This recipe definitely requires a bit of planning ahead, but it is well worth it.  Although the slow braise requires several hours of cooking time, it is not particularly labor intensive.  I sear and oven-braise the meat the night before I plan to serve this dish.  On the day of the meal, I shred the meat, prepare the mushrooms and sauce, and boil the pasta.  The recipe is flexible and forgiving; measurements are approximate as each roast has a different ratio of bone to meat.

It is a hearty, inexpensive meal that goes great with a simple salad or sautéed greens.

Pasta with Braised Beef and Mushrooms

1 (3- to 4-pound) beef roast with bone-in (shoulder and chuck work well)
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1-1/2 cups red wine (Côtes-du-Rhône and Chianti are good options, the wine should not be excessively tannic)
Water, if necessary
8 to 10 cloves garlic, peeled
3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 cups sliced button mushrooms
3 tablespoon olive oil, divided use
3 tablespoons butter, divided use
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 pound pasta (pappardelle, penne or egg noodles are suitable options)
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.  Heat a dutch oven on the stove at medium heat.  Meanwhile, absorb any excess moisture of the roast with paper towels.  Liberally apply salt and pepper to all sides of the meat.  Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the dutch oven and coat the bottom surface well.  Using tongs, sear the roast on all sides, approximately 5 minutes per side.  Turn off the heat and add the wine.  If the wine does not come up half to two-thirds of the way up the side of the roast, add water to reach that level.  The wine will boil ferociously for a few minutes even though the heat is off.  Add the garlic cloves and the thyme to the wine.  Cover the dish and place in the oven for 1 hour.

Flip the meat, cover the dish again, and continue to cook for 1 more hour.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.  Place the roast in the refrigerator over night or until the fat has solidified at the surface.

The liquid will become gelatinous once cold.  Remove the fat from the surface with a spoon and discard.  Place the dutch oven on the stove top until the meat is warm, but not hot to the touch.  The gelatin will melt again.  Remove the meat and shred, discarding bones and gristle.  Place the shredded meat in a separate bowl and mash the garlic into the sauce.  Pour the sauce into a separate container.

In the empty dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter on medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and sauté approximately 10 minutes.  The mushrooms will absorb the fat, become dry, and release their own liquid before they are done.  Remove the mushrooms and add to the bowl of shredded beef.

Prepare the pasta according to its instructions.

Meanwhile, reduce the heat of the dutch oven to low and add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon flour.  Stir into a roux for 1 minute.  Add the reserved liquid from the braising.  Stir until the sauce thickens.  Add the cream and adjust for seasoning.

Add the beef and mushrooms back to the sauce and mix well.  Drain the finished pasta, being sure to reserve approximately 1 cup pasta water to use for thinning the sauce if necessary.  Add the pasta to the dutch oven, adjust for seasoning, and serve with a garnish of freshly chopped parsley.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

From Kristina Mistry

(Photo: Nicholas Mistry)

As the winter continues to blast the region with icy gusts of wind and below-freezing temperatures, the time has come for some hearty fare cooked slowly to add warmth to your home as well as your body.

And what could be more welcome than beef cooked until it falls apart with the touch of a fork? SavorSA offers two complementary yet different takes on braised beef with mushrooms. One is Pot Roast With Wild Mushrooms and Thyme, which is cooked in red wine. The other, Pasta With Braised Beef and Mushrooms, has wine with a hint of  cream.

We also include a recipe for Guinness Stew, an old favorite whose appeal extends far beyond Ireland.

No matter what you cook, just remember to stay warm this weekend.

Recipe: Pot Roast with Wild Mushrooms and Thyme

Recipe: Pasta With Braised Beef and Mushrooms

Recipe: Make Guinness Stew in a Slow Cooker

This variation on an Irish classic stews in a slow cooker, such as a Crock-Pot, for hours before its flavors meld together into a savory whole.

Guinness Stew in a Slow Cooker

8-10 red potatoes, skin on, quartered
6 carrots, peeled, sliced into thick chunks
2 stalks celery, cut in chunks
3 bay leaves, divided use
3 pounds stew meat, cubed
1/2 cup flour
Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper
Dash of garlic powder
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, halved
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
10 3/4 ounces beef broth
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning, such as Mrs. Dash
12 ounces Guinness Stout
1 cup frozen peas, if desired

Put potato, carrot, and celery chunks in the bottom of slow cooker or Crock-Pot. Top with 2 bay leaves.

