Brooklyn Forager

Spring may be peeking demurely around the corner in Brooklyn, but not too long ago, we seemed to be getting the Blizzard of the Year weekly.  To prepare for the most recent of those storms, I turned to the crockpot to keep us warm and fed during the blizzard days and the cold ones that followed.  Particularly, beef stew.  I have loved beef stew since I was a little girl, especially my grandmother's which I used to request as a birthday dish, even in May (the rest of my family fired up the grill....I guess I wasn't so seasonal then!).

This time around, I thought I would try to create a new twist, yet another attempt to bring one of my more simply flavored family dishes into my husband's stomach which, as is by now well documented here, craves Asian flavors.  In the cold weather, I also like some extra spice and so the Red Curry Beef Stew was born. 

With some lovely local red creamer potatoes, frozen green beans, and a zucchini just screaming for use, the dish came together in the crockpot quickly and allowed me to stare at the snow for the afternoon.  I've always got at least one or two cans of coconut milk and various jars of curry paste or bean paste around to make a quick basic coconut curry.  With all of the vegetables, it really is a one dish meal, but a green salad could lend some crunch and freshness to the meal if you so desire.  Feel free to experiment with the vegetables as well - the onions are really the only must here because they really add a lot of nice flavor. 

Red Curry Beef Stew

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2.5 lbs cubed sirloin tips (or any stew meat)
• 3 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 lb. red creamer potatoes, cut into chunks or left whole if small enough
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 2-4 tbsp. red curry paste (I like 4, but 2 gives good flavor without too much kick)
• 2 hot chilis, sliced (optional, remove seeds for lighter spice and omit entirely if desired)
• 3 tbps fish sauce
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 1-2 cups green beans, fresh or frozen (no need to defrost if frozen)
• 1 zucchini, cut into half moon slices

1. Heat olive oil in saute pan.  Add beef cubes and brown on at least two sides. 
2. Layer onions, beef, chilis and potatoes in crockpot (mine is about 3 quarts).
3. Mix coconut milk, curry paste, sugar and fish sauce well in a bowl.  Pour mixture over crockpot ingredients.
4. Turn on low for 7-8 hours.
5. Add beans and zucchini in last 30 minutes of cooking.
6. Serve with rice or noodles.

After some heavy eating, I came home hungry for something light. With a crisper full of local vegetables, I chopped up some asparagus, radish, carrots and scallions to cover at least part of the color spectrum. Add a little balsamic vinaigrette with home-grown basil and mint. That part was easy. I'm not the sort of eater who can go without protein lightly. But I'd already had a heavy lunch with flank steak and spinach.

Enter quinoa. Benefits:

• SO easy. Popped it in the rice cooker with 1 part quinoa and 2 parts chicken broth (although water or veg broth would have been just fine)
• All protein! Quinoa has anywhere from 12-18% protein and has a ton of essential amino acids which make it a great light and healthy protein source.
  
• Tasty. If you haven't had it, quinoa has this light nutty taste and a cool grainy texture which make it a really nice change.
  
• Makes for great leftovers. I threw the whole box in the rice cooker and now I have a ton to use for salads, side dishes and even breakfast (heat it slowly with vanilla soy milk and warm spices like cinnamon or nutmeg, drizzle with local honey).
  

Quinoa sounds perfect! Enter the big "but". I realized that my quinoa was only local in that my local Trader Joe's is just down the street. So I did a little hunting and found that my dreams of a local quinoa-filled summer would not come true. On the other hand, I found this great website, Local Fork, which has a guide to locavore resources in NYC. With a little effort and broadening my farmer's market options, it looks like I can try some new grains and keep it local all the while!

Local items: asparagus, radish, carrot, scallion
Home-grown items: basil, mint
Could do better: quinoa
Pantry staples: grapeseed oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper

I had planned the perfect dinner, complete with portions for leftovers to keep us going through the week. As with the best laid plans, I forgot to pick up the final (mildly crucial) ingredient on my way home from work. Rather than fall victim to this fairly common mishap (and the easy reach of the takeout menu), I took a few moments to reflect on what I could cobble together.

I must admit that the centerpiece of the dish came from my dear friend Trader Giotto. A stash of ravioli and tortellini in the fridge and freezer has come in handy on more than one occasion. Tonight, I pulled out the gorgonzola ravioli and dreamt up what I'll call a Mushroom Beurre Rouge.

I heated a saute pan with Stonehouse California olive oil (from a local market in NYC, Provisions, that I am in love with) and some butter. To this I added one large shallot minced until the shallot was fragrant and soft. Next, I added some sliced baby bella mushrooms that didn't make it into last week's frittata. Just as the mushrooms were cooked, I added a bit of leftover red wine (roughly 1/4 cup) and reduced. Stir in some frozen peas and my sauce was complete. I combined this with the ravioli and garnished with fresh parsley from the farmer's market and fresh cracked black pepper.

The earthiness of the mushrooms and wine was balanced by the sweet butter and salty bite of the gorgonzola cheese. For a bit of additional acidity and texture in the meal, I also sliced up some farmer's market carrots (one orange and one lovely yellow) and tossed those with a light mustardy balsamic vinaigrette. Time from start to finish was roughly 25 minutes.

Though I used up the last of a bottle of wine with this dish, I didn't open a new one to accompany it. I used a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo in the sauce and it would have been a lovely addition in the glass as well. I'm a fan of cooking with the wine you will drink (or at a bare minumum, one that you would drink) if that's a possibility.