Walking off the Guinness!

We bought a six pack of Guinness Extra Stout last week to be prepared for today, but weren't quite sure what to cook up with it. A run down to the base to get honey a new ID card gave us an excuse to do a little shopping and we found some Kerrygold Dubliner cheese from Ireland to enjoy as a little side snack.

But for the main course, we opted for this Guinness Pork Stew.

I started with a Lamb Stew recipe from Closet Cooking. But, we didn't have lamb and I didn't want to take the time to run around looking for it. So, I pulled a chunk of pork roast out of the freezer and came up with this.

Once I had the pork and onions simmering, I took off for a walk around the Academy near our house, about 5 miles total.

I got home a few minutes before the stew was ready to add the carrots and potatoes. After stirring them in to the stew and bringing them to a boil, I hit the shower to clean up and got back just in time to catch the timer and check the potatoes. The potatoes were fine, but the carrots which I added at the same time as the potatoes were still a bit crunchy when we ate.

But, overall we really liked how this stew turned out. The bottle of stout and the beef broth deepened the flavor so it didn't have quite the usual pork taste. In fact, we both thought it was delicious!

Usually, I would make an Irish Soda Bread as well. But, since it was just the pair of us dining and we don't need the extra starch, we just enjoyed a slice of dark rye bread to dip in the broth.

Guinness Pork Stew

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons oil

2 pounds pork, cut into small chunks or bite-sized pieces

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped (about 4 teaspoons)

2 Tablespoons flour

1 12 ounce bottle Guinness Dark Extra Stout

1-2 cups beef broth

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

6 medium or small red potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

4 carrots, cut into bite sized pieces

1 handful fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the pork and brown on each side, stirring several times.

2. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.

4. Sprinkle in the flour and stir thoroughly to make a thick mixture. Add the bottle of Guinness and 1 cup of beef broth to cover the meat and onions.

5. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the pork is fork tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

6. Add the carrots and simmer for about 15 minutes. The carrots need a little more cooking time than the potatoes, at least if you cut them in fairly small pieces like I did.

7. Add the potatoes and some more beef broth, up to 1 cup to cover. 

8. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium or a bit lower and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are tender, about 30-40 minutes.

9. Serve the stew in a bowl and garnish with the fresh parsley.

Blog Assignment: Jambalaya

Although it may seem the blog is mainly a recounting of my culinary activities, I hadn't really intend to limit my subjects so tightly. But since I'm studying for some classes, maintaining a family life and sometimes working, it's sometimes easier just to take a few pictures and write up the recipe to share or at least document.

One class I'm taking this term is an introductory Information Technology (IT) class, which is a general introduction to computers, the internet, and important programs like Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office (at least Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). I've worked with all these before, but since it's a requirement for many computer classes I do want to take, I decided to go ahead and take it this term so I wouldn't have to keep requesting special approval for each class.

Also, it gives me a chance to catch up on the changes from Office 2010 to 2013. And one of today's assignments was to create an account on Blogger and write a blog!!! (Actually, it's just an exercise that I don't have to turn in.)

So, with that in mind, I thought I'd share my Mardi Gras recipe from this year:

Chicken, Shrimp, and Sausage Jambalaya

Ingredients

·         2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 1 1/2 lb total, cut into 1-inch chunks

·         2 teaspoon(s) Creole seasoning

·         2 tablespoon(s) canola oil

·         12-16 ounce(s) andouille sausage or other smoked sausage

·         1 large white onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

·         1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips

·         1 small yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips

·         1 small green bell pepper

·         1 teaspoon(s) dried thyme leaves

·         2 tablespoon(s) all-purpose flour

·         1/4 teaspoon(s) cayenne pepper

·         1 cup(s) raw long-grain rice

·         1 cup(s) cauliflower, chopped into small pieces in a food processor (optional)

·         2 cup(s) chicken broth

·         1 can(s) (16-ounce) diced  tomatoes, undrained

·         3/4 pound(s) large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail shells removed

·         Chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions

1.  Standard recipes for jambalaya call for cooking the rice in the broth with all the other ingredients. However, because my honey is diabetic, we try to limit starchy vegetables like rice in the diet. Also, it's easier to get the rice cooked just right if you cook it on the side. And, since this makes a lot more than the two of us can eat in one sitting, keeping the rice separate avoids the rice soaking up all the liquid and turning to mush. So, to cook the rice, combine the one cup rice with two cups water in a small or medium pot. Cover, heat to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes. 

2. Sprinkle chicken with Creole seasoning. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add sausage and brown 2 minutes. Remove to a plate.

3.  Add chicken and sauté until brown, about 4 minutes; remove to plate.

4.    Add onion, peppers, thyme, flour, and cayenne to pot and cook, stirring constantly, until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. 

5. Add broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes.

6.    Stir chicken and sausage into vegetable mixture; cover and continue to simmer 6 minutes. 

7. Stir in shrimp; cover and simmer 6 minutes, or until cooked through. 

8. Add rice or chopped cauliflower to rounded plates or large bowls.

Rice on left, cauliflower on right

9. Spoon jambalaya onto plates. Garnish servings with parsley.

Final notes:

Cooking the shrimp in the shells gives a much better flavor, but takes a bit of work to pick the shells off before eating each shrimp. The original for this calls for leaving the tails on, but I opted to remove them as well.

Hope you enjoy it!