Turkish green bean stew

I saw Anne had posted a green bean recipe and I thought I'd share a recipe I just tried out today. Its another great way to use fresh summer green beans from your garden, if you have them. And, its super simple, healthy and dairy free too!

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 lb fresh green beans (trimmed and cut into 1" pieces)

1 lb lamb, cut into 1" cubes (or you can use beef instead)

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

3-4 medium tomatoes, chopped

a hefty Tbsp tomato paste

1-2 Tbsp sweet paprika (or more! I think tons of paprika is the best. Actually, I didn't have paprika today, so I added some hot cayenne pepper, chilli flakes and a couple Tbsp ground cumin.)

salt and pepper

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté onions until they're translucent.

2. Add meat and cook for about 10 minutes until most of the meat reabsorbs most of its juices.

3. Add green beans and saute for about 3 minutes.

4. Add paprika (or substitute spices), stir, and add tomatoes and tomato paste.

5. Just cover with boiling water.

6. Simmer over low/med heat until meat is tender. Usually with stew I think an hour will do it.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I served it with some white rice, but I think brown rice would be even better!

P.S. I love the new blog layout!

Grandma Pat's Beef Barley Stew

I'm not sure if any of you other Mamas are having difficulties introducing solids to your wee one(s). Eddie wouldn't eat anything but breastmilk until he was ten months old, and then I tried being all crunchy and making him baby food out of our food, but he wouldn't touch it. He *loved* OTHER babies' homemade baby food (and storebought baby food, and cookies, and crackers and cheese...all that stuff we're not supposed to give him right away, of course!) but not mine.

But then I made that Tortilla Soup, and gave him a taste (PRE-hot sauce), and he LOVED it. I froze a bunch of it in an ice cube tray, and it's still a hit. I finally broke down and BOUGHT jarred baby food (sob :P) and he, of course, loved that too. The best laid plans of Mamas and wives, I tell you.

Also, he doesn't like the same thing twice in a row. If we had mango-peach-oatmeal for breakfast one morning, we'd BETTER have something different the following morning, or ELSE.

All this to say that I was so sad that I couldn't make food for my baby like I'd hoped and that I was afraid I was doomed to feed him pre-made food until he finally grew enough teeth to eat steak and green beans with us. UNTIL. We went to visit DH's parents and Grandma made her Beef Barley Stew, and I thought it was delicious and gave Eddie a bite, and then another, and the next thing I knew, he'd eaten half my bowl! :P Then he ate it for lunch the next day, and dinner, AND lunch the following day! So I had to get the recipe, and now that I've made it again, I'm sharing it here!


Beef Barley Stew

1/2 lb lean round steak, chopped in cubes
4 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/4" slices
1 c chopped yellow onion
1/2 c green bell peppers, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 lb fresh button mushrooms, quartered
3/4 c dry pearl barley
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dry thyme
1/2 tsp dry sweet basil
1 bay leaf
5 c beef broth

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low, 9-10 hours.

NOTE: I forgot to ask DH to unpack my slow cooker, and since I don't know where it is myself, I decided to brown the meat with the onions and garlic and throw it, along with everything else, in a heavy stew pot, and I've had it simmering for about half an hour now. I'll let it go until the meat is cooked through, and the carrots are tender. Then we'll store it for lunches and Eddie's meals! (DH isn't a big stew guy. :P)

Update: The stew simmered for about three hours before I was happy with the thickness and the taste.

Guinness Stew for St. Paddy's

Top o'th mornin' to ya! I made this slow-cooker stew in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I used to never care a whiff about this feast day, mostly because it's little more now than an excuse for college kids to get drunk, and I just don't dig that scene. But once I married a man named Patrick, it became a lot more meaningful to me.

So now I raise a pint each year to me hubby's patron saint and pray me Irish blessings like a good lass. Erin Go Bragh! Or whatever.

• 1-2lbs. cubed stew meat (I used beef, but lamb would be scrumptious too - and very traditional)
• 2 cans of tomato soup + 1 soup can of water
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 1/2 bag of frozen peas
• 1 pkg dry onion soup mix
• 1 14oz. can of Guinness

Grease bottom of your slow cooker, place meat on the bottom. Pour onion soup on top of the meat, followed by the tomato soup and water. Next layer the carrots on top of the soup, and pour the Guinness all over everything. (Actually I used about 3/4 of the can; Patrick drank the rest of it with his breakfast.) Slow cook on LOW for 7-8 hours. During the last hour of cooking, dump in the peas and give the stew a stir. You can also shred the meat with two forks at this point, if you like.

I served this over mashed potatoes, so it was kind of like shepherd's pie as well as stew. Wow it was good. Very comforting! But you could also cube some potatoes and throw them into the stew along with the carrots and I bet that would be good too. Enjoy!