Peppered Stew
Yield: 4 Servings
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon freshly coarsely ground or cracked pepper
1 pound beef stewing meat, trimmed of fat and cut into bite-sized cubes
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
½ cup diced onion
1 diced garlic clove
½ cup diced tomato
½ cup diced jalapeño (burning – jalapeño with capsaicin glands and ½ or to taste teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, hot – jalapeño with capsaicin glands and ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, mild – jalapeño pericarp and 1/8 teaspooon crushed red pepper flakes)
Reserve a 3/8” thick sliced ring of red bell pepper for garnish
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
½ cup poblano pepper, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped
2 cups baking potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups beef or chicken stock
Garnish
1 teaspoon snipped cilantro
Baked Jalapeno Biscuits (recipe below)
Red bell pepper ring
Preparation:
Mix pepper and flour.
Dredge meat, coveirng all sides completely.
Heat a well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium heat.
When hot, add a tablespoon of grapeseed oil to the skillet.
Lift the skillet and rotate to completely cover the bottom of the skillet.
When the oil shimmers, add the meat. Depending on the size of the skillet, this may require two batches, as pieces of meat should not touch each other.
Brown the meat on all sides.
Remove meat from skillet to a bowl and reserve.
Heat broth, garlic and potatoes in a saucepan until the broth simmers. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the onion to the hot skillet. Sprinkle the salt over the top.
Saute onion until transparent and soft.
Add tomatoes and jalapeno to skillet once the onion is done. Saute 3-4 minutes or until jalapeno is slightly softened.
Add hot broth and garlic.
Add potatoes and broth to the skillet.
Bake in the oven for 2 hours, covered.
After 2 ½ hours, test the meat and vegetables to see if they are done. If not, stew another half hour. Test again.
When done,arrange drop biscuits around the parimeter, overlapping slightly, and place the red pepper ring in the middle.
Cover and bake for 20 minutes to warm biscuits.
Taste. The potatoes and meat should be tender.
Garnish with snipped cilantro and serve.
Jalapeno Drop Biscuits
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 cup whole milk buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh jalapenos, stemmed, seeded, minced
¼ cup crispy bacon lardons
1 teaspoon melted butter, optional
Preparation;
Pre-heat oven to 400° F.
Cover the top of a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Warm buttermilk and butter and stir until the butter melts.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt into a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the pepper.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until combined, with none of the dry ingredients showing.
Add the other half of the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
Fold in jalapenos and bacon.
Drop the biscuits by tablespoon onto the parchment paper. This is a soft batter; the batter will spread.
Place in the oven and bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. These biscuits are a light cream in color.
If desired, brush biscuits with melted butter 5 minutes before they are done to give them a more golden tone.
Remove from oven. Allow to cool, cover and reserve on the counter until ready to use.