Season flour with a dash of salt, pepper and garlic powder and coat the beef with the flour mixture. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over med-high heat in a large skillet and add 1 bay leaf. Sauté beef in batches, just until browned. Add more oil to pan as necessary for each batch. Remove and set aside.

Add onion and garlic to the same pan and sauté over med heat for a few minutes, then add about half the can of beef broth to deglaze, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

Add meat and onions to slow cooker, top with mushrooms.

Mix remaining beef broth with tomato sauce, onion soup mix, remaining seasonings, and add to slow cooker. Pour in most of bottle of beer (whatever fits, I had a few sips left for me).

Cook 8 hours on low heat. Stir in frozen peas when done, they’ll heat up on their own. Serve with crusty French bread.

Makes 10 servings.

Adapted from RecipeZaar.com

(Photo: Nicholas Mistry)

Culebra Meat Market No. 1 at 2800 Culebra Road has recalled certain beef products sold between Oct. 2 and Oct. 12.

Anyone who purchased sliced beef, stew beef or ground beef at this store only during that time should not consume it but return it to the store, manager Javier Ramirez said. Customers will be offered a refund or an exchange of other meat.

The recall is because of possible E. coli contamination and may affect 2,000 pounds of beef, he said.

For information, call the store at (210) 432-2170.

Many of the people we spoke with after preview screenings of “Julie & Julia” had one thing on their minds: boeuf bourguignon. The hearty beef stew is a centerpiece of one of the movie’s more appetizing food scenes.

Jessica Young was so inspired by the movie that she went out in search of her own copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking. “I’m obsessed,” she says. “Since the movie I have been lucky enough to find a 14^th printing of her first cookbook in Half Price Books (I love that it is used …) and I made beef bourguignon, which I have to say is very delicious!”

COCO Chocolate Lounge and Bistro, 18402 U.S. 281 N., Suite 114, is serving the dish tonight, Aug. 7, as a special.

But if you would rather try it at home, like Julie Powell and Jessica Young, here is Julia Child’s original recipe, lightly adapted  from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and complete with her comments:

Boeuf Bourguignon
Boeuf a la Bourguignonne
[Beef Stew in Red Wine, with Bacon, Onions, and Mushrooms]

As is the case with most famous dishes, there are more ways than one to arrive at a good boeuf bourguignon. Carefully done, and perfectly flavored, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dishes concocted by man, and can well be the main course for a buffet dinner. Fortunately, you can prepare it completely ahead, even a day in advance, and it only gains in flavor when reheated.

Vegetable and wine suggestions: Boiled potatoes are traditionally served with this dish. Buttered noodles or steamed rice may be substituted. If you also wish a green vegetable, buttered peas would be your best choice. Serve with the beef a fairly full-bodied, young red wine, such as Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, Bordeaux-St. Émilion or Burgundy.

For 6 people.

• A 6-ounce chunk of bacon

Remove rind, and cut bacon into lardoons (sticks, ¼-inch thick and 1 1/2-inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 ½ quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

• A 9- to 10-inch fireproof casserole 3 inches deep
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
• A slotted spoon

Sauté the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you sauté the beef.

• 3 pounds lean stewing beef cut into 2-inch cubes

Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Sauté it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

• 1 sliced carrot
• 1 sliced onion

In the same fat, brown the vegetables. Pour out the sautéing fat.

• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour

Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of pre-heated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

• 3 cups of a full-bodied young red wine, such as one of those suggested for serving, or a Chianti
• 2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• A crumbled bay leaf
• The blanched bacon rind

Stir in the wine and enough stock or bouillon so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of pre-heated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 ½ to 3 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

• 18 to 24 small white onions, brown-braised in stock.
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 2 sprigs parsley

• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, quartered
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet and add the onions to the skillet. Sauté over medium heat for about ten minutes, rolling the onions about so they brown as evenly as possible, without breaking apart. Pour in the stock, season to taste, add the herbs, and cover. Simmer over low heat for about 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape and the liquid has mostly evaporated. Remove the herbs and set the onions aside.

For the mushrooms, heat the butter and oil over high heat in a large skillet. As soon as the foam begins to subside add the mushrooms and toss and shake the pan for about five minutes. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat. Set the mushrooms aside until needed.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim the fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 ½ cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock or canned bouillon. Taste carefully for seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables. (Recipe may be completed in advance to this point.)

• Parsley sprigs

For immediate serving: Cover the casserole and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve in its casserole, or arrange the stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles, or rice and decorated with parsley.

