Since the weather outside is frightful, I have been doing a lot of cooking and baking lately. The cold, mixed precipitation we seem to be getting lately makes me crave a warm kitchen filled with the smells of something fresh baked and a good stew. So what comes to mind is soul warming food and yummy holiday goodies. You gotta look on the bright side, right? So, make lemonade out of those lemons in the summer, but now how about a beef or lamb stew, or a New England lobster stew, or a delicious crusty loaf of piping hot bread to slather with butter? Sound warm and yummy? Then sit down for a bit and take a few minutes to keep reading and I will share some of my favorite recipes to warm your home and belly.

2 Fantastic Stews and a warm Loaf of Bread

Right now I am obsessed with the no knead bread recipes made popular by Jim Lahey and others. It takes advantage of the old “poolish” concept which is the method of letting the simple ingredients of flour, yeast, and salt, sit overnight to be added to the bread recipe, producing a tastier, more complex flavored loaf of bread. Sort of like sour dough starter but not sour and not left that long. No knead (no need to knead) bread is started overnight as a wet dough. Just flour, water, yeast and a little salt. Left for about 12 -18 hours or overnight, it is ready to bake the next day. The only downside is that you need to plan to make the bread. It’s not a last minute sort of thing (although I will include a recipe for a quicker no-knead which is still delicious). As Lahey says, “Even the loaves that aren’t what you’d regard as perfect are way better than fine.”

Another recipe that I would like to share with you is a Guinness beef stew, served over mashed potatoes or , if you really want to make it Irish, serve it over colcannon, a cabbage and potato mash that goes perfectly with beef stew. This is a thick rich beefy stew that would be fabulous on a cold and snowy day as it will fill your house with the most delicious smells! You could easily swap out lamb for the beef, if you prefer. We love it both ways! Of course, serving it with some of your homemade, crusty, warm no-knead bread would just make it amazing! Actually, any of theses stews would call out for some of that delicious bread.

BEEF, LAMB AND LOBSTER?

We raise organic beef and lamb on our farm and our farm is certainly not on the ocean, but we are born and bred New Englanders and we love our fish! One fantastic, classic New England recipe is lobster stew. I will share 2 great recipes with you all. One is the “classic, classic” from a restaurant in Bar Harbor, ME, that my good friend and chef extraordinaire, Maggie Stenman served to us a few years ago that you can find here(https://findingmypieceofthepuzzle.com/lobster-stew/) The other is a bit of a compilation of various other recipes that I have made that we also enjoy. Of course, bread or popovers go great with both!

So let’s start with a nice, easy, delicious loaf of bread, following the No Knead recipe.

Jim Lahey’s No Knead Bread

• 3 cups of bread flour plus more for the work surface
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast(like Rapid Rise)
• 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/3 cups water
• cornmeal as needed

directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix the together the flour, salt and yeast ( I use a whisk but use a spoon or your hands to mix after you add the water) Add the water. I usually end up adding just a bit more than this recipe calls for. Your dough should be on the wet side and shaggy looking.
2. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rest in a warm spot, (about 72 degrees) in your kitchen for 12 to 18 hours. It’s great great to just leave it overnight and then you can bake it up the next day after the second rise.The dough will actually ferment and form nice little bubbles.
3. After 12-18 hours, or overnight, flour a work surface and turn out the dough. You might need to use a spatula to get it all out use your floured hands to gently form into a round loaf. Don’t knead it.
4. Generously dust a cotton towel with flour and/or cornmeal and place the dough, seam side down, on the cloth. Cover with another cloth and let rise for about 2 hours. The dough will be doubled in size and should show the indentation of your finger when poked.
5. A half an hour before the second rise is complete, preheat the oven to 450 degrees (232)Adjust the oven rack to the lower third of the oven and place a heavy 6-8 quart pot and it’s lid in the oven. This is the best way to do it to ensure the crust is , well…, crusty, but I don’t always do it and it still comes out very well.
6. When the second rise is done, carefully pull the pot out of the oven and plop the dough in. Put the cover back on and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid after 30 minutes and bake for another 15 minutes or until the loaf is as browns you would like. Try not to slice it until it has cooled for a bit! Enjoy!
7. here’s a link to a quicker version. Also delicious https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016271-speedy-no-knead-bread

Irish Beef stew with Colcannon & Guinness

This recipe is adapted from Bon Appetite Magazine from back in the 80’s.

1. 2 tbsp olive oil
2. 3 lb beef chuck or stew beef(or lamb), preferably grass fed, organic
3. 3/4 tsp each salt and black pepper
4. 1 tbl Worcestershire sauce
5. 3 garlic cloves , minced
6. 2 onions , chopped
7. 6 oz bacon diced
8. 3 tbs flour 
9. 440ml / 14.9 oz Guinness Beer 
10. 3 tbs tomato paste
11. 3 cups Beef broth
12. 4 carrots , peeled and cut into1/2″ thick pieces
13. 2 large celery stalks , cut into 1″ pieces
14. 2 bay leaves
15. 3 sprigs thyme (or sub with 2 tsp dried thyme leaves)

Ingredients: serves 6

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Dredge the cubed beef in flour and generously salt and pepper.
3. Add the oil to a heavy pot ( enameled cast iron is my favorite)and brown the beef in batches. Don’t overcrowd the pot as you want the meat to brown, not steam.
4. Remove the browned beef cubes to a plate and add the onion and celery, adding more oil as needed. Cook for about 5 minutes, just till the onion softens. Now add the garlic and cook another minute till fragrant.
5. Add the Guinness, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce, the thyme and the bay leaves and return the beef with juices to the pot.
6. Add the beef broth bring it all to a rapid simmer.
7. Cover and put it in the oven for an hour and 15 minutes
8. After an hour, add the carrots and put it back in the oven for another hour or so until the beef is meltingly tender
9. Serve over a big heaping scoop of mashed potatoes, or even better, colcannon https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/colcannon

Last but surely NOT least, here’s my version of Lobster Stew

Lobster Stew

First off, you can buy live lobsters and steam them at home, then crack the shells and get all the succulent meat out. But…why? You can also go to any purveyor of lobster and have them steam them for you, usually for free! Step one done! Hang on there, the rest of the steps are pretty easy , too.

Ingredients: Serves 6

1. 3(-4 ) 1 1/2 lb lobsters, steamed and meat cut into bite sized pieces
2. 3/4 stick of butter(salted is ok)
3. 1 cup onion chopped finely
4. 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
5. 3 tbs of “Better than Broth” Lobster base
6. 4 cups whole milk
7. 2 cups heavy cream
8. 1 cup dry sherry(not sweet) Amontillado is good for this
9. 3 celery stalks , split and then diced
10. 2 cups of diced Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
11. a pinch of dry thyme
12. 6 strips of bacon, cooked till crisp, drained and chopped

Directions

1. Fill a medium pot with water and boil the diced potatoes until tender.
2. Melt the butter in a large pot and add the onions and celery. Cook till translucent.
3. Add the paprika, lobster base, and sherry and cook for a minute or so.
4. Pour in the milk , cream and thyme bring to a low simmer. Don’t boil.
5. Add back the lobster meat, and potatoes and warm through.
6. Serve immediately with crumbled bacon bits on top, or even better, let rest in the refrigerator overnight to reheat the next day. (This allows the flavors to meld)
7. Don’t forget the bread or the popovers, if you prefer. Add a nice salad and you have a wonderful meal that will really warm you

Wishing you Peace and Joy in this special season! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays & a wonderful New Year to all!