and I've been living far away from my boyfriend and family for 7 months. As much as that sentence sucks, I'm grateful that I can see the Washington Monument and Georgetown's beautiful Healy Hall together in the skyline on one of my run loops, a sight that isn't visible when leaves are on the trees. And, despite it still being dark when I get up each morning, it's breathtaking to run under a small sliver of moon and the pink glow of sunrise within the same 30 minutes. I'm also feeling particularly blessed because I created the perfect bowl of chili out of leftover ingredients: no small feat for a poor girl like me!

Notice the picture in the background! 

Beef Chili for Two (or for One, twice!)

1/3 pound ground beef
1/2 a red onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can kidney beans
1/2 a can of diced tomatoes (leftover from Maple Baked Beans)
1/2 a fresh tomato, chopped
1/2 cup water
salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, coriander, and chili powder to taste

Saute onion, garlic, and celery in olive oil for 3 minutes. Add beef, and cook until no longer pink. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with sweet potato or grits and cheddar.

Carrot Cake Cookies

I have an unhealthy obsession with carrot cake. Case in point: I took Grandma to my favorite restaurant for brunch in DC last weekend, Founding Farmers, and I ordered carrot cake pancakes, despite the fact that I adamantly believe that pancakes (aka CAKE) for breakfast is a terrible idea for your body.  In fact, I've been known to loudly complain about this very fact in front of my entire family dad while he indulges in coffee cake or other sweets in the morning. But, love of carrot cake trumps all!

I've been meaning to try making carrot-cake-in-cookie-form for months, and finally decided on a random recipe I found online that was somewhat sketchy and had no reviews. As a result, I had to perform some major resuscitation to get this to work, which is why the recipe looks somewhat ridiculous- I know there must be a better way to achieve the same result. Bear with me on the measurements... I cut the recipe in half (sort of), and altered the ingredient list.

Ingredients:

Not pictured: lots of stuff, including a glass of red wine. 

4 tbsp. butter, softened
2 tbsp. unrefined virgin coconut oil
1/2 of an egg (aka 1 yolk plus a little white)
3/4 cup plus 1/8 cup TJ's white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup TJ's Golden Berry Blend (golden raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup finely grated carrot
1 cup oats
2 tbsp. chia seeds
3 tbsp. water

I beat the butter and coconut oil together until most of the chunks were gone (sick), then beat in half the flour and the rest of the ingredients up through the cinnamon. I stirred in everything else and found the dough to be crumbly and disastrous. ENTER MIRACLE SEED. Chia seeds are my new love, and just in the nick of time since I am totally over flax seed. And, they have the coolest gelatinous property! After stirring in the seeds + water I was able to form cookies with the dough. I baked these at 375 for about 10 minutes:

I vowed to only eat one, but ended up eating three plus some dough. Shoot. The rest are being sent in a birthday care package to Nate, but they're mostly for his dad, who (unlike his son) always enjoys a healthy cookie!

Maple Baked Beans

There's a spot in my heart reserved for summer dinners at my grandparents' house, when we sat at their round picnic table on the patio. Grandpa would station himself at the grill, smoking a cigarette and talking quietly with my dad while we tumbled in the endless lawn of cool, evening grass. We'd wear ourselves out playing tag, racing between the flower beds and pine trees until we collapsed on the hammock and lay there until dinner was ready. Back then, the only "picnic" foods I would eat were hotdogs, potato chips, and Grandma's fruit salad (if it was loaded with marshmallows); praise the Lord that my taste buds have changed! One dish I always made sure to decline was baked beans, and I've continued passing on them until just recently. In the spirit of trying to break old habits I decided to make them this weekend and am IN LOVE with this recipe's tangy sweetness.

Ingredients: 

3 cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 large vidalia onion, chopped

1 cup (about half a can) diced tomatoes

4 tbsp. unsulphured molasses

3 tbsp. maple syrup (I used maple/agave blend)

2 tbsp. mustard

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. salt

a handful of dried cranberries 

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir well. Cook for 4-5 hours on high heat, or 7-8 hours on low. These would be wonderful topped with a sliced, grilled hot dog and cornbread on the side, but I ate mine with brown rice (of course).

DANSKOS

I hate these shoes. Except I love them. WHY ARE THEY SO COMFORTABLE? And really, I'm almost starting to think there's something cute about them when they're worn with cuffed jeans.