Venison Bourguignon (Fancy Deer Stew)

Cooking for a family and ensuring they are Fed Well is about more than following a recipe.  For me, it is about learning enough about food to swap ingredients, it is about learning techniques to be repeated and providing not only a good meal, but an atmosphere where everyone WANTS to come to the table.

For Venison Bourguignon (first time making it), I steal a little from Julia Child's famous Boeuf Bourguignon but not just a copy cat substituting venison for the beef.  For Julia's version, click here:  Boeuf-Bourguignon-recipe

To begin, 3 carrots - I like to cut them on a bias - so fancy.

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Soften in a dutch oven on the stove with onion to taste.  I only use about 1/2 of a large onion.  Season with salt and pepper.  Julia would have used reserved bacon fat for this step.  I just use a splash of olive oil.

Once soft, further options begin.  I remove the vegetables but in the same pot I give the venison (coated in flour) a quick sear then add the veggies back along with some mushrooms.  Next, liquids.  Julia would add a bottle of red wine, but our tastes lean more toward tomato for acid with beef broth or stock and a bit of butter.  Put the lid on, place in a 350 degree oven for hours and hours.  I let it go for 4 1/2.

The above photo is what the stew looked like before going in the oven.  The sauce thickened and reduced, the meat softened and a delicious meal was born.

Serve over the family's favorite carb if desired.  Only three of us were home for this meal, and if anyone was watching they may have thought something was wrong as we did not speak - we simply enjoyed the tender and tasty food.  My husband actually said something like, "That was the best you've ever made."

Compliments are a sure way to feel Fed Well.

Have it Your Way - Well, the chips at least...

The weekend eating schedule is often thrown off by well, the fact I don't really have a schedule.  Late breakfast means I'm not really hungry for lunch which leads to afternoon snacking.

Neither salsa nor guacamole, I combine a fairly ripe avocado with two vine ripe tomatoes, a bit of white onion chopped fairly fine, a pinch of kosher salt, a sprinkle of garlic powder in a bowl for a Sunday afternoon of football.

Our team is not playing, and so my interest wanes easily.

The top photo is with lime chips and the bottom a healthy version of scoop shaped chips.

It is slightly easier to walk by a bowl of sweets, but I will never be able to say no to a salty snack.

Sharing even the smallest of meals with the family is still satisfying and leaves me feeling Fed Well.

Sunday Smoothies with Sweet or Savory Breakfast

What to do with the fruit that is turning the corner?  The fruit the husband tried to throw away because he thought it wasn't good?  The fruit that you bought because you wanted it and then forgot about?

The strawberries were on sale and sold in a display next to the yellow sponge cakes.  I had much healthier plans for the juicy red berries, but they sat in the drawer in the refrigerator for just a day or two to long to simply eat them raw.

Smoothies!

Smoothies are always the answer.  Well, almost always.

A slice the pretty-darn-ripe banana with the same paring knife I used to halve the berries.

Give the berries a quick rinse and toss in the blender with blueberries and milk.

Everyone blends on low for about 30 seconds then a quick whip on high before evenly distributing into 4 short glasses.

Older son and his girlfriend are making pancakes.  A few with blueberries, some with "chocolate chippies" and I'm not sure if their was one or two with both.

The Mr. and I opt for savory sausage patty on toasted english muffin with scrambled egg.

We plan our day; son will play football with friends for awhile, his girlfriend is heading off to work, hubby and I have a morning errand date which includes a stop at Dunkin' for a french vanilla coffee for me, then son and hubby are off to do some guy shopping before we all plop in front of the t.v. for a bit of football playoffs.

Sundays are for that slower pace, a decreased sense of urgency, more casual and laid back while still feeling Fed Well.

Creamy Garlic Chicken Viewed 2 Ways

Cooking, food, family, blogging, photography...love when it all comes together. I received a book for Christmas about food photography for bloggers and I continue to try to implement new techniques.  Placement, angles, composition - learning and experimenting. 

Dinner was:

1 lb. roasted boneless, skinless chicken breast

3/4 lb. thin spaghetti

Creamy garlic sauce

Once the chicken breast was roasted, I removed them from my "Magic Pot" a red dutch oven and set aside.  The remaining stock was mixed with a generous pat of butter, some champagne, a bit more chicken broth which was thickened with cornstarch, fresh garlic and parsley.  

Here's a secret - when using a pot from oven on the stove, place and keep pot holders on your hands at all times.  Yes, I forgot the entire pot was HOT and grabbed the handle with my left hand.  Ugh.

Once the sauce was thickened and my hand coated and dripping with aloe vera gel, the sauce was poured over the pasta and a reserve in the gravy boat.  The chicken was carved and 3 out of 4 of us were Fed Well.

 Which shot of the dish do you prefer?

What's in the water goblet?  I sometimes break the rules and pour a generous splash of Moscatto in my glass.

