Candy's Squash, Beef, and Pumpkin Pie Spice Stew

One of the best clients I have is also one of my very dear friends, whom I met while we were members of the San Diego chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier. Candy Wallace is the founder and executive director of the American Personal and Private Chef Association. She hired me about three years ago to write their blog, à la minute, and run their social media accounts. It's been the greatest of pleasures--especially since the gig also requires that we meet regularly to discuss strategy. And when we meet at her home, Candy makes lunch.

Last week, we got together and Candy presented me with this absolutely killer Squash, Beef, Pumpkin Pie Spice Stew. If I could, I would have dived straight into the bubbling pot on her stove and eaten my way out. The stew is thick and has the most marvelous texture, thanks to the combination of cubed beef tips, ground beef, butternut squash, and masa. The flavor is beautifully complex--a blend of herbs and vegetables,wine, and spices like cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. In fact, it's great to know that just because you buy the spice to make pie, you can use it in a whole host of other dishes--like this stew.

Now, while the stew itself is straightforward enough to make, the key to the great flavors is, of course, making it a day ahead of when you want to serve it. That way the flavors fully develop.

Since San Diego's finally cooling down (of course, having just written this, we'll have a heat wave again), we're finding that a good hearty stew is now a welcome dish. This one will make you sigh with pleasure.

Squash, Beef, and Pumpkin Pie Spice Stew

from Candy Wallace

(printable recipe)

6-8 Servings

Measure, combine, and divide into 2 prep cups and set aside:

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For Stewpot:

Olive oil to brown

1 to 1 ½ lbs cubed beef tips

1 cup chopped onion

1 Chopped/seeded red bell pepper

2 Tbsp minced garlic

3 Tbsp tomato paste

3  Tbsp El Pato Salsa de Chile Fresco (small yellow can)

1 ½ lb ground beef

Tbsp masa

1 ½ cups beef stock

1 ½ cups red table wine

1 peeled, seeded, cubed butternut squash

2-3 Tbsp light brown sugar

2 large cinnamon sticks

Salt & pepper to taste

Sear beef cubes in hot oil in stewpot over high heat and broadcast contents of 1 prep cup of spice mixture over top. Stir occasionally for approximately 5 minutes till beef is browned on all sides.  Remove cubes and set aside. You will not be able to drain fat from pot once it combines with spice mixture which becomes paste like consistency.

Reduce heat, add next 5 ingredients, stirring until softened, fragrant, and red in color, approx.. 8-10 minutes. Add ground beef and broadcast contents of prep cup spice mix prep cup #2 over top. Stir occasionally until browned.

Stir in the remainder of ingredients and bring to a boil, reducing heat to low simmer till thickened by cornmeal and tenderizing squash and beef tips. This will take approximately 45 minutes.

Remove cinnamon sticks.

Cooling and refrigerating the stew overnight makes it possible to skim the fat from the top of the dish and allow flavors to develop before heating, adjusting for necessary salt and pepper and serving.

Serve with hot cornbread muffins and crisp green salad.

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Snacking on Roasted Garbanzo Beans

I am ever on the hunt for really crunchy, low carb snacks. As it happens, one of my gigs is to manage social media for the American Personal & Private Chef Association so I'm also always on the hunt for great content to share. My twin searches collided about a week ago when I came across a recipe from An Edible Mosaic for Falafel-Spiced Roasted Chickpeas, which I happily shared on the APPCA's Facebook and Twitter feeds. Perfect! They're low in carbs and fat, high in fiber, and taste delicious. Snack on them with a cocktail or cup of tea, add them to salads or top a creamy soup. 

Then I got to thinking. How else could one flavor roasted garbanzo beans?

So, instead of focusing the flavor on cumin and coriander, I opted for smoked paprika and sumac. Like An Edible Mosaic, I chose the "quick" route of roasting at a high temperature. But when the current heat wave in Southern California is over, I'm also going to give low and slow a try, hoping that I'll end up with more flavor and--with a gradual drying out of the beans--greater and more long lasting crunch, a result similar to roasted chickpeas I used to buy in Italian grocery stores in Boston's North End.

But this technique works very well and delivers a splendid healthy snack. If you want to go all out, buy dried beans, soak them overnight, and cook them up before roasting. If you haven't the time or inclination, canned beans are just fine and prep will take no time at all. Just be sure to rinse them thoroughly to remove as much salt as possible so you can add your own much better tasting sea salt.

