Beef Stew, Lightened up & good comfort food

Beef stew doesn't have to be a no-no for the healthy foodie.
If you emphasize a pot full of delicious, hearty vegetables made even more scrumptious by a judicious amount of high-quality, grass-fed beef, you can enjoy this delightful comfort food without a shred of guilt.
Unless you avoid it for ethical reasons, a little meat in most diets is not a bad thing. Iron and other minerals are more plentiful in red meat than in any other food you can ingest.

And while I'm against supermarket or fast-food meats --see "Food, Inc" or read Michael Pollan and others if you don't already know about the horrors of our industrial food system and its treatment of animals--humanely raised and butchered meat is a treat we allow ourselves once in awhile.

All that said, here is a re-posting of one of my blog's most popular recipes. In addition to the usual beef-stew veggies, this version tastes even better thanks to porcini mushrooms and leeks being included in the mix.

Recipe: Healthier Beef Stew
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces stew beef in bite-size chunks
• 3 T canola oil
• 2 leeks, rinsed well, white and light green parts only, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 lb new potatoes (red or white), cut into bite-size chunks
• 3 large carrots, cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 large onion, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks (optional)
• 12 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 2 cups hot water for 15 minutes, drained and chopped
• 2 T flour
• Mushroom soaking liquid, strained to remove sand from mushrooms, about 1 1/2 cups
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 3 cups beef stock or beef broth
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1 T dried thyme
• 2 large bay leaves

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in your largest saucepan or a Dutch oven over medium high heat. When oil begins to sizzle, add beef and cook, stirring, until beef begins to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate or bowl and keep nearby.
2. Add leeks and garlic to pot, stirring for 1-2 minutes until they begin to soften. Stir in remaining vegetables (potatoes through porcini mushrooms) and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables begin to heat up and start to cook, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Sprinkle flour over the veggies, stir well, and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Return beef to the pot.
5. Add liquids (mushroom soaking liquid, wine and stock/broth), stirring well.
6. Cover the pot and bring the mixture to a low boil.
7. Remove cover, reduce heat to medium and add thyme, salt, pepper and the bay leaves.
8. Cook for another 30 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are your desired level of tenderness by testing with the point of a knife.
9. Discard the bay leaves before serving.

Winter Blues Chaser

One of the (few) things I love about winter is the citrus fruits. They are in peak season now -- oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, even lemons are better now than at any time of year.
I'm especially fond of juicy, red grapefruit, and have a half of one sprinkled with a packet of Splenda almost every morning.
For something a little more elaborate though, I sometimes make a citrus salad that includes orange slices, thinly sliced fresh fennel bulb and chopped walnuts in a simple vinaigrette.
It's easy.
(I also like to call this "sunshine on a plate")

Recipe: Citrus Salad with Fennel and Walnuts
(Serves 2-3; can be doubled)

Ingredients:
For the salad:
1 large orange, peeled (no white pith remaining) and sectioned
1 large or two small grapefruits, prepared the same as the orange
1/2 fennel bulb, stalks and outer layer discarded, cut into thin slices
1/3 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

For the dressing:
Juice from the orange and grapefruit (drain off as much as you can from the sections, and squeeze the remaining fruit well after you have sectioned them)
1 bunch fresh basil, chopped coarsely (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup when chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil, or a mixture of olive and walnut oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Instructions:

1. For the salad: Combine orange, grapefruit and fennel in a bowl. Stir well. Drain off as much juice as possible to add to the dressing. Stir in walnuts and set aside.
2. For the dressing: Put all ingredients except oil(s) in a food processor and pulse until basil is chopped. Add oil slowly with processor running. The dressing will be thin, not creamy.
3. Pour dressing over salad and stir well. Serve!

