I was reading through Julia Child’s French cookbook and ran across a recipe for boeuf bourguignon. Most things sound really fancy in French, but that’s beef stewed in red wine. It usually stews for hours, but I didn’t have that much time.

After marinating the meat ahead of time, my method takes about an hour, the meat was very tender, and it was scrumptious served over buttery egg noodles.

Beef Stewed in Red Wine
1 lb. beef club steaks, cubed
2 c. dry red wine, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. oregano
flour for dredging
2 Tbsp. butter
2 c. mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1-1/2 c. onions, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 c. frozen, peas
1 c. beef broth
1 heaping Tbsp. corn starch
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste

Allow a few hours to marinate the meat in 1 c. wine, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. When ready to cook, drain the meat and reserve the marinade. Dry the meat on a paper towel and lighlty dredge in flour.

Melt the butter in an iron skillet and sear each side of the mushrooms until golden brown. The trick is to avoid the urge to stir. Flip over each slice after a rich golden brown is achieved. Remove the mushrooms from the pan.

Heat olive oil in the skillet and cook the meat, searing each side until brown. Remove from the pan.

Cook onions with the bay leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper until tender. Add the reserved marinade and the remaining cup of wine to deglaze the skillet. Add the meat and the mushrooms back into the skillet. Cook for about 10 minutes more.

Then add peas. Add corn starch dissolved in beef broth and stir until the sauce thickens. Add Worcestershire sauce and taste. Add salt and pepper if needed.

Serve over buttered noodles or rice. Garnishing with chopped fresh parsley or thinly sliced green onions is always good.

I love my volunteer job cooking for The Dinner Bell and feeding hungry people. It’s great because we often get donations of food and sometimes that can be a challenge. This time of year we get a lot of spaghetti squash. Besides the obvious, we try to come up with other inventive ways to serve the vegetable. Last week we made a version that is a play on a classic Mexican dish.

Fideo con Pollo is a lovely rustic chicken stew made with a Mexican pasta.

The following recipe assumes the use of spaghetti squash, but double the sauce and broth and use 14 ozs. dried broken vermicelli pasta instead and you’ll have a close version of the original stew.

Spaghetti Squash con Pollo
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 c. chicken broth
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
1 spaghetti squash, baked and flaked with a fork
3 green onions, both white and green parts, sliced

Heat oil in large deep skillet over medium high heat. Add onions, garlic, and bay leaf and cook until onions begin to soften and slightly brown.

Add dried spices to onion mixture and stir to combine, cooking for a couple minutes. Add chicken pieces and stir to coat thoroughly with spice and onion mixture. Cook for a few minutes.

Pour the broth and tomato sauce (or Rotel tomatoes) into the pan, stir to combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cover with a lid, simmering for about 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked and liquid has reduced to a thick sauce.

Add spaghetti squash and garnish with sliced green onions and serve.

If you want to use vermicelli (or angel-hair pasta), add the noodles along with double the sauce and broth. The sauce will thicken as the noodles cook.

Our version with the spaghetti squash was a huge success. Many people came for seconds and one mother said her son, who was about 6 years old, loved it. She said she had never seen him eat and enjoy anything with vegetables. I like volunteering, but moments like that make me really feel good.

I’m watching my fat intake, again. That seems to be a recurring theme for me. It’s tough when you love to cook and love to eat.

I love pasta and Italian sauces too, so I found a Bolognese (pronounced boh-luh-Neez) sauce that substitutes lentils for some of the meat and uses very lean ground beef. It also includes lots of fresh vegetables.

Bolognese Meat Sauce
2 Tbsp. finely chopped pancetta
1 lb. very lean ground beef
29-oz. can whole tomatoes, crushed
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. dry lentils
1/2 c. carrots, chopped
1/2 c. celery, chopped
1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. beef bouillon
1 c. water, heated
1/2 c. white wine (or broth)
1/3 c. skim milk

In a large sauce pan, cook the pancetta until crisp. A slice of chopped bacon may be substituted. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain.

Add tomatoes, onions, garlic, lentils, carrots, celery, parsley and tomato paste. Add oregano and thyme, and stir to combine.

Dissolve the beef bouillon in the water. Add that to the pan along with wine. Stir all together and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

Turn off the heat, uncover and stir in skim milk before serving over wheat penne pasta. If you absolutely must have it, top with a little Parmesan cheese.