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Beef or Mutton Stew with corn, peas, tomatoes & onion and Saffron-Rice
by Jes Mostek 		 
  To make the Saffron rice, add 2 T. olive oil, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1 pinch toasted saffron to the uncooked rice and follow the regular recipe for rice.

Recipes:
Rice
by Jes Mostek
serves: 4
  This is a recipe for simple cooked rice. Feel free to spice it up, literally, to suit your personal taste.

1 c. uncooked rice will yield about 2 1/2 c. cooked rice, that's 4 - 3/4 c. servings.

Brown rice has more health benefits than its white counterpart. But if your goal is to cook authentic Japanese or Chinese cuisine, sticky white rice is your objective.
Ingredients:
  1 c.   uncooked rice
  2 c.   water
  1/2 T.   butter, optional
    salt to taste
Directions:
  To cook the rice, you'll need either a rice cooker or a large, heavy-bottomed sauce pan with a tight-fitting lid (a clear lid works best so you can see into the pot without having to disturb the cooking process to check on your rice).

Check your rice and remove anything undesirable (i.e. black grains, etc.). Pre-rinsing your rice is recommended on most rice packages. This part is optional. Rinsing your rice will yield rice that is more fluffy, while cooking your rice without rinsing first will yield rice that is more sticky. This is your choice.

Combine uncooked rice with water and a pat of butter and/or seasonings, if desired. Give the rice and water a quick stir to ensure that all of the rice is submurged and evenly distributed in the pan.

If you're using the rice cooker, follow the manufacturer's instructions at this point, and you're done (usually just turn it on and walk away).

If you're using a sauce pan or stock pot, put the lid on the pot and heat over a high flame until it reaches a full boil, stirring once to ensure that the rice doesn't clump or stick (just like when you're cooking pasta).

Once the rice is cooking at a full boil, reduce the flame to low and cook on a slow simmer until the rice is done. Do not disturb the rice during this stage of cooking (no stirring).

Once you have brought the rice to a boil, it will take about 20 minutes for white rice to cook, and 30-40 minutes for brown rice to cook.

When the rice is done cooking, fluff with a fork and serve.
Savory Beef Stew
by Jes Mostek
serves: 8
  This recipe calls for beef, but you can easily substitute any red meat in this recipe. Veal, lamp, mutton, venison, buffalo, etc. would all work well. If you are dealing with wild game or a particularly tough cut of meat, be sure to go with the longer cooking time to ensure tender meat.
Ingredients:
  1 lb.   beef stew meat
  1/2 c.   flour
  1 1/2 tsp.   seasoned salt
  1 tsp.   pepper
  1/2 c.   olive oil
  3 1/2 c.   water
  1 tsp.   garlic
  1 tsp.   oregano
  1 tsp.   thyme
  1/2 tsp.   marjoram
  1/2 tsp.   dill
  1/2 tsp.   paprika
  3   bay leaves
  1 T.   Balsemic Vinegar
  1/2 c.   red wine
  2 T.   Worchestershire
  3 med.   potatoes, peeled & cubed
  3 med.   carrots, peeled & sliced
  1 (15 oz.) can   corn
  1 (15 oz.) can   peas
  1 jar or pkg   pearl onions (available fresh or as a jar of cocktail onions)
  1 (15 oz.) can   diced tomatoes
Directions:
  In a large, heavy bottomed frying pan, heat about 2 T. oil over medium to high heat.

In a small mixing bowl (or plastic zipper-style bag), combine flour, salt and pepper. Add meat cubes a few at a time and cover each piece of meat completely with the flour mixute.

Place a handful of the meat cubes in the preheated pan and brown meat, being sure to get all sides. The better you brown your meat, the more flavorful the sauce for the stew will be. Repeat for the remaining meat, adding more oil to the pan as necessary.

Transfer the meat to the crock pot and turn it on. Pour the water in the pan and turn on the burner. Stir and scrape sides to get all of that great meat-browning flavor out of the pan and into the crock pot. Transfer water to the crock pot.

Add the spices, vinegar, wine, potatoes and carrots to the crock pot.

If you got fresh pearl onions, skin them and add them to the crock pot at this point; if you have a jar of cocktail pearl onions, save it and add it later, with the rest of the canned vegetables.

Cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 3-5 hours, or until all meat and vegetables are tender.

About 10 minutes before serving, add the corn, peas, tomatoes, and onions (if you didn't already add them earlier). I don't drain my vegetable before adding them to soups and stews as it adds more great flavor. Only drain the vegetables if you're worried that the sauce will be too thin or if you need to watch you salt intake closely.

Note: if you have a wheat allergy, you can still make this recipe by substituting half the amount of corn starch for the flour.