Grading a few local restaurants

Here's a quick look at some of our recent restaurant experiences

Tiny "cassoulet" at Nuvo

NUVO in Covington: Had a great adventure there, much fun and delicious food. As I posted after our visit, there's no menu and you just eat what the kitchen sends out. A
Red Feather in Oakley: The replacement for Boca, they've done a lot to liven up the bar scene and make it a more casual, neighborhood place. The food was hit-or-miss, but my entree of short ribs with mashed potatoes and roasted root veggies was a winner. It's only been open for a few months at most, so it probably needs a little more time to iron out the kinks. B

Short ribs @ Red Feather

La Poste in Clifton: This is our neighborhood favorite and it never disappoints. We're so glad to have a destination restaurant that's a five-minute drive, or 10-minute walk, from our front door. Our only beef is that the menu would make us happier with a few lighter choices, but the owner mentioned that they're working on that and plan to revise the menu in that direction soon. A-

La Poste

Bistro Grace in Northside: Another treat to have nearby, this is Suzanne McGarry's dinner spot on Hamilton Avenue in the old location for Honey. One cool feature is that they're open every night, including Sunday, and they've started to add special deals such as half-price burgers on Sunday and half-price wine nights (not sure which night) and happy hour specials on weeknights. It's also very new but the kitchen started off with a bang, quality wise. A few details need to be tweaked, such as providing more interesting bread and perhaps adding a few more shareable dishes. They had a very soft opening in late November, so we hope that enough people catch onto its presence to make it a success. B+

Yummy hangar steak -- Cincy Enquirer photo

Microbrew Bison Chili

Use ground bison instead of beef. Bison (or buffalo) meat is much leaner than any cut of beef, and in a big pot of chili, nobody can tell the difference. And the addition of a good bottle of beer -- preferably something deep and flavorful, like a stout or porter -- makes it even better. Serve some of the beer with the meal!

Meaty chili

Recipe: Microbrew Bison Chili

Serves 6-8, or more

Ingredients:

3 T canola oil, divided

1 large onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped

2 ribs celery, thinly sliced

½ cup diced green pepper (optional)

3 T good-quality chili powder

½ teaspoon chipotle powder, or more to taste

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 large can diced tomatoes, preferably no-salt-added

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 cup water

1 pound ground bison (buffalo)

1 bottle dark beer, such as stout

Salt, to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat 2 T of the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add next five ingredients (onion through green pepper) and sauté, stirring frequently, until veggies start to soften, about 4 minutes.

2. Stir in chili and chipotle powders. Add next 5 ingredients (black beans through water) and stir well. Reduce heat to medium, cover pan.

3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 T oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add bison and cook, crumbling meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks. When the meat has no pink left in it, remove with a slotted spoon and add to the chili.

4. Stir in beer, and add more water if you want a more soupy consistency (leave it as is if you prefer stew-like chili). Cover pot, reduce heat to low, and let the chili simmer for at least 15 minutes to let all the flavors combine.

Season with salt to taste.

Serve over rice, with corn chips or (my favorite) cornbread.  Pass a bowl of grated jack or cheddar cheese at table, if you want. You can freeze leftovers and have it again on a cold winter night.

Wowed by a restaurant! (And we're not easy to wow....)

Foodies in the metro Cincinnati area, take note. Nuvo at Greenup, a less-than-six-months old venture by chef/owner Mark Bodenstein, might be the best restaurant in town.
We (finally) made it over there -- Covington KY -- last night, and it was a first rate dining adventure.
There's no menu; they just bring you what Mark is cooking, which consists of anywhere from six to ten or more courses. Our servers said it could be six fairly substantial courses or up to ten smaller portions. We hit it when they were doing the ten-spot.

Duck with Carrots @ Nuvo

The restaurant is in a small house on Greenup Street near the Ohio River, which has been a few other restaurants in the past, including an old favorite of mine called Wildflower, which served the healthiest and freshest food within walking distance of my former place of employment.
Nuvo has modernized the interior, and the decor is minimalist but pleasant. There's a lovely garden/patio in back which of course was totally off limits in this dreadful cold and icy winter we're suffering through, but they intend to revive it when the weather improves.
Upon being seated, you choose your beverages -- beer and wine only, no mixed drinks -- and confirm any dietary restrictions (they ask when you make reservations, which are a must as the place is very small and many foodies already are onto it). The price is $45 per person, not including whatever you decide to drink. You also can add wine pairings chosen by the staff for $40.
The wine list was short but interesting, I thought, and while we didn't select the wine pairing, other tables nearby did, and I noted the clever choices served by the beverage manager, a woman named Marie.
I will add some photos of our dishes, but won't go into detail about ingredients in each.....mainly because the dishes change so often that you wouldn't get the same thing even if you dined there next weekend. (They open for dinner only, Wednesday - Saturday.)
The concept, it seems to me, is to take mostly familiar ingredients and combine or prepare them in ways you probably never have had before, or even thought of having.