Smoked Paprika and Sumac Roasted Garbanzo Beans
Adapted from An Edible Mosaic
(printable recipe)

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (sweet or spicy, depending on your preference)
1/2 teaspoon ground sumac
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thoroughly dry the garbanzo beans using a paper towel.

In a medium-size bowl, thoroughly mix all of the ingredients, being sure that all the beans are covered in the spices and oil.

Spread the beans in a single level on a quarter sheet pan and roast in the oven for 40 minutes. Halfway through, shake up the beans so that they are fully exposed to the heat.

Remove when they're nicely browned and crisp. Let cool enough so they don't burn your tongue, but they're best and most crispy right out of the oven. Note that they will soften overnight.

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Clear Chicken Soup--Just in Time for Passover

I was raised on chicken soup. Sure, it was Jewish penicillin for when I was laid up with a cold or flu, but it's also been the centerpiece of holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Passover. Add some matzoh balls and, really, is there anything else on the table that so completely epitomizes family love?

So, I was shocked--Shocked!--when I tasted my friend Candy Wallace's chicken soup last week. I help out Candy and her husband, Dennis, with social media and blogging for their business, the American Personal & Private Chef Association. The organization trains chefs and good home cooks how to start and run their own businesses cooking for families and individuals, many of whom have special dietary needs--a great alternative for talented home cooks  who want to enter the culinary profession and trained chefs who no longer want to work restaurant hours. It gives them more flexibility in their lives and extends their career from a life on the line.

Periodically we get together to do some planning at their house and Candy, a chef and culinary educator of over 40 years, makes lunch. This is my idea of a great meeting! Lunch last week? Yep. Chicken noodle soup.

So, why am I kvelling over this soup? The flavor, of course. Pure, focused sweet chicken flavor ladled out in a clear broth, punctuated with chunks of chicken, vegetables like carrots, celery, and broccoli, and swirls of fusilli. Mom, Nana, Grandma, I'm sorry, but I think we've been doing it all wrong.

What we have been doing is good enough. Fill a large pot with chicken legs and thighs; cut up and add carrots, celery, and onion, turnips or parsnips, some salt and pepper, and garlic cloves. Cover with water, bring to a boil, skim, and let simmer, covered, for several hours. My mom adds minced dill at the end (Love it--don't stop, Mom!). There's no doubt it's delicious. And it certainly is pretty easy. But I realize now that it could be even better.

Candy explained to me that the goal is to serve a clear--not cloudy--broth. Bring it to a boil and you get cloudy results. A clear broth is cooked low and slow. Got it?

The reality is that this method does take longer and it involves more steps and ingredients because you make a separate stock first. But, Mom, are you reading this? The flavor is amazing! Imagine this with matzoh balls!

Candy Wallace's Clear Chicken Soup
Serves 6 to 8
(printable recipe)

Clear broth was always required for soups being served in my grandmother's restaurant. In order to achieve clear stock you must always heat low and slow, never allowing the stock/soup to actually boil. My chicken soup is an example of this visually delightful stock process. I actually use a combination (50/50) of homemade chicken stock and water to make the soup.

Ingredients
Start with an organic chicken for the soup. Place breast down in the pot.
Add:
4 cups homemade clear chicken stock*
4 cups water
1 medium chopped yellow onion
3 quartered carrots
3 quartered celery stalks
A handful of fresh thyme stems (6 or 8)
Salt
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 to 4 fresh thyme stems
Other vegetables you enjoy

*Candy's Chicken Stock
Stock is chicken parts or a whole chicken, chicken bones, vegetables you have on hand and want to use or lose, plus carrots, celery, and onion (mirepoix), fresh herbs, and salt (no pepper--it can turn your stock acrid) slow cooked over low heat, strained, cooled, and stored. (But remember the old adage of garbage in/garbage out, so don't use your stockpot instead of your garbage disposal.) Also, always start with cold water and use enough of it to just cover the chicken and vegetables--about four inches over. Skim often if needed, but you don't need to stir often. Just cook low and slow for hours.

Directions

1. Add stock, water, onion, carrots, celery, thyme, and salt to the pot with the chicken. Heat on medium low flame and allow it to just begin to simmer before cover, reducing to lowest heat and continuing to cook for several hours. This process produces almost no scum on the top of the soup, but if it does produce any foam or scum, simply skim it off and discard.

2. When the chicken in the pot is cooked through and falling apart, remove it from the pot so the skin can be removed and the chicken boned and shredded. Cool it and store it separately.

3. Pour the stock through a sieve or chinois to separate the mirepoix  and thyme from the stock, leaving the enhanced clear stock base.