Avocado Specials

Every other Friday a small group (some of the members change), including myself, has lunch together typically at the Chinese or Mexican restaurants within walking distance from work.

This past Wednesday one of the members asked if we could go to the diner instead - she had a craving.

Of course!  I am always up for a diner!

 

 Two white boards of specials are posted in the lobby area and I stick to my new rule once seated and only look at the specials.  One sheet of paper with many avocado based dishes.  Sounds good to me.

Not sure what made me look at our waiter's feet when he was taking the next table's order, but we love the kicks.  Also classic, but are they practical when on your feet for 8 hours?

Last year we belonged to a celebrity divorce pool.  Each of us selected 10 celebrities we predicted to be divorced in 2012.  I had the most wins and as a bonus we selected one celebrity we thought would wed in 2012 and I got that one right as well.  Believing in karma and the power of the universe, I want to avoid any subjects that negative in 2013 as I suffered a few pretty substantial bumps in the road in my personal life in 2012 I suggest we instead have a celebrity marriage pool with a baby option as the bonus.  However, our lunch talk turns to theorizing who or which department will be most impacted by the upcoming announced layoffs or job elimination or cost savings initiative or whatever you want to call it.

Back to the food, I ordered the California Benedict.  A toasted english muffin topped with avocado, grilled tomato, poached eggs and Hollandaise served with a side of breakfast potatoes.  Absolutely delicious.  My avocado may have needed one more day to reach peak texture and personally, I would have preferred raw tomato but it was fabulous none the less.

The California omelet contained similar ingredients and my friend said it was delicious. 

The main reason for selecting a diner was so another friend could have a tuna melt with fries.  A diner classic.  She was quite happy with all components.

We haven't made any decisions about the celebrity pool.  We are going to wait and see what happens with the job eliminations.  Wait and see.  Wait and see.

We were together, had our first co-workers lunch of the new year and left feeling full and Fed Well.

My Happy Meal Includes a Strawberry Shake

The start of a brand new year, one of the coldest days so far in the northeast and I have a craving...

for a strawberry shake.

I find it is best to just give in to the craving.  After all, how often do I eat this way?  McDonald's is definitely on the rare side of the scale.  How pretty was that shake though?  So thick and sweet topped with whipped cream and a CHERRY!  When did that happen?

I would like to think every bite of food shared with others and creating memories leads to feeling Fed Well, but if the golden arches proclaim it to be "pure joy," well, that sounds pretty fabulous.

I spend my day job in consumer research and product claims are a part of my work.  Is it puffery to claim every bite will be "pure joy?"  

Does it matter?  With the level of brand recognition McDonald's enjoys, do their slogans or tag lines really weigh heavily on their consumer's mind?  I know what the food tastes like, I know it is convenient and I know it will currently satisfy a craving.  Enough said.

I am a little suspicious about them calling out the 100% pure beef claim.  Do they want me to think about the pink slime?

I really used to enjoy a traditional hamburger happy meal sometimes until they changed the fries to apple slices.  If I go to McDonald's, again, I know what I am getting myself into and look forward to the deep fried, salty, and bit of "bad."  Slipping me fruit is agitating.  I create my own version of the old favorite and upgrade the fries and enjoy my strawberry shake.

Was it pure joy?  No, but it was just what I wanted at the time and the memory will sustain me for quite awhile.  The best memories of fast food meals go back to my teen years when a friend worked at the local chain...I escape for a few minutes and am left feeling happily Fed Well.

More than Pie

Pizza.  Growing up pizza meant Friday at school or Mom was sick and Dad had to get dinner.  It was a treat and growing up in New York meant of course that I've only ever known the best pizza in the world.  Thin crust, oozy gooey cheese and a bit of sweet tomato sauce.  

I remember being able to split a pizza with one girlfriend.  Yes, we each ate four whole slices while we talked about boys and fed quarters into the jukebox.

I remember thinking pizza was still a Friday treat as a new wife and mother.  We would go grocery shopping on pay day then out for a pie.  

Something about pizza and talking it over.  Tonight I am a little tired after my first day back at work.  I'd had almost 2 weeks off for the Christmas/New Year holidays and have done my fair share of cooking so I welcome the break of pizza.  Funny enough, my sons told me this past year that they are tired of pizza.

Tired of pizza?  The statement seems outrageous to me.  We only have pizza maybe twice a month at the most and who doesn't crave a perfect pie?

This evening though my older son, husband and I gather around the kitchen table and have a good, hard chat about safety in the workplace.  Our older son is concerned about some of the work conditions at his job, what to do about it if anything and how many of his examples are negligence on behalf of this employer or if they are simply employee responsibility or preference.

  

The classic New York style cheese pizza or pie has survived all of my stages of life from childhood through adulthood and has likely been appropriately served as a casual meal, a birthday celebration and yes, we even had some as a late night snack after our wedding.  

Pie is just the thing when you need to talk it over and feel Fed Well.