Japanese Style Beef Stew With Winter Squash Recipes

BEEF AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH STEW

Steps:

• In a large soup pot heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, rosemary, and thyme and saute until the onions are tender, about 2 minutes. Toss the beef cubes in salt and pepper and flour. Turn up the heat to med-high and add the beef to the pot. Cook until the beef is browned and golden around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the Marsala wine. Using a wooden spoon, gently stir up all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the butternut squash and sun-dried tomatoes and stir to combine. Add enough beef broth to just cover the beef and squash. Bring the stew to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Season the stew with additional salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Serve with crusty bread alongside.

CHICKEN STEW WITH RICE AND WINTER SQUASH

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and parsley. Cook until vegetables are fragrant but not soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chicken pieces and cook until browned and fat begins to render, 5 to 10 minutes. Add squash and stir to coat well with pan juices.
• Pour in white wine and stir in concentrated broth, peas, and rice. Stir until broth has dissolved. Pour in 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the rice is cooked, adding water if necessary, about 20 minutes. Stir the stew occasionally.
• Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

JAPANESE-STYLE BEEF STEW

Steps:

• In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, sear meat until nicely browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Transfer chunks to a medium-size casserole.
• Add stock to the skillet, and cook over high heat, stirring and scraping until all the solids are integrated into the liquid. Pour into the casserole with soy sauce, mirin, ginger and a couple of grindings of pepper. Peel lemon, and add peel to the mixture. Juice lemon.
• Cover, and cook on top of stove (or in a 350-degree oven), maintaining a steady simmer. Stir after 30 minutes. Then check meat every 15 minutes.
• When meat is nearly tender, about 45 minutes, stir in squash and continue to cook until squash is tender but not mushy, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add salt if necessary, then stir in lemon juice. Serve.

JAPANESE CHICKEN AND ROOT VEGETABLE STEW

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, soak dried mushrooms in water overnight at room temperature. (Alternatively, you can cover mushrooms with hot water and let soak for 2 hours.)
• Remove mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquid. Slice off stems and discard them. Cut the caps into 1/4-inch pieces.
• Place kombu in a large pot, add mushrooms and their soaking liquid, and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Meanwhile, make a drop lid (called an otoshibuta in Japanese) by folding foil into a round just smaller than the pot. Poke a few holes in the drop lid with a chopstick or knife.
• As soon as liquid boils, remove kombu and discard or save to reuse. Add chicken, taro, radish, carrot, sake, soy sauce, sugar and salt to the pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, place drop lid directly on top of cooking vegetables and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
• Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Add sweet potato to the pot, cover pot again with drop lid, and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes, until vegetables are cooked through but not mushy.
• Meanwhile, shred cooled chicken and divide among four bowls. Stir rice wine vinegar into stew, along with salt to taste, then ladle it into the bowls with the chicken. Garnish with sansho powder or shichimi togarashi and serve.

BEEF STEW WITH SQUASH AND A SURPRISE INGREDIENT!

Steps:

• If you have the time and inclination:.
• - Brown the beef in a large skillet until seared on all sides.
• - You can also brown the onions if you are so inclined.
• If you are like me and are trying to do this at the crack of dawn before racing out the door to the bus stop and then to work start here:.
• Plug in the crock pot.
• Toss in the chopped onions, garlic, carrots, squash and beef.
• Stir in all the spices except the fresh cilantro.
• Pour in the tomato sauce.
• Cook on LOW for 6 - 8 hours.
• About 15 minutes before it is going to be served or as soon as you get home:.
• add the peas, cilantro and the olives.
• Stir it all up and let cook another 15 minutes or so.
• I served it over whole wheat couscous with a hunk of roasted garlic bread that Jeff picked up on the way home. It was a hit - everyone decided it was a keeper and that the addition of the olives (the secret ingredient) was genius. I loved the way it added a nice salty counterpart to the sweet squash. If you wanted to you could also add a bit of chicken stock to the stew at the beginning.

NIKU JAGA (JAPANESE BEEF STEW IN THE CROCK POT)

Steps:

• Put all into crock pot and cook on low 10-12 hours or on high 4-6 hours.
• Stir before serving.