For later serving: When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

From knopfdoubleday.com and www.RecipeZaar.com.

This book is not a collection of Chicken Fried Steak or Poke Salad With Ham Hocks recipes. The title refers to different countries, not “out in the country.” In that pursuit, this is a great sampler of recipes from different cultures and climes. The book can give you a peek into styles of cooking you may want to explore in greater detail. There are French, Italian, German, and Spanish recipes. But there are also recipes from Lebanon, Romania, Peru, Venezuela, Japan, Iran, Israel, China, and Poland.

Take a journey from your kitchen to places you always wanted to visit. Once you get to know what they eat in Tunisia, maybe you will relate more to that country. Try this recipe; it may be your first ‘culinary travel ticket.’

Braised Beef with Rice and Olives (Marketzeit)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound stewing beef cut into 1-inch cubes
2 onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 ounces raw (uncooked) long-grain rice
1 cup beef broth
2 cups canned tomatoes
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup pitted green olives, sliced
1 cup chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or enameled casserole. Add the beef cubes and sauté evenly over moderately high heat until barely browned, about ten minutes.

Stirring constantly, add the onions, garlic, and rice and cook for a minute or two. Reduce heat and stir in beef broth and tomatoes.  Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for one hour.  Add the sliced olives and continue simmering until meat is tender, about 30 minutes.

Serve in the casserole, garnished with chopped parsley. (Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 1 1/2 hours)

Make 4 servings.

From “Larousse Treasury of Country Cooking”

Last Saturday morning, I took a cruise up I-10 to Boerne Stage Road and dropped by the farmers market at the Leon Springs Baptist Church parking lot. On a sunny morning it was easy to park and not yet steamy hot, so I could enjoy making the rounds of vendors.

Even at a distance, the plants and flowers displayed were a welcome eyeful of color in our currently dusty landscape. There were two tents with beautiful, healthy looking herbs, Hibiscus, and an intriguing flowering plant named a Rangoon Creeper.

I met Mario Obledo as I photographed some of the produce. He is the vice president of the Hill Country Farmers Market Association, the organization that promotes this market and three other markets in the area (see below for details). I learned that the Leon Springs market is year-round, 2 1/2 years into its growth and development, still with room for new additions and new ideas.

Every day you hear about “going green,” and at The Green Brownie company they are doing green in brownies! No, this isn’t a St. Patrick’s Day gimmick; these are delicious treats made with all-organic ingredients so you can feel good about indulging. Owner Tracy Carlson told me that they even used packaging that is eco-friendly. If you are in a more playful mood, the stand also has Brownies-on-a-stick (they are cute) as well as gluten-free brownies.

But the vision that most of us hold about a farmers market includes lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. As it should be, there were three well-stocked displays of bright, fresh, produce. I saw some good looking squash that were named Sunburst and White Scalloped, very much like a pattypan squash, at Bob Mishler’s Uncertain Farms. Lots of people were buying peaches and tomatoes, cucumbers and okra, potatoes and green beans, plums, bell peppers, jam, wow!

But there were baked breads, pecans (even pecan oils at Circle H Orchards), and some super yummy granola at Cowgirl Granola. Heather Hunter, the Head Cowgirl, has been making her toasty, oaty, nutty, tasty, amazing granola for about 8 years. She is out at Leon Springs every week, as well as the other three markets in the association. You can also contact her at cowgirlenterprises@gmail.com.

There is usually a grass-fed beef dealer, but he was out-of-town that morning. He’s expected back soon; meanwhile, there are other vendors with free-range eggs and various goodies to keep you busy until then.

I have been to a few farmers markets in our area and in other states — and even other countries. Leon Springs is not the biggest, but it has a good variety, easy to get service, and just a friendly, can-do, attitude. Go see for yourself and try something new!

Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Leon Springs Baptist Church
24133 Boerne Stage Road (behind the H-E-B)

The other markets affiliated are:

• Boerne, Kendall County Fairgrounds, 1307 River Road, Boerne TX  Wednesdays 2-6 p.m., now through Nov. 18
• Bulverde-Spring Branch, The Branches Church, 4594 Highway 281 North, Bulverde, TX  Saturdays, 2:30-5:30 p.m., year-round.
• Helotes-Grey Forest, Helotes Hills United Methodist Church, 13222 Bandera Road, Helotes, TX  2nd & 4th Fridays, 3-6 p.m., now through Nov. 13