My Casa Bella

COME IN THE EVENING, OR COME IN THE MORNING;

COME WHEN YOU'RE LOOK'D FOR,

OR COME WITHOUT WARNING.

KISSES AND WELCOME YOU'LL FIND BEFORE YOU,

AND THE OFTENER YOU COME HERE

THE MORE I'LL ADORE YOU!

-Thomas Osbourne Davis



Welcome To My Casa Bella

My Casa Bella- means-my beautiful home- but it can mean so many other things. How you make your home a home. The sounds of children or pets playing. The aroma of scones in the oven or a lilac candle burning. The flowers blooming in your garden. The home grown vegetables ready to be picked. Grandma's quilt at the foot of the bed. A fire to curl up to with a good book. Or just a family spending time together with love, laughter and a good time.





















Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Irish Pub Special....I'd like to think

                                                                            
                                        Today was a great day for a warm, yummy,
                                                                 comforting stew!
                                               So yesterday I prepared the meat to
                                                                marinate overnight.
                                               Now I attempted to sear the meat, as it
                                                                          says in
                                                  Mastering the Art of French Cooking
                                                   But little did I know, that when you
                                                       place meat in a very hot pan
                                                                 you will have oil
                                                               everywhere!!
                               I mean, I knew it would pop and make
                                                         some kind of a mess.
                                                I tried quickly to grab a cover for
                                                                       my pan.
                                               Julia never states that you should
                                                    have a lid handy for splatters.
                                               Not only did I have oil all over my
                                                                countertops,
                                                                      but
                                              also my cabinet with the glass fronts,
                                                          even my floors!!!!
                                              I was slipping and sliding all over my
                                                                 kitchen floors!
                                             So once I did my searing, which made
                                                       my home also very smokey,
                                            I then added the red wine and beef broth.
                                                      But I had to open the windows,
                                                 and sliding doors. The smoke was so
                                                       thick in the house that my cats
                                                       were in awe I think. They kept
                                                                  sniffing the air and
                                             looking around. It was pretty comical.
                                                             So the meat marinated
                                            overnight. And this afternoon I started to
                                                                 saute the veggies.
                                            First, cook some bacon for flavor and fat.

                                              Got them nice and brown, and smelling
                                                                   yummy!
                                            Next, time to saute the mushrooms, and
                                                             no overcrowding them.
                                            Just like Julia said, otherwise they won't
                                                                         brown.

Then I added the chopped garlic,
oh, the aroma of that!
Next the veggies!

After those cooked for a few minutes,
then I added the meat and some broth.

Let it come to a boil on the stovetop.

Once it boils then you put it in the oven.
Bake it for two hours,
Yes I know two hours! Who has that
kind of time?
Well, I was home today,
otherwise it would of been in the crockpot.
But today the wind was blowing and I
swore I was going to be Dorothy
for the day!
It was freezing out, and it still is freezing out
and the wind
still will not let up.
So today was a great day for a stew, right
out of the oven.

The house smelled so good after the
first hour. And the stew
looked amazing.
I removed the meat and veggies so
that I could thicken the gravy.
I wanted to make mashed potatoes.
So after gravy was thickened to perfection:

It looked like the picture above.
Yummy, could not wait to dig in!

My hubby says I could put a Pub to
shame.
Isn't he so sweet?
He's a keeper!
This recipe was a combination of
actually two
recipes from my cookbook:
Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
This is by far my favorite
and my hubby's favorite beef stew.
And we have leftovers,
YEA!
It should be even better tomorrow.
Can't wait.

7 comments:

  1. Delicious !!! I can almost feel the aroma here !!! :-D
    I bet the leftovers will be even better !!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Arlene dearest! How are you? Wow, what a beautiful stew. I love to make stews, in fact, I made one last night that was killer good. Salmon, roasted tomatoes, saffron, garlic, olive oil, basil....unbelievable. Thank you for coming to visit me before the year ends! And thank you as well for liking my blog. It has really been a blessed year, making so many wonderful friends, and learning so much about myself. I hope you have a blessed new year and that all of YOUR dream come true!!! Anita

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, that looks delish!! Thank you for coming by for a visit. Have a Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mmm, that looked delish, Arlene! I love a good stew - great on a cold day. Generally make mine in the crockpot, but will have to try making it "for real" next time.

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  5. Hummm weird I thought I posted a comment about 8am this morning, must have not had enough coffee....Well the stew does look totally scrumptious! Its making me so hungry! I have a weakness for beef stews.

    And that was sweet of your hubby! He's got such a great cook! =))

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  6. HEHEHE, that's ok, I understand. I'm having one of those mornings too. I feel like I'm walking in circles....can I blame PMS for that? HMMMMMM

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh I can almost smell the aroma! What a great post.
    We'll be getting a 1/3 beef on Monday for the year and I can't wait to make a good stew for these cold days.

    ReplyDelete

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