Todays meal...

Had lunch with Mistress K today... always a pleasure. I haven't actually made this meal in a while, but I'm planning on it for this weekend. It's a favorite.

Meat and Veggies in beer (original name, huh?)
Ingredients:
1 lb. red meat, cut into strips about one inch thick (mutton, beef or, preferably, game meat)
1-2 pints dark beer (brown ale is about perfect)
1 large onion
1 large bell pepper
2-3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients:
Splash of cider vinegar
Handful of wheat flour for thickening

Directions:
Rub meat with salt and pepper
Place in a large, heavy pot with 1 pint of beer
Add a splash of vinegar if you want for taste
Simmer for 50 minutes

While it simmers:
Chop the garlic and cut the vegetables into strips
At 50 minutes, add veggies and garlic to pot
Continue simmering for 5-10 minutes;
Beer should be boiled down to a thick sauce... if it gets too thick, add more beer; if it's too thin, turn up the heat to boil it down (adding a bit of flour helps as well)

Cook Time: ~1 hour

Servings: 4ish

Notes/Serving suggestions:
This is a medieval recipe for mutton in beer that I found while looking for ways to cook with homebrew and tweaked a bit; mainly to include more veggies. Boiling the beer down carmelizes the malt sugars, which really compliments red meat, particularly game meat (elk is great for this recipe). It also is a delicious sauce; I'd serve this with chunks of sourdough bread for "mopping up".

This week's meal...

I skipped two days!!! Lawda mercy! Ah, well, I've been busy.

So, this week's meal is a staple in our family; I've probably had a thousand of 'em (two within the last 24 hours). They are only made properly with my dad's chili bean recipe* (for which there isn't really a "recipe"). Anyway, it's pretty simple fair, but it contains all the food groups (carbs, fats, proteins and chili), and is very filling. And, for some reason, they're always bigger than you intend them to be.

Haystacks
Place a handful of tortilla chips on your plate (not Fritos, please... if you use Fritos, the Mexican Food Fairy will kill you in your sleep). Ladle beans onto chips and sprinkle with cheese. Top with lettuce (iceberg is best for this... it's crunchy!), tomatoes and onions. Add, to taste, salsa or hot sauce.

Try not to make a mess while eating.

*Chili Beans
(This applies to our crockpot size... YM, as they say, MV)
Rinse 5 cups of Pinto beans, cover with water and soak overnight.

In the morning, rinse again and transfer to crockpot with enough water to cover. Add, to taste (like I said, this has never been written down), chopped garlic and onion, salt, ground chili (you can buy this, or the dried red peppers to grind yourself, in any proper Mexican market) and butter.

Cook until soft (but not mushy), stirring occasionally. Add water as needed.

Meal of the Week

Two in a day... Aren't you lucky?

Here's my first food post. I love food. Can't get enough of the stuff. So I hope to regularly have at least 1 food post and at least 1 beverage post per week. We'll see.

Last Night's Meal (Veggie Omelets and Hash Browns)
For 1 Omelet:
-2 eggs
-Teeny bit of water
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Butter
-Grated cheese
-Diced vegetables for filling (I used mushrooms, tomatoes and green chiles last night; go wild)
-Olive oil
-Small (six inch or so) flare-sided skillet

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat and add ~1 tbsp butter and ~1 tbsp oil when hot. When butter is foamy (a little brown is okay, but don't let it burn), add vegetables and saute. Transfer to plate or bowl and keep warm.

Add a bit of water to your eggs (just a smidge; ~1 tsp will do), and whisk them until they start to foam.

Reheat skillet over medium-high heat and add a little butter (~1 tsp I think... just enough to lightly coat your skillet). When the butter is foamy, roll the pan around to coat it evenly. Pour the whisked eggs into the skillet and roll it around again to get an even layer. Cook about 30 seconds so the bottom of the eggs can set, then roll the pan around again to distribute the eggs evenly. If you've done it right, and have enough butter for lubrication, the whole omelet will slide around the pan a bit when you do this. Cook unil the egg yolks have set (not too hard) and you begin to see the cooked whites. Sprinkle some cheese onto one side of the omelet (1/3 of the circle), then add some filling, and a bit more cheese.

Here's the fun part. Using a spatula, carefully fold the filled third of the omelet in, leaving a flap on the other side. Then (again, carefully), slide the omelet onto a plate (that's where the flared sides come in handy). Then, fold the omelet again, so that the flap is down, and the filled pocket is on top. Sprinkle some more filling on top of the omelet, then some cheese.

Consume with fried taters.

For Hash Browns:
-Potatoes (left over boiled potatoes, refrigerated overnight are best)
-Butter
-Olive Oil
-Large skillet or griddle (cast iron FTW!)
-Salt and pepper to taste

Grate potatoes (skin on or off, your choice).

Pre-heat skillet over medium-high heat (deja vu). Add 2ish tbsp butter and a dollop of oil when hot. When the butter is melted and foamy, roll the pan around to coat it and then add the potatoes. Make sure you have an even layer, not too thick. Add salt and pepper. Cook until brown on the bottom, then flip 'em over (hard to do at once) and cook the other side till brown.

Consume with eggs.

This meal would go great with a stout. I hear wines are hard to pair with eggs. Fruit juice is a great breakfast standby (OJ with mine last night).

Edit to add: God, I'm verbose...