Guinness Soaked Beef Stew

All recipes posted here are a composite of random recipes found online, in various cookbooks, taken from family, friends, neighbors and dishes/creations I have tried and/or made myself. Any similarity to people's personal or unique family recipes is purely coincidental, and no one actually owns the rights to any food combinations if you think about it. No matter how unique. Food for thought?!






INGREDIENTS:



1 T olive oil
1 lb (or more) Stew Beef
1/4 cup flour
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 can (14.5 oz) Guinness beer ( or more for you drink as you cook)
2 carrots, cut into 1 - 2 inches pieces
2 parsnips, cut into 1 - 2 inch pieces
1 large Leek, White & Light Green parts sliced
1 t dried Thyme
1/2 t dried Marjoram/Oregano
1 Bay Leaf ( You will remove later)
10 Crimini mushrooms, cut in half
Mashed Potatoes (can be white, yellow or red, it's up to you)


Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pan. Put the Stew Beef in a plastic bag, add the flour & some salt & pepper then shake to coat the beef. Cook the beef in the hot pan until it's brown on all sides. Transfer the beef to a crock pot. Pour about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the Guinness into the hot pan & bring to a boil to remove any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour over the beef in the crock pot.

Add the carrots, parsnips and leeks to the crock pot. Add the remaining Guinness, thyme, marjoram & bay leaf. Cover & turn the crock pot to low. Let cook 5 - 6 hours until the vegetables are tender & the meat is falling apart. Add the mushrooms & cook for 1 more hour. Taste pridically for seasoning & add salt & pepper to taste.

Posted some very old Blogs

Turns out I had started some blogs way back in 2006 over at my MySpace page when Is till actually used it on a regular basis. Long before Facebook took over, and never actually worked on or even continued. So I re posted them here and will actually update them in a few days. Which is why I suddenly have Blogs pre dating the actual sign in/up date for this Blog account in 2009. Either way enjoy them, though truthfully they really do not say anything of interest and are pretty much me just venting out my frustrations or getting excited about an upcoming trip.

Dream a Little Dream: Part 3

Last night I dreamed that me and a friend where in a Hotel, that kind of looked like my old dorms. In this Hotel you could enter a code for the elevator, which would then indicate if you were going to Heaven or to Hell. By indicating up or down after you entered the code. If you did this too many times, Police of some sorts would come to take you away. Which is what happened in my dream. Though we were trying to argue or reason our way out of it. Bizarre?

Haven't Blogged for Awhile

I am sorry that I have not blogged for awhile, but I have had a lot on my plate. Currently I am in finals for German, French and Japanese, as well as have three custom Fairy Tale/Children's books to Illustrate before Christmas. Actually I have to have them ready for the printed by the beginning of December so they will be printed and shipped to their respective clients in time for Christmas. I also promised two friends I would do some illustration work for them and I have been severely behind. So for the next month or so I think my updates and blogs will be sporadic. I did pre write a lot of stuff and it will automatically be posted at a later date, but I haven't spent as much time on these as I should have, nor have I really gone over them for content or spelling. So be warned my friends! And with that I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and very Merry Christmas!

Crazy is as Crazy does

This is something that attracted my attention for awhile now, but I forgot to write about it. This is or was the house owned by some random crazy guy I use to pass on my way to class in my neighborhood. He had all the windows of his house boarded up or obstructed, and a ton of crap inside and outside his house. Like a ton of random relics and pieces of junk everywhere you could see. Poles, boards, sticks, random bits and pieces of stuff from plastic slides to various parts of cars, vacuum cleaners, boxes, furniture bits. And to top it all off he had a huge banner facing the sidewalk telling everyone to overthrow the Government and elect him supreme emperor of the world as well as some random legal quote about property and the Governments right to intrude into ones living space or something to that effect. All in all the house and the various notices scream crazy-person! I actually saw him once posting something up, and he even looked crazy. He had an untrimmed beard, glasses and just a wild or crazed look about him as he quickly posted his latest rant and then darted back into his dungeonous abode.


Awhile after the above photo was taken, I believe he was forcibly evicted as there were all these official looking notices on his door and official looking tape, like the place was condemned or something. Shortly after I noticed all this, his house was mysteriously set on fire! And since I believe he was crazy, I assume he was the person who set the fire for getting kicked out of his own house. There was even a notice posted on the fence surrounding the house, asking if anyone had seen who had set the blaze on such and such a date. Which I recalled that I had actually passed the house before it was set on fire, and did not see anyone in or around the house. Though like I said, I would assume crazy-man set it for getting kicked out. A lot of people who get forcibly evicted from their home pretty much destroy it before they move out, which kind of makes sense. I mean until you actually leave, you do own it so you can do whatever you want with the place. Still this house and the person who resided in it, was a neighborhood curiosity, and I still would like to know the whole story. But since the house is now owned and being worked on by someone else, I guess I will never know.

