Beef & Barley Soup

Beef Barley Soup

The flavor of this soup relies on using a good and flavorful beef stock. Read the label to make sure it’s not over salted. Or you could try making a batch of your own!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound beef stew meat or
1 ½ cups leftover beef, chopped or shredded
Sea Salt and ground pepper
1 cup pearl barley, cooked*
1 small leek, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced into bite sized pieces
1 medium stalk celery, peeled and diced as you did the carrots
1 medium onion, diced similar size to carrot and celery
4 cups good beef stock

Heat the olive oil and butter in a Dutch oven or pressure cooker**.

Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown in batches, don’t crowd the meat or it will steam and not brown. Remove the meat and set aside. If using already cooked meat skip this step and jump ahead.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan if necessary, add the vegetables and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.

Add the barley and the reserved meat; simmer the soup for another 15 or 20 minutes, until the barley is tender. Season with a little salt and pepper if needed and enjoy.

To cook barley, bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add the barley. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, drain, and set aside.

**To pressure cook the soup: After browning the meat, add the stock and barley to the pan, place the lid on the pressure cooker, bring to full pressure and cook for 10 min. I let the pressure cooker naturally release pressure before continuing.

Add vegetables and return to pressure over high heat. Cook 15 minutes and let pressure release. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Barley photo credit, Fine Cooking. To read about barley follow this link, Fine Cooking-Barley

January Cooking Class

1 / 7 / 16

Temecula Olive Oil Tasting Rooms

Cooking Class

Seal Beach, Main St.

Jan 14th, Thursday

6:30-8:30p.m., approximately

SOLD OUT!

2nd CLASS ADDED

WE’VE ADDED THUR., JAN 28TH

IN SEAL BEACH

CALL FOR RESERVATIONS TODAY!

Temecula, Old Town

Jan 16th, Saturday

12-2 p.m., approximately

Menu for both venue’s

Blue Cheese Stuffed Fried Olives with Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Tangerine, Beet & Avocado Salad

Braised Chicken Breast with White Wine Crème Fraîche Sauce
on a bed of Blanched Spinach with Bacon

Tomato Stuffed Raviolis

Meyer Lemon Cupcakes

10 – 20% off on all purchases the night of the class

For Seal Beach Reservations Call:
562-296-5421

For Temecula Reservations please call:
951-693-0607

Quick Puff Pastry

12 / 31 / 15

Use this delicious puff pastry to make these quick and easy

Smoky Ham & Gruyere Cheese Empanadas.

I learned this recipe from Nick Malgieri, it takes about 15 minutes to make once you learn the technique. Keep it in your freezer for easy access to sweet and savory dishes.

1 1/4 stick of cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup ice water
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup flour*

Cut 1 stick of butter into ½ - to ¼ “ dices, place on a plate and refrigerate.

Measure the water and stir in the salt to dissolve. Set aside.

Coarsely dice the remaining ¼ stick of butter. Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the ¼ stick of butter and pulse until the butter is absorbed—about ten to twelve 1-second pulses.

Add the chilled butter and pulse once or twice to distribute. Add water and salt mixture and pulse repeatedly, until the dough forms a rough ball—do not over process. (I have found with this method the dough doesn’t form much of a ball, do not add extra water, just continue with the recipe and it will come together easily).

Invert the mixture onto a floured work surface or rolpat. Remove the blade and press the dough into a rough rectangle.

Flour the dough and press (don’t roll) it with a rolling pin to flatten. Move the dough, making sure there is still flour under it to prevent it from sticking, and give the dough a 90° turn. Press again.

Again making sure that the surface and the dough are adequately floured, roll the dough until it forms a rectangle about 15 x 24”.

Fold the top long edge over the middle section, and then fold the bottom edge over that to make 3 equal layers. Roll the dough up like a jelly roll from one of the short edges. Use the palm of your hand to flatter the dough into a rectangular shape, about 6 x 10” and about 1” thick.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using or the dough can be stored in the refrigerator up to 2 or 3 days or freeze up to 3 months.

*4 - 1/4 ounces if using King Arthur Flour, which I prefer, or use the scoop & sweep method.

New Year Empanadas

12 / 31 / 1512 / 31 / 15

Another quick and easy appetizer from the pantry, the refrigerated pantry that is. Make ahead, freeze and cook as many as you like. I made these pastries using a 3″ cutter and fold them over to look like half moons. You can make them round, square, make them larger or smaller, whatever your needs might be.