4. Cool and store separately. When soup is fully cooled, you may skim the layer of fat that rises to the top.

5. Add the carrots, celery, and onion to the broth for the final soup, along with three to four stems of fresh thyme and any other vegetables you care to add to the soup, like small florets of cauliflower or brocolli, haricot vert, spinach, or whatever you enjoy and have at hand.

6. Once again, bring soup to a simmer on low heat, stir in the shredded chicken and allow to simmer until the vegetables reach the level of firmness you enjoy. If you wish, you can add pre-cooked whole wheat pasta, brown rice, or pearl barley at this point and serve with hot rolls, a fresh salad, and cheese board.

"This low-and-slow approach is such a loving process that honors the ingredients," says Candy. "The stock starts you off on the right foot for whatever dish you wish to prepare.

"Good stock rocks!"





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Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder with Creamy Gravy

Feeling a little chilly? Well, it took a trip to the heartland--Chicago, specifically--to be introduced to a dish that warms the soul. Rich, succulent...this dish, Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder with Mashed Potatoes, which my friends Candy and Dennis Wallace and I enjoyed at The Purple Pig, made us gasp with delight. And, it sent Candy straight to her kitchen once back in San Diego to try to recreate it.

Lucky me. I work with Candy and Dennis on their wonderful business, the American Personal & Private Chef Association, handling social media and other writing for them. (You can find APPCA on Facebook and Twitter.) For decades this trade organization has been training chefs and capable home cooks to run their own businesses shopping for and preparing personalized meals for families and individuals--whether they have special health needs or just no time for or interest in cooking. When we had a strategy meeting at their house recently, Candy, a chef for more than 30 years, set about preparing her now refined recipe for us to enjoy at lunch. It's a bit different from The Purple Pig's, and utterly divine.

The key to the success of this dish is making pork stock, a much neglected type of stock. Why we regularly make chicken or fish stock and don't have rich pork stock at hand is beyond me. It's easy to make and imparts a luscious, unique flavor. I know someone who uses it for French Onion Soup, but beyond that, I don't see that it's widely used or available in a ready made form. So this recipe is even more of a keeper just for the stock recipe.

But make the whole dish for a Sunday supper when there's time to relax and revel--and take a nap afterwards.

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Candy Wallace's Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder with Creamy Gravy

Inspired by Chicago’s The Purple Pig

(printable recipe)

Serves 4

It takes two days to prepare this dish, although the actual work time is minimal. On day one, you’ll make the pork stock. You can trim the bone from the pork shoulder you’re going to braise and use that with the rest of the pork stock ingredients listed below. Tip: if you want your stocks or soups to be clear instead of murky, never let them reach a hard boil (like what you want when cooking pasta). Instead, keep to a gentle simmer—low and slow.

For Pork Stock:
2- to 3-pound pork shoulder or shank and any pork bones you may have stored in your freezer for stock
1 ½ gallons water
1 head garlic, whole and unpeeled, halved through its equator
2 onions, peeled and quartered
2 to 3 carrots
3 stalks celery
4 to 5 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns

For Braised Pork Shoulder
1, 4-pound bone-in pork shoulder
2 onions, peeled and quartered
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 to 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 to 3 stalks of celery, chopped into large pieces
1 bunch of fresh thyme
6 large bay leaves
1 ½ gallons milk
1 ½ gallons pork stock

For Gravy:
¼ cup Marsala
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Cooking liquid from braised pork
Salt and pepper

1. To make stock: Brown the bones, meat, onion, and garlic in a roasting pan. Cover with water, bring to an active simmer, and skim off any scum as it appears. Add the carrots, celery, and spices, reduce the heat, and allow to simmer at least four hours, adding water to cover as needed. Strain stock. Allow to cool and refrigerate, leaving layer of fat intact.
2. The next day, break down the pork shoulder, removing the bone and cutting the meat into 6- to 8-ounce servings. Tie them with string. Season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a large roasting pan and sear the pork pieces. When all sides of the meat have been browned, add the vegetables, fresh herbs, milk, and pork stock to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Season with salt and pepper again, and place the covered pan in the oven to braise for two to three hours.

4. Remove the cooked pork from the pot. Cut off the string from each piece. Cover and let rest. Strain the braising liquid into a bowl and discard the solids.
5. Place the pan on the stovetop, add back the braising liquid, and reduce by half. Add the Marsala and cook for a minute. Mix cornstarch with cold water and add to the hot liquid to thicken the gravy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve pork on a bed of hot, creamy mashed potatoes, cover with gravy, and top with sautéed or roasted asparagus.

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