"Knife and fork onion soup"

For instance, the "knife and fork French onion soup" deconstructed the main ingredients and then came up with a (small) dish of a couple varieties of lightly cooked onions, leeks, seasonings and instead of cheese, a sauce made of "caramelized milk." We thought it a memorable, fascinating course, although we didn't think that the milk could have been an improvement on cheese. (One of the servers said that Mark couldn't find a particular type of cheese that set off the dish in the way he wanted it to taste.)
Toward the end of the meal -- right before dessert -- was a pappardelle with crawfish that was a favorite. Also a mushroom preparation that knocked us out. And they did a fine little take on duck breast with carrots prepared several different ways, including a garnish of fried carrot tops.
All in all, delightful. We look forward to trying it again in different seasons of the year, especially to see what he does when local produce is at its peak.

The mushrooms

ONE DOWNER: I told them that my husband doesn't eat red meat, but they served him pork and pork sausage anyway. Gamely, he ate it without complaint, but next time I call for a reservation I will mention this lapse and ask that they are more careful next time.

Why Breakfast is a MUST

And finally, Healthy Foodie Rule #10

EAT BREAKFAST EVERY DAY

If you don't already follow this important healthy-foodie rule -- what's your excuse?

That is: always start your day with a healthy breakfast. Even a less-than-healthy breakfast (bacon and the like) is better for your weight control and overall health and well being than no breakfast at all.

Here's some advice from the website Real Age about the importance of breakfast and staying slim:

Ever skip breakfast, secretly hoping you'll fit into your jeans better if you do?
It's a natural thought. Less food in your belly means more room in your waistband, right? Think again. New research shows that skirting the ritual of a morning meal can totally sabotage your waistline by setting you up for minimal calorie burn and a bigger appetite throughout the day.

Break Your Fast

In fact, breakfast skippers are twice as likely as breakfast eaters to pile on pounds, according to the study results. It may be because energy-deprived breakfast skippers tend to be less active throughout the day, so they burn fewer calories. On top of that, when people skip breakfast, their blood levels of ghrelin -- a hunger-inducing hormone -- creep higher, upping the odds of downing a supersized meal or high-calorie treat later in the day.

More Breakfast Boons

Here's yet another potential benefit of eating breakfast: a richer, happier life. Yes, really. In the study, people who often skipped their a.m. meal reported bigger drops in vitality, social functioning, and mental and emotional well-being compared with the breakfast eaters. So belly up to the breakfast table each morning. You'll look better and feel better if you do.

Dining out is fun, but perilous.

Healthy Foodie Rule #9: Be Careful at Restaurants

Before You Go

Don’t arrive starving! Eat a little healthy fat -- like about six walnut halves -- before a meal. The healthy fat in walnuts triggers a chain reaction that slows the rate at which your stomach empties, so you’ll feel fuller faster. But the chain reaction takes 30 minutes, so plan for it.

The First 10 Minutes

• Raise a glass. Of water. To your lips. This can fill you up, so you don’t overeat.
• Ask for cut-up veggies instead of bread. Most quality restaurants (including inexpensive ones) provide this option.
• Dip in olive oil. If the restaurant brings you whole-grain bread, dip it in olive oil. People who opt for this over butter eat less bread.
• Request the bottles. Order oil and vinegar on the side. Relying on the kitchen to dress your salad -- even with oil and vinegar -- can deliver as many as 450 extra calories!

The Last 10 Minutes

• Share. Get one dessert for every four or five people, and have just a few bites. If there are just two of you, take half of the dessert home, and freeze it for a special occasion.
• Savor your wine. Ending a meal with a glass of wine lets you avoid the cloying aftertaste of sweets . . . and helps you avoid calorie-bombs, too.
• Go European. Do what many Europeans do: Make salad the last thing you eat.