Try and get puff pastry that is made with real butter for a better flavor and defrost it in the refrigerator. The trick to working with puff pastry is to keep it as cold as possible, if it becomes sticky, put it back in the refrigerator until it firms up. If you don’t have time to freeze the pastries before baking, let them rest and chill up in the refrigerator while your oven is preheating.

(If you’d like to try your hand at making Quick Puff Pastry at home try this recipe~it’s easy! Just start the day before)

Quick Puff Pastry Recipe

Make extra, these are tasty treats that will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.

Happy New Year!

Smoked Ham and Gruyere Cheese Empanadas

1 box puff pastry, defrosted or homemade
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, approximately
¾ cup Manchego or gruyere cheese, grated
¾ cup Serrano or Black Forest ham, chopped
1 egg whisked with a little water

Preheat oven to 400°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Roll out dough* and using a round cutter, cut shapes in 3" rounds.

Spread with a small amount of mustard and sprinkle half the dough with ham and cheese leaving a 1/4" border around the edge of the dough. Brush the edge of the dough with water, fold over and crimp edges with a fork. It's best to freeze the empanadas and cook from a frozen state. Freeze individually on a baking sheet and then store in a freezer tight bag. If you don’t have time to freeze then bake, refrigerate them until they are very cold, about 1 hr.

Brush the egg/water mixture over top of the dough and bake for 15 min or until crust is lightly browned. If baking from a frozen state it may take 25 minutes to baking.

*Keep puff pastry as cold as possible, if dough begins to stick return to the refrigerator until cold and then continue with recipe.

How To Make Perfect Gravy

12 / 15 / 15

Christina Peters, The Food Shooter, and I decided we needed to make a second video using the Perfect Stock recipe and this is what we offer you today. You will have Perfect Gravy for your holiday, just follow our simple tips!

Bone Broth or Stock

12 / 9 / 1512 / 9 / 15

There is very little difference between bone broth and stock, actually it’s just the addition of a good apple cider vinegar like Bragg. The terms broth and stock are confusing as they seem to be used interchangeably for one another. Broth is usually made from the meat where stock is made with bones. Stock is a little hardier and more flavorful, both enhance any dish you use them in or if you just heat and eat as a soup. They keep well for 3 days refrigerated, you can re-heat the stock and keep for another 3 days or freeze for up to 6 months. I like to freeze in 1/2 cup portions so I can use the stock to make rice instead of using water. Vegetables simmered in stock is also a great way to get extra flavor. When making stock be sure not to add salt until it is all finished, the stock will reduce as it cooks and if you salt it initially it will become over salted.

Here’s a quick little video that Christina Peters & I made

The Food Shooter and The Chef

Holiday Gift Giving

12 / 4 / 1512 / 4 / 15

Here are some of my favorite gifts for anyone!

….’If you want to learn about food…COOK…and Chef Debbi has created a guideline that taps into the practical and encourages the intuitive cook inside us all!’

Helene Kennan, Former Getty Ex. Chef

My specially designed gift basket, hand picked ‘Pantry Items’ from the best, Melissa’s produce. Included is a copy of my ‘What’s In Your Pantry’ book guiding you through the basics of stocking your kitchen from knives and cookware to seasonal recipes. And an exceptional selection of dried herbs, mushrooms, spices and more from Melissa’s Produce. Give the experts at Melissa’s a call for your special delivery! 800-588-0151

A sampling of other tasty gift baskets from our friends at Melissa’s!

Pie Crust

11 / 17 / 1511 / 17 / 15

Nothing beats a great pie, perfectly balanced filling and a tender, flaky piecrust. Piecrusts are easy to do, don’t let them intimidate you! My Grandmother taught me her secrets to a good crust, use good butter (unsalted), keep all of your ingredients very cold and work quickly. So there’s a little more to it than that but remember those three things and you’ll be fine.

This recipe calls for shortening which creates a tender, flaky crust, my Grandmother used lard and if it’s available to you it may be a better choice than shortening (which is another discussion). If you’d rather not use lard or shortening you could use all butter and the pie will be just as delicious.

Another trick that I picked up from King Arthur Flour is instead of just cutting your piecrust in half; cut it in 2/3 and 1/3 discs. The bottom of the pie will take more crust because it will hold the entire filling and the top crust only needs to cover all the ingredients. Well, duh…..why we never thought of that before! (See this is probably why I don’t bake much).

If you’d like to pre-make your pie crust you could freeze it two ways; one freeze the disc or roll the crust out, fit it into the pan and freeze, defrost overnight in the refrigerator and then continue with the recipe.

