Irish Stew

So as I was trying to find something to make for dinner yesterday, I was thinking about some of the foods that I really like and have not had for a long time. I remembered the Irish Stew from the Ha' Penny Irish Pub when I worked at the Knitting Factory, one of my best friends Justine and I used to get a couple bowls and enjoy before the night of drunken douche-bagery that was about to crash down on us. So I had two options, first drive to Boise and pay a whole lot of money to get seven servings of stew, or second learn to make it myself, and well I am a cheap son of a gun so make it myself it is. The recipe I used goes like this:

• 1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced
• 6 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces(I could not find this, so I used Lamb shoulder chops and removed the bones)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 cups beef stock
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 4 cups diced carrots
• 2 large onions, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 potatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup white wine

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2. Put lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly. Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat.
3. Place meat into stock pot (leave 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan). Add the garlic and yellow onion and saute till onion begins to become golden. Deglaze frying pan with 1/2 cup water and add the garlic-onion mixture to the stock pot with bacon pieces, beef stock, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and wine to pot. Reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

Now this was not the same as the one I used to eat but t was good, the Ha' Penny's stew is thicker, and that could be just a result of sitting in a pot longer and the potatoes breaking down, and mine had a little bit of the wine flavor on the back end of each bite, I might change this to add a rue to it to thicken it up depending on if it changes the taste I will let you know. Well Tanya has class tonight and usually I go with quick and easy but who knows I really have been enjoying cooking the last couple nights. Oh yeah date night last night Tanya brought home a move called "The Music Never Stopped" highly recommend watching this movie it was great.

Crab Nachos

Hey all I know its been a long time since my last post, but I have been busy with work really not that much time to cook. The other night Tanya wanted some Crab Nachos like they make at Joe's Crab Shack, so I tried my best to make them. According to their menu its chips with cheese, warm crab dip and black beans. I found a recipe online and while those of you who know me well know this is killing me I took a recipe from Paula Deen and modified it. To be honest I did not even see who the recipe was from until after I had finished preparing it, and there is not a stick of butter in the recipe so I had no clue it was hers. But any way I had to change the recipe because Tanya does not like cilantro and she does not like spicy food so I left out the Jalapenos. Her recipe is as follows:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons seeded and chopped jalapeno pepper, plus slices for garnish, optional
• 1/2 cup light beer
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 (8-ounce) block pasteurized prepared cheese product
• 1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and picked for shells
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, (about 2 limes)
• 1/4 cup minced green onion
  
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

In a 4-quart saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, jalapeno pepper, and garlic and cook stirring frequently, for 3 minutes. Stir in the beer and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the cream, cream cheese, and processed cheese, whisking until melted and smooth.

Stir in crabmeat, lime juice, green onion, cilantro, and chili powder and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the salt, black pepper, cayenne, and cumin. The jalapeno can be used as a garnish if desired.

I then took a layer of tortilla chips and spread a layer of shredded cheese over the top, then put a layer of the warm crab dip over that, that will melt the cheese making a great plate of nachos. Sprinkle with black beans and diced tomatoes.

Well it is my weekend maybe I can come up with some thing to night, i have the All Recipes app on my phone now, so lets see what is for dinner, well the app came up with pineapple bacon burgers, not sure that will go over here so I guess i will go to the grocery store and see what they have.