Chop-Chop Chicken Lettuce Wrap

All recipes posted here are a composite of random recipes found online, in various cookbooks, taken from family, friends, neighbors and dishes/creations I have tried and/or made myself. Any similarity to people's personal or unique family recipes is purely coincidental, and no one actually owns the rights to any food combinations if you think about it. No matter how unique. Food for thought?!





INGEDIENTS:


2 chicken breasts, skinless and chopped
2 Tbsp Shallot (minced fine)
1 Tbsp Garlic (minced fine)
1 Tbsp Ginger (minced fine)
1/2 cup Zucchini (small dice)
1/2 cup Daikon (small dice)
1/4 cup Red Peppers (small dice)
3/4 cup Celery (small dice)
1/2 cup Carrot (small dice)
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped basil
8 oz Hoisin Sauce
3 Tbsp Bean Paste (chopped)
1 head Iceberg or Bibb lettuce (separate leaves the size of a soft taco shell, place into serving bowl)
6 oz almonds (chopped)
1/8 c scallions (minced fine)
16 pcs Soft White Bread
Canola Oil
Salt/Black Pepper

Method
Stack two pieces of soft white bread on top of each other and roll together with a rolling pin till compressed. Cut into 2in by 4in pieces. In a large sauce, pot fill halfway with canola oil and heat to 350 degrees.

Fry bread in oil, till golden brown (should puff). Dig out middle of bread to create bread boats. Set aside.

In a large sauté pan under medium high heat place 3 oz canola oil and cook bean paste for 30 seconds. Add shallot, ginger and garlic and sweat for 2 minutes (no color); next, add chicken and cook for approx. 3 minutes. Then, add zucchini, daikon, red peppers (reserve 1T each for garnish), celery, basil, and carrot. Sauté at high heat for 2-3 minutes. Next, add just enough hoisin sauce to coat the vegetables and chicken and continue to sauté. The mixture should still be dry. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

When guests want some, have them spoon mixture into bread boats and garnish with red pepper dice, scallions, almonds and wrap with lettuce. Place on serving platter.

Travel Tip: Number 4

Drunk Roommates, stupid holidays where everything is close, Library full of Homeless people. Swine Flu, Thanksgiving, Custom Fairy Tales, The Box movie review

I won my case!

I just got a letter in the mail from the Department of Labor Standards and Enforcement informing me that I won my case against Best Buy! I won every single one of the legal issues or California Labor Code violations/claims that I brought up, but I was not awarded the maximum amount in terms of monetary fines/penalties that I could have been awarded. For while I was able to prove that Best Buy did not pay me all of my wages at the time I was last employed, the judge thought I waited too long to file and therefor did not award me the 30 day maximum penalty. Which would have been over $2,500! I am actually a little bit upset about this as the statue of limitation for such a penalty fine is 3 years and I was within this time frame when I filed, so I should have gotten the full amount. I also did not get paid for all of the breaks I was denied or called off of, as there were at least 50 and I was only awarded 21. Though Best Buy will receive additional fines from the State for each 226.7 violation, which is really nice as I am pretty sure they are at least $100 to $1,000 a pop for each violation!


Still it is really nice to be vindicated after all this time in a court of law and I cannot wait to see the face of my old manager the next time I go into Best Buy. I also plan to mention that despite the fact that he lied in open court and committed perjury, he did not win! Although I am seriously considering filing an appeal as I think I should receive the additional late payment of final wages penalty fine, since I was within the 3 year statue of limitations. I also think I should get the penalties for all breaks and lunches not received and not just the 21 times I was awarded by the judge. For according to the criteria he used, I should have been awarded over for over 100 missed breaks.

Mardi Gras: Here I come!

In just a few short months I will be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, for the very first time in my entire life! This is something I have been meaning to do for years now and I have just never managed to get around to it. Like booking a hotel before they were all sold out or even bothering to find out when the exact date for Mardi Gras was. Since it falls on different days and months each year. One of the few US Holidays that actually has a floating date, like Easter and Thanksgiving. Though they always land on their corresponding days of the week.