Sweet & Sour Pork Recipe

D: Typed up the full post and it all disappeared when I tried to return to add A's photos. Meh, photos are worth a thousand words right? :)

Sweet & Sour Pork

Deep Frying Pork Pieces

Stir Fry Ingredients Together

Source: Rasa Malaysia

Mashed Potatoes Recipe

J did an amazing job mashing this up to the perfect creamy! M compared it to the IKEA mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs potatoes, cut
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cup heavy cream 
• 1-1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Cut potatoes and put into a large pot. Add bay leaves, 2 tbsp salt, and cover with cold water. 
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. (Fork should go through the meat easily)
3. Drain potatoes and remove bay leaves. 
4. Heat heavy cream and butter over low heat, until butter has melted. 
5. Mash potatoes with potato masher or whisk. 
6. Add cream butter mixture to potato. 
7. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well and serve.

Source: Food Network | Tyler Florence

Beef Bourguignon (Kinda)

I chose the recipe for this week, but didn't read through it properly. When I saw frozen pearl onions, I thought to myself - frozen onions? I can afford fresh onions - I'm going to get that. (Food noob here -.-). At the end of the day, everything tasted good. The beef chunks were a little overcooked - gotta take it off the heat earlier next time.

Ingredients

•  1 cup onions, diced
• 2 lb beef chunks 
• 1 tbsp butter or oil 
• 3 bacon slices, finely chopped
• 1 8oz pack of mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp thyme 
• pinch of sugar
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup red wine 
• 2 cup beef broth 
• 4 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour 
• Salt and pepper

1 cup frozen pearl onions

1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into roughly 2-inch chunks

1 tablespoon clarified butter or canola/safflower oil (or other neutral high smoke point oil)

1 bacon slice, finely chopped (or substitute pancetta)

1 10-ounce package of cremini mushrooms, quartered

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

pinch of sugar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup earthy, good-quality red wine (Cote du Rhone, Burgundy, or Pinot Noir)

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

fresh thyme sprigs (to garnish)

- See more at: http://www.bloggingoverthyme.com/2013/10/24/30-minute-beef-bourguignon/#sthash.y3q6flK7.dpuf

1 cup frozen pearl onions

1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into roughly 2-inch chunks

1 tablespoon clarified butter or canola/safflower oil (or other neutral high smoke point oil)

1 bacon slice, finely chopped (or substitute pancetta)

1 10-ounce package of cremini mushrooms, quartered

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

pinch of sugar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup earthy, good-quality red wine (Cote du Rhone, Burgundy, or Pinot Noir)

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

fresh thyme sprigs (to garnish)

- See more at: http://www.bloggingoverthyme.com/2013/10/24/30-minute-beef-bourguignon/#sthash.y3q6flK7.dpuf

1 cup frozen pearl onions

1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into roughly 2-inch chunks

1 tablespoon clarified butter or canola/safflower oil (or other neutral high smoke point oil)

1 bacon slice, finely chopped (or substitute pancetta)

1 10-ounce package of cremini mushrooms, quartered

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

pinch of sugar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup earthy, good-quality red wine (Cote du Rhone, Burgundy, or Pinot Noir)

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

fresh thyme sprigs (to garnish)

- See more at: http://www.bloggingoverthyme.com/2013/10/24/30-minute-beef-bourguignon/#sthash.y3q6flK7.dpuf

1 cup frozen pearl onions

1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into roughly 2-inch chunks

1 tablespoon clarified butter or canola/safflower oil (or other neutral high smoke point oil)

1 bacon slice, finely chopped (or substitute pancetta)

1 10-ounce package of cremini mushrooms, quartered

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

pinch of sugar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup earthy, good-quality red wine (Cote du Rhone, Burgundy, or Pinot Noir)

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

fresh thyme sprigs (to garnish)

- See more at: http://www.bloggingoverthyme.com/2013/10/24/30-minute-beef-bourguignon/#sthash.y3q6flK7.dpuf

1 cup frozen pearl onions

1 pound beef tenderloin, cut into roughly 2-inch chunks

1 tablespoon clarified butter or canola/safflower oil (or other neutral high smoke point oil)

1 bacon slice, finely chopped (or substitute pancetta)

1 10-ounce package of cremini mushrooms, quartered

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

pinch of sugar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup earthy, good-quality red wine (Cote du Rhone, Burgundy, or Pinot Noir)

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

fresh thyme sprigs (to garnish)

- See more at: http://www.bloggingoverthyme.com/2013/10/24/30-minute-beef-bourguignon/#sthash.y3q6flK7.dpuf

Instructions 

1. Remove beef from refrigerator and all to sit for at least 20 minutes. Finely chop half of the beef. Season with salt and pepper
2.  Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Melt butter or oil. 
3. Add large beef chunks to the pan and quickly brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan and foil wrap in a stainless steel bowl. 
4. Add the finely chopped diced beef and bacon to the pan. 
5. Add the mushrooms and saute until lightly brown, about 4-5 minutes. 
6. Add garlic, thyme, and the pinch of sugar. 
7. Add tomato paste and cook for another 1-2 minutes. 
8. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the wine. 
9. Return the pan to heat and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine to half.
10. Add onion and broth and bring to a boil. 
11. Whisk together water and flour in a separate bowl. Add to the pan, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken.
12. Add back browned beef chunks and cook over medium heat until beef is medium-rare, about 2-3 minutes. 
13. Season with salt and pepper. 
14. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Source: Blogging Over Thyme

Risotto Primavera Recipe

Wednesday Dinners have been moved to Tuesdays now to accommodate our new cooking buddy - J! J is taking dance classes up in San Francisco on Wednesdays (boy has moves!). Chef on Tuesday. Dancer on Wednesday. Here's our attempt at The Pioneer Women's Risotto Primavera. The end result was very tasty - we all ended up eating a lot more rice than we typically do. Props to people making risottos regularly - I had to pass the stirrer over to Alan for the home stretch.


Ingredients

• 5 cups chicken broth 
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced 
• 3 carrots, diced 
• 1/2 cup cauliflower 
• 1/2 cup broccoli 
• 4 oz mushroom 
• 1 yellow squash, diced 
• 2 tsp salt
• 1.5 cups Arborio rice 
• 1.5 cups dry white wine 
• 4 oz goat cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• green onion

Instructions

1. Pour chicken broth into small saucepan. Heat to simmer. 
2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter. 
3. Add diced onions and carrots. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. 
4. Add cauliflower. Cook for 1 minute. 
5. Add broccoli. Cook for 30 seconds. 
6. Add squash and mushrooms. Cook for 30 seconds. 
7. Sprinkle salt. Stir. Remove from pan and set aside. 
8. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter to the pan. Heat over medium-low heat. 
9. Add rice and stir, cooking for 1 minute. Add half the wine and 1.5 tsp salt. Stir and cook until liquid is absorbed
10.  Over next 30-45 minutes, add 1 cup of broth at a time, stirring and cooking until each addition of broth is absorbed. 
11. Add other half of wine and cook until absorbed. 
12. Taste to make sure rice is the right texture; add another helping of broth if rice has too much bite to it.
13. Once rice is cooked, remove from heat. Stir in goat cheese, Parmesan, and vegetables until all goat cheese is combined.
14. Serve with green onion on top.  

Source: The Pioneer Woman