I cut the butter into the dry ingredients in the food processor, it takes less time, and just pulse it a few times until it looks like peas and you’ll be fine. I like to put the flour/butter ingredients into a bowl and incorporate the ice water using my fingers and tossing the dough until it comes together, that way I make sure I’m not adding too much liquid. I turn it out onto a rolling mat while it’s still very crumbly and bring it all together quickly by rolling and kneading lightly. I add only enough flour to the rolling mat as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the mat; I use a bench or dough scraper to actually fold it all together. Once the water hits the dough you begin developing gluten, which can make the dough tough so work it as little as possible at this stage. Press the dough into discs and refrigerate for at least an hour and then roll out and blind bake as described in the recipe. Blind baking helps keep the crust light and flaky, especially with a wet filling. Protect the edges of the crust if they start to brown by using a pie shield or cover with the edges with foil. Bake up some pies today~ Happy Holidays!

Perfectly Flaky Pie Crust Recipe

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Talisman Designs Adjustable Pie Crust Shield, BPA-free Silcone, Red, Fits 8.5″ – 11.5″ Rimmed Dish

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Perfectly Flaky Piecrust

11 / 17 / 15

Perfectly Flaky Pie Crust

Makes 2 – crusts

Adapted from ‘What’s In Your Pantry’ by Debbi Dubbs

2 1/2 cups (10 ½ oz.) all-purpose flour, I prefer King Arthur Flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
6-8 tablespoons ice water, depending on texture of dough
To add a little sweetness, add 1 teaspoon of sugar;
for a savory dough 1 teaspoon finely chopped herbs

Refrigerate all ingredients before beginning

Add flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor; pulse a few times to incorporate all the ingredients. Add sugar or herbs here as well.

Add the cold butter and process until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is pea size.

Place the mixture into a wide bowl and add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together. Don’t overwork the dough or it will be tough, not flaky. Once the dough begins to form large clumps use floured hands to bring it together into a ball and then press into a disc; divide the dough into two pieces. You’ll need more dough for the bottom crust so make one disc using 2/3 of the dough and one disc using 1/3 of the dough; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or several up to one day.

Dough can be wrapped well at this point and frozen for up to three months. Let the dough defrost overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Lightly grease your pie pan to help ease out that first piece. Gently roll the larger chilled disk out on a floured counter or rolling mat, lifting and moving the dough every few rolls to help prevent sticking. Add only enough flour to the counter to keep the dough from sticking.

Place your pan on top of the dough to make sure it is the correct size; it should be slightly larger than the pan, approximately 13”. Fold the dough in half and then in half again, pick it up and lay it in the pie pan. Unfold and gently lay the dough into the pan without stretching the dough. Never pull the dough to stretch it and lightly press it into the pan.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400°.

To blind bake:

Blind baking is baking the dough without filling.

Prick the bottom and sides of the dough; cut a piece of foil large enough to cover the bottom and sides of the dough, butter the dull side and lay the buttered side on the bottom of the dough and press into the sides. Line with pie weights or dried beans and bake in the center of the oven for 10 minutes, remove the weights and foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool before filling.

Continue with any pie recipe.

Temecula Cooking Demo & Book Signing

11 / 7 / 1511 / 9 / 15

Temecula Olive Oil Co., Temecula

Cooking Demo & Book Signing

Join Chef Debbi, Author of ‘What’s In Your Pantry’

and

Mary Platis, Author of Cooking Techniqes & Recipes With Olive Oil

Sat. Nov. 21st

12-2 p.m. Book Signing Immediately Following Class

Class Sponsored by

Mediterranean Vegetables in Olive Oil
Fresh Tomato Risotto
Baby Beets and Brussels Sprouts Salad
Turkey Rollatini with White Wine & Porcini Mushroom Pan Sauce
Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake with Vanilla and Fig Balsamic Compote

By Reservation only, call: (866) 654-8396

NOW TAKING RESERVATIONS!

Seal Beach Tasting Room By Reservation only, call: 562-296-5421

Temecula Tasting Room Reservations, call (866) 654-8396

Classes are $45; Pre Paid Reservations only

Feel free to BYOB

How to Choose and Sharpen Kitchen Knives

11 / 3 / 1511 / 3 / 15

One of the most important tasks you can do to get ready for any event or holiday is to make sure that your knives are sharp. It’s so much easier to cut yourself with a dull knife (really), and a sharp knife makes chopping a dream. Sharpen your knives when the time changes, this makes it easier to remember to drop your knives at the cutlery store or with the farmers market knife specialist. There are electric knife sharpeners galore or you can learn the old fashioned way with a whetstone and mineral oil. I should also mention here that a knife ‘steel’ does not sharpen your knife. (The steel is the long piece that comes with the knife block that you don’t really need-the knife block, not the steel.) The steel is designed to hone the edge of your knife between sharpening and should be used prior to any use of the knife. Be sure to wipe the edge of the blade carefully after honing.

