Week of Feb. 8

Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy

Ingredients:
1 (5-pound) boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1½-inch chunks
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 ounces bacon (about 4 slices), minced
3 onions, minced
1 carrot, peeled and minced
¼ cup tomato paste
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
2½ cups Pinot Noir DIVIDED
1½ cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus extra as needed
⅓ cup soy sauce
2 bay leaves
2 cups frozen pearl onions
½ cup water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved if small or quartered if large

Directions:

1. Dry beef with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
   Place half of beef in slow cooker. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown remaining beef well on all sides, 7 to 10 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
2. Cook bacon in skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Stir in onions, carrot, tomato paste, garlic, and thyme and cook until onions are softened and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in 1¼ cups wine, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps; transfer to slow cooker.
3. Stir broth, soy sauce, and bay leaves into slow cooker. Cover and cook until beef is tender, 9 to 11 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.
4. About 20 minutes before serving, bring frozen pearl onions, water, butter, and sugar to boil in 12-inch skillet. Reduce to simmer, cover, and cook until onions are fully thawed and tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Uncover, bring to a boil, and cook until all liquid evaporates, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and cook until vegetables are browned and glazed, 8 to 12 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
5. Add remaining 1¼ cups wine to skillet and simmer until it has reduced by half, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to slow cooker. Let stew settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using large spoon. Discard bay leaves. (Adjust stew consistency with additional hot broth as needed.) Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

I shop for this the night before so I can have all of the ingredients ready first thing in the morning.

A 5lb roast can be hard to find. Get ready to buy two small ones. And 5 lbs is not a crazy amount of beef in a slow cooker. It's gonna cook down a lot.

The recipe calls for Pinot Noir, but I have used whatever red box wine on the counter in the past. You can also often find budget cans or small single serve boxes of pinot at the grocery store, which will get you around having to open a bottle of wine at 8:30 am.

Bay leaves are a flavorless conspiracy.

If you do 3 onions, make them the small ones you find in the mesh bag. One big yellow onion is fine- unless you frigging love onions. And you can mince the veggies and thyme in a food processor.

Vegetarian Ramen with Shiitakes and Soft Eggs
Cook Time: 30 minutes | Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin
6 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 tablespoons white miso
8 cups vegetable broth
3 (3-ounce) packages ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded
2 ounces (2 cups) baby spinach
4 soft-cooked large eggs, halved
Asian chili-garlic sauce

Directions:
For soft-cooked eggs with set whites and fluid yolks, boil the eggs for 6 minutes.
Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add mushrooms and scallions and cook until lightly browned and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger and miso and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in broth and bring to boil.
Add ramen and cook, stirring occasionally to break up noodles, until tender, about 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in spinach
Divide broth, noodles, and vegetables evenly among 4 bowls. Top each portion with 1 egg. Serve with chili-garlic sauce.

This recipe is what the NYT sometimes calls a "non recipe", meaning you can more or less add whatever you want here. I sometimes pair this with chicken from a grocery store pre-cooked roaster, or if I'm going veggie, I'll fry some tofu in a skillet and throw it in. .89 cent ramen minus the flavor pack work just fine. I cook and drain the noodles separately, but whateves.

8 cups of broth makes a lot of broth- you can easily pair this down to 6 cups (one 32 oz box and one can) and adjust the aromatics and miso accordingly.

I also see a lot of these pre-made udon broths in boxes nowadays- they're usually right next to the boxed broth in the store. I dont have a lot of experience here, but maybe worth a try. If you do this, skip the miso and ginger.

Udon Eggs: submerge eggs in boiling water for exactly 7 minutes. Drain, cover in ice and water to stop cooking. Done.

Crispy Tofu Tacos copy

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 1 hr | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min | Servings: 8 to 10 tacos

Ingredients:
2 (14- to 16-ounce) blocks firm tofu
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne (the lower end is mild; the higher end tingly but not spicy)
Salt and black pepper
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 ripe avocados
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (vegan, if desired)
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lime zest and 3 tablespoons juice
8 flour or 10 corn tortillas, warmed
Minced red onion, thinly sliced radishes and chopped cilantro, for serving

Directions:
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare your tofu: Drain it, squeezing out any excess moisture over the sink (your tofu may break into chunks). Coarsely grate the drained tofu onto two large (11-by-17-inch), foil-lined sheet pans. (The tofu will crumble chaotically, and that is fine!) Drizzle the tofu in each pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. In a small bowl, mix the cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper; sprinkle half the seasonings over each pan and toss to coat. Spread the mixture in an even layer.
Roast the tofu, stirring halfway through and rotating the pans, until the tofu sizzles, darkens and crisps, 30 to 35 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix together the tomato paste with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Drizzle the mixture over the tofu, adding half to each pan, then toss to combine, spread into an even layer and roast again until the tofu audibly crackles and develops a slight crunch, 10 to 15 minutes.
While the tofu roasts, prepare the avocado cream: In a small food processor (or blender), blend the avocados, mayo, lime zest and juice until creamy; season generously with salt.
Swipe the warmed tortillas with the avocado cream, then top with tofu mixture, red onion, radishes and cilantro. Serve immediately.

I use the long cooking time here to (flex) make my own tortillas, but I get it if you don't want to deal. One day when you're ready I'll show you my method for doing this, and you can level up. In any case, a must have for tortillas (or any flat breads) is one of these. It keeps your tortillas warm for like 30 minutes, so you don't look like an asshole serving cold tortillas. But don't buy it from Amazon. Go down to that local latin supermarket. You can get your tortilla press there, too.

Avocado, Prosciutto & Egg Open-Faced Sandwich
Prep Time: 15m | Cook Time: 30m | Servings: 2 to 4

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil (plus more for serving, optional)
4 large eggs
4 pieces sliced bread from bakery or grocery store "Take and Bake"
2 avocado (large avocado, ripe & sliced)
2 ounces prosciutto ham

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over med heat. Add the eggs & cook (covered) for 2-4 min for slightly runny yolks. Season w/salt & pepper to taste.
Dividing evenly, top the bread w/the avocado, prosciutto & eggs.
Serve drizzled w/additional oil, if desired.

This is a killer go-to for a 15 minute dinner. We have a bakery nearby, so I pair this with bread I buy on the way home from work, or the "Take and Bake" bread you get in the supermarket actually works quite well.

You can usually get prosciutto from the deli counter, but the non-refrigerated stuff that you get next to the pepperoni works fine, too.

My kids eat two of these no problem, so plan accordingly.

Cheesy Stovetop Mac with Sausage and Kale

Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
1 large bunch kale, leaves only, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound loose sweet Italian sausage (see Tip)
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
1 pound short pasta (such as macaroni, cavatappi or fusilli)
2 cups/8 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar
1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce, plus more to taste

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large, wide pot or a very large, deep skillet over medium-high, then add the onion, kale and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale has cooked down and the onion is smaller in size, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until the paste darkens slightly, 1 to 3 minutes.
Add the sausage and cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until it loses its pink color, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the red-pepper flakes, sprinkle with salt and give everything a good stir. Add the chicken broth and pasta and stir to combine. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, place a lid on the pan and cook until the pasta is soft but still has some bite to it, about 10 minutes. Be sure to check on the pasta and stir every now and again. (The sauce will have thickened from the starch in the pasta.)
Add the cheese and hot sauce and mix well. Add salt and additional hot sauce to taste before serving.

Not much to add besides that I make this in my dutch oven. It's hard to keep this under control in a skillet unless it's "very large and deep". You can completely skip the extra salt here unless you use unsalted broth.

Remember- spoon left over tomato paste into a square of plastic wrap and roll it up and freeze it for next time.