SLB Recipe #2: Beef or Lentil Stew

(Photo: A yummy salad I made in Spain with spinach, raw cabbage and orange slices)

This is another recipe I prepared (while wearing my polka dotted apron) in Spain for SLB. I thought it would be extra challenging to cook for so many people with various diet restrictions, but recipes like this one made it relatively simple. I also learned that adding 1/2 cup to 1 cup of wine to certain recipes gives it a "fancy" flavor. I'm adding wine to everything now that I know that! White wine is better than red wine in pancakes... Kidding! Don't.

First, for the carnivores:

Hearty Beef and Tomato Stew

2 tsp olive oil
2 pounds sirloin steak, cubed
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1.5 cups broth (beef, chicken or veg)
1.5 pounds red potatoes, cubed
2 pounds carrots, sliced (whole carrots are way better than baby carrots)
3/4 cup red wine (the cheap one)
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 can (28 oz) chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 rosemary sprig ("sprig" is a weird word)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup fresh parsley

1. Heat oil in a large skillet at medium heat. Add beef and cook 5 minutes until browned but still rare.

2. Remove beef from pan, reserving 1 Tbsp drippings. Add onion and garlic and saute 2 minutes.

3. Add tomato paste, cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.

4. Add broth and bring to a boil. Then return the meat to the pan. Also add the rest of the ingredients (except parsley) and bring to a simmer.

5. Cover and cook 1 hour and 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

6. Discard rosemary and bay leaf. Top with parsley.

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Now, for the plant killers:

Hearty Lentil and Tomato Stew

Replace the meat with 1 cup of cooked lentils (yes, cook them first). Start with heating the olive oil in a skillet and sauteing the onions and garlic, then add the pre-cooked lentils when the carnivores would add the meat.

*Tip: You can start cooking the lentils right before you start chopping your veggies.

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Lastly, for the fruitatarians:

Not All That Hearty Plum and Tomato Stew

Replace the meat or lentils with plums. Replace the oil with apple juice. Replace the carrots with an orange. Replace the potato with asian pear. Replace the onions and garlic with grapes and raisins. Replace the wine with grape juice and the tomato paste with jam. Rumor has it, you can keep the tomato and even add some avocado to taste.

Enjoy!

**And hurry up and sign up for SLB 2012! I'll cook stuff for you and you'll probably PR at your first race when you come back. At least that seems to be the trend from last weekend ;)

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Citrus Baked Halibut photo

I found the photo of the recipe below. I couldn't find it at first, which is why you got a different, but more awesome, photo.

Recipe below :)

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SLB Recipe #1: Citrus Baked Halibut

I've decided to share a few of the recipes I prepared for SLB (www.stronglikebulltraining) while I was there as the wonderful, and magnificent, and talented, healthy chef. In a future post, I will also reveal my BEAUTIFUL spanish apron. I'm not sure if it was the polka dotted apron or my cooking, but the food at SLB was a big hit. I can't wait to cook again next year (in my new apron, which is super-awesome, but you'll just have to wait and see).

Citrus Baked Halibut

1 lb fresh halibut (or some other white fish)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towel. Cut into 4 servings (or so). Arrange them in a baking dish. Or arrange them in those cool, one-piece fish dish thingies which are very impressive looking.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Then, spoon the mixture evenly over the fish.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

(Adapted from a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book)

* Serve with brown rice pilaf or roasted red potatoes and steamed broccoli or sauteed asparagus.

* If you don't feel like making this yourself, just come to Strong Like Bull in Feb 2012. Or just come anyway, so you can get fit and fast: www.stronglikebulltraining.com (but don't dally because you might be sad when everyone else is training in the sun and eating my cooking next Feb and you're sitting at home on your trainer, eating a bowl of cereal).

(Photo: John and I found some cool graffiti in Granada and I thought this one looked just like him. I'm not sure what it says, it might be something terrible, I have no idea so don't blame me)
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Come on coffee

I need you to hurry up and brew...

(Phil after his 40 hours of SLB training)
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Strong Like Bull, Cook Like Magic

I can't even tell you how excited I am to be the chef for SLB. At first the idea made me nervous, that's a lot of people. But I got lots of practice over the past 6 months and I know that I'm going to be more than fine. It might be hard to believe but I've cooked more than I ever have in my life over the past 6 months and I haven't had a single thing go wrong in the kitchen. That's amazing to me. I've even invented most of the recipes. You may not know this but I've never attended a cooking school. I call myself an "intuitive chef" and I'm also great at problem solving. So, as you can see, I'm confident that my cooking will be a success (even with a very basic and small kitchen at the cortijo). I sound like an egomaniac right now, and maybe I am!

Normally, the focus of my cooking is on various levels of health and nutrition. With SLB I can't do that. People's digestive systems need to adjust to my normal style of cooking and adjusting while riding for hours over mountains in Spain is not going to go well. So I've learned various tiers of healthy cooking. At SLB I'll be cooking traditional training style meals and of course I can't help but sneak in some extra healthy ingredients wherever I safely can. I would say that the breakdown would be about 60/40 %.

I also have the greatest assistant chef I could ever ask for. John's dad and I have a great relationship and he is here to help me. The man knows his way around a kitchen and I love spending time with him.

Today, one day before campers arrive, we did our first shop. We bought supplies for the next 2-3 days and will go back to the store regularly to keep things fresh. It took quite a bit of research to locate everything we needed, but we really got lucky with a walmart/costco type store. It was super awesome! I'm also going to let the campers come into the kitchen once in a while to learn a few things, as if it were a cooking class. I'm also more than happy to be total holistic health counselor if they'd like to pick my brain while we cook.

Everything has gone perfectly thus far with the camp. All the way from packing our bags, to the most perfect 60 degree and sunny weather (I know, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to rub it in about the weather ;))

Now I'm off to do some food prep. I am so amped to get on my bike and ride over mountains with an awesome group of people.

(Photo: our first shop filled 3 carts!)
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How to Annoy People When it Snows

This video is HILARIOUS. You'll especially appreciate it if you've been dealing with the insane crazy amounts of snow this winter.

Click here.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

(Photo: A pretty one from SLB 2010)

Me and John went snowshoein' last weekend! I had been dying to try it and it was super fun! The best part was when John spotted a log to cross an icy cold stream with. He told me he was going to cross it in his snowshoes, I thought he was jerking my chain. Lucky for all of you, I pulled out the camera and got it on video. Watch it to find out if John survived his treacherous journey across the snow covered log.