Here is an excerpt from my book, ‘What’s In Your Pantry‘ about knives.

Photo: chowhound

Forged construction. A forged knife is one that’s been squeezed in a die (a type of mold) with tons of force. This strengthens the knife by aligning the steel molecules, like wood grain, and also makes the steel’s edge more consistent so it will both take and hold a better edge.

Stamped construction. Provided they’re made from good-quality steel, stamped knives (which have been punched from sheet steel, like how you use a cookie cutter) are a good low-cost alternative to forged knives. But given the easy availability of affordable forged knives, I’d say you should bypass stamped knives altogether.

Full-tang designs. A full tang knife is one in which the blade’s steel extends into the handle for its entire length. The myth is that this is necessary for strength. In the kitchen, a full tang is not necessary, although a full tang can help balance a knife.

Hollow-ground designs. It’s become quite fashionable to have little hollows, known as grantons, ground into the sides of the blade. In theory, they minimize blade-to-food friction and prevent sliced foods from sticking to the blade. I’ve found this is true about 10 percent of the time.

Knives

Chef’s Knife:

This is the most important knife in your arsenal, the one you’ll reach for 95 percent of the time. No matter how tight your budget, get yourself a great chef’s knife. If you need to save money, do it with the other knives.

Santoku

This has become a tremendously popular blade style, and for many cooks the Santoku has supplanted the traditional French chef’s knife as their go-to blade. It’s offset, like a French chef’s knife, but tends to be shorter (less versatile). And many have essentially straight cutting edges, without the smooth curve that helps promote a rocking/paper-cutter motion useful for mincing and chopping.

Paring

The paring knife is going to be your second-most-used blade for fine detail work like trimming meats and vegetables, or peeling and de-seeding fruits.

Bread/Serrated Knife

Serrated blades rip through food, so sharpness isn’t that essential. Quality steel is less important than blade length—longer is better (I like 10 inches, don’t settle for less than 8 inches). Offset blades are preferred—otherwise you have to cut near the edge of the cutting board to stop your knuckles from hitting the surface.

Slicing/Carving Knife

Look for a knife that’s not too tall, so it’ll be easier to make curving slices (handy when circumnavigating a turkey rib cage, or the bone in a roast). And be sure it’s at least 10 inches long, so you can slice through with the fewest number of strokes for a smooth surface and clean presentation.

Boning/Filleting Knife

This is a very special-purpose knife, and in this once instance it’s actually preferable to have a stamped blade. Forged blades are stiffer, and a flexible blade follows bones more closely for better yield. Be sure you choose a knife with a textured grip—boning and filleting is a greasy, messy operation, and you don’t one that knife to slip.

Here’s a little Winter Soup recipe for you to practice your knife skills,

Minestrone Soup with Pesto

Buy the Book

Pumpkin Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake

10 / 18 / 1511 / 20 / 15

I served this last night at The Aquarium of the Pacific’s Sea Fare fund raising event and it was declared by the President of the Aquarium ‘the best food at the event’. Now that was very nice of him but there was some really tasty food there from local restaurants. It was a wonderful event with music, food and wine and lots of grateful fishes. Thanks to everyone who came out and those who stopped by my booth, I’m happy you enjoyed the cake! And you can learn how to make this cake and more at my cooking classes here in Seal Beach at Temecula Olive Oil‘s tasting room, click on Nov. for the upcoming menu!

Pumpkin Olive Oil Cake

Try different flavored olive oils for this cake. Orange, lemon or a lightly flavored olive oil, don’t use a big heavy tasting oil as it will overpower the pumpkin and spice in the cake.
You could make this cake into a sheet cake, round cakes or even cupcakes; just remember to adjust the cooking time.

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup olive oil
3 eggs
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin (or 2 cups freshly roasted sugar pumpkin)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 package cream cheese, room temperature
1 splash of vanilla, optional

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium-sized bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cloves.

Combine sugar and oil in a large bowl with a rubber spatula until blended.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add flour mixture to egg mixture alternately with pumpkin in three batches, beating

well after each addition.

Transfer to a greased Bundt cake pan.

Bake 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool for approximately 10-15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack.

Remove pan carefully from cake and cool completely.

Easy Cream Cheese Frosting

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and beat at low speed until sugar is incorporated.

Increase speed to medium high and beat until frosting is light and whipped, about 3 to 4 minutes. Use to top cookies, cupcakes, or cakes