Green Tomato Beef Stew with Jamaican Spices

I spent last week in New York City moving my father out of his apartment.  The week was supposed to end with the sale of his apartment and him moving to Vermont to live in a retirement home.  I spent a week sorting through vast piles of books covered in dust, throwing out clothing that was not even good enough to be used as a rag, and throwing away mattress after mattress.  A the end of the week the apartment was miraculously empty, most of the clothing we were keeping was being shipped to Vermont, and the closing on the apartment did not happen.  So when he flew here to Burlington it was not to move in to a retirement community, instead he has been staying with a really good friend of mine who lives 15 miles away.  Every day when she drives in to work she has been dropping him off at my house for "daddy daycare".  Then she comes to my house after work and we all have dinner before they drive back to Jericho.  However guests for dinner every night does not mean I stay away from experiments in the kitchen, instead there are more tasters for new dishes.

At this time of the year I look at the green tomatoes on the vines thinking about ways to use them.  I could just can several batches of green tomato salsa and be done, but I enjoy the challenge of discovering how different flavors can be used.  One friend stays away from most green tomato recipes, saying they all smack of end of the garden desperation.  However I think green tomatoes have a role in the kitchen, one that works to highlight and balance their flavor instead of using them in an attempt to mask their presence and use them up.  Used correctly they are as much end of the garden desperation as rhubarb recipes are end of the winter desperation for something, anything, fresh. (I am not saying there are no desperation recipes for both vegetables).

When I first went in the kitchen I was planning on doing a stew with the last of the rhubarb that would be a riff on Molly Stevens' Pot Roasted Brisket with Rhubarb and Honey from All About Braising.  As I rubbed the beef with freshly ground allspice, coriander, pepper and salt I realized I could substitute green tomatoes for the rhubarb as an early fall substitution.  I used maple syrup instead of honey and added garlic and fresh thyme as my usual alterations to the regular recipe.  I replaced the golden raisins with dried apricots because they were the only dried fruit I had.  Now dried Califonia apricots will be my go-to in this recipe, any other dried fruit will be a substitution, because their tangy, sour, sweetness added just the right note.

This stew was enjoyed by all 6 people at the dinner table, from age 6 to 81.  My children even clamored over how good it was.  All the flavors came together as a cohesive whole, not a touch of end of the garden desperation, instead a new use for a unique vegetable.  It was tasty enough I think I won't wait to the end of the season to make it next year, instead I will pick some green tomatoes in the late spring.

Everyone was eating the stew so fast I couldn't get a good photo!

Green Tomato Beef Stew with Jamaican Spices
Serves 6
Serve this stew with mashed potatoes.  The amount of meat in this dish was enough to serve 6 with plenty of mashed potatoes and carrots on the side.  I prefer to serve a modest amount of meat but you can easily increase the amount of meat to suit your preferences.

1/2 tsp whole coriander seeds

1/4 tsp black peppercorns

1/8+ tsp allspice berries

1/2 tsp kosher salt or other coarse salt

1 1/4 lbs beef stew meat (you can change the quantity as you like, if you go up to 2 lbs I would double everything else)

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 small onions or 1 medium one Chop the onion into 1/2 inch pieces or slice thinly (I did a mix because slicing was easier and both were fine in the final dish.  Next time I will slice all of them).

2 large garlic cloves or 3 to 4 small ones chopped finely

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 - 2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger (I used about 1 Tbsp)

1/3 cup California Dried Apricots, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces (sorry, the California ones really are that much better!)
1 cup riesling or other favorite white wine
1 cup water
1 lb green tomatoes, cored and chopped into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces (do not peel)
1 bay leaf, preferably fresh
1 small bunch of thyme with the leaves stripped off (about 1/2 tsp leaves)
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup (I used Grade B)

Grind the coriander, peppercorns, allspice, and salt in a coffee grinder until finely ground.  You will have to stop and shake the spices down in the grinder a few times because this is a minimal amount.  Dry the stew meat with paper towels before rubbing the spice mixture on the meat.  Set aside while you prep the other ingredients.

In a medium sized dutch oven or heavy lidded pot heat the oil over medium high heat and add then onions.  Cook the onions, stirring frequently until they are softened and starting to caramelize (while they were cooking I prepped the ginger, apricots and tomatoes).  Add the garlic, salt and pepper, ginger and chopped apricots.  Saute for about one minute until the ginger is fragrant.

Remove the onions and other aromatics from the pan and return to medium high heat.  There should still be a thin layer of oil in the bottom of the pan, if it is not enough to keep the meat from sticking add a little more oil and then brown the meat in small batches on all sides.  As the meat is browned add it to the onions.

Once all the meat is browned set the meat and aromatics aside and add the white wine to the pan.  Cook over high heat for about 5 minutes until the volume is decreased by three quarters, while it is cooking scrape the sides to remove all the flavorful caramelized drippings from the beef and aromatics..  Once the wine is reduced add the water,green tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme leaves, and 1 Tbsp maple syrup.  Bring to a boil and allow to boil for a minute or 2 before adding the meat and onion mixture back to the pan.

Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cook, covered, at a slow simmer until the meat is tender and the green tomatoes have mostly slumped into the sauce, (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours).   After about 5 minutes check the stew to make sure the stew is simmering quietly.  If it is too vigorous use a heat tamer under the pan.

Once the meat is tender remove the lid, increase the heat to medium high and reduce the sauce (however I suggest you do not go to check email while reducing the sauce.  If you do not listen and become distracted you may need to add some water to the pan because you reduced it too much).

Maple Glazed Root Vegetables with Thyme

This may not be a surprise to anyone else, but I am amazed at how much adjusting I am having to do to my work schedule.  I am lucky that I come home with my boys after picking them up from school.  However at that point all I want to do is touch base with my children about their day and then plop down on the couch checking e-mail, food blogs and facebook and this blog.  However while I do have time to check in with my children, and even the time to start Sebastian on his homework, (or as is sometimes the case argue with him about it), I need to start dinner almost right away.  It feels like our bedtime routine starts when we come home, if I don't start dinner soon enough our routine is off.

Mostly I am loving where we are right now as a family.  With both boys in school and my new job everyone has something to share at dinner.  Somehow it makes it more cohesive, or maybe that is the reduction in the whining recently over the food I'm offering, as the boys are learning to try more.  Julian's application of classroom rules and expectations at the dinner table is often hysterical.  One night he sat across from me as I told a story with his hand raised for his turn to speak.  However he did not sit there silently, "I'm being an active listener by raising my hand and waiting to speak... are you done yet?"

Happily I am still loving my job.  I am just having a hard time with fitting everything in.  It is a good thing I value cooking!  With a busy schedule it is even more important to have a game plan in the kitchen, especially when faced with a pile of vegetables to deal with.  However that sounds like planning and my cooking is more often based on whim then planning.  This is one of the successes I had recently when heading into the kitchen with the inkling of an idea but not much of a plan.

This dish is inspired by the carrots I had last week at an Americorps conference at the Stoweflake resort.  The food was surprisingly good, and most of us where getting seconds.  However that may also be because an Americorps position is supposed to pay a rate below the poverty level.  So folks may have been calorie loading.  The local food movement made its way to the labels at the buffet, however the meaning seemed to be a little lost.  So for breakfast, in October, in Vermont, the strawberries, cantaloupe, pineapple and watermelon were labeled, "Seasonal Fruit."  Sure, somewhere, just not here.  However the maple glazed carrots are perfectly seasonal here right now, and will be all winter.  I added parsnips and turnips to mine as I got both this past week at my CSA.  I also added a fresh bay laurel leaf and some thyme to help balance the sweetness of the maple syrup and the vegetables.  Everyone enjoyed my rendition, although I will admit the boys did not eat the turnips.

Maple Glazed Root Vegetables with Thyme

Inspired by Maple Glazed Carrots at The Stoweflake, cooking technique adapted from Cooking with Shelburne Farms Honey Glazed Carrots

6 cups root vegetables peeled and sliced into similar sized pieces.  (I used carrots, parsnips and turnips.  Potatoes, kohlrabi and beets would all be good.  If using beets cook them separately to avoid making a pink mess of the other vegetables.)

2 Tbsp butter or Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 - 5 Tbsp maple syrup, preferably Grade B (I used 2 Tbsp but I felt it could have used more)

3/4 cup water

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 tsp kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 fresh bay laurel leaf (optional)

Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat and add all the other ingredients.  Put the lid on and shake the pan to coat all the vegetables in the liquid.  Simmer over medium heat for 5 - 7 minutes, until the vegetables are just becoming tender.  Take the lid off the pan, increase the heat to high and cook, stirring, often until the vegetables are all coated in a glaze.  Taste and adjust the seasoning, remove the thyme stems and serve.

Bay Laurel Ice Cream

This week marks another first for Julian.  For  the first time he can finally attend science camp with his brother.  This is the third year that Sebastian has attended, so for 2 years Julian could only hear about all the amazing discoveries his brother was making.  Julian has been excited for weeks, okay months, as he and Sebastian talked about science camp.  He sailed happily into the classroom without a backward glance, just a huge expectant smile for what was to come.  Every day when I go to pick them up Julian's smile appears before he does.

When I imagined this week I had all sorts of plans of what I would do with my time.  Many of my ideas were centered in the kitchen and this blog.  Turns out I don't have all the free time I was dreaming of.  Instead I worked my final shift at one job and I have spent more time learning about my next position, one I will share more about later.  I also did not imagine myself needing to sand my deck and teak table as a result of my little scientists!  After camp on Monday I  was in my kitchen when Julian came in, climbed on the counter and tried to head out with a box of food coloring.  I calmly removed his loot and sent him on his way, patting myself on the back for avoiding whatever catastrophe was brewing.

I should have been tipped off when Julian just went away without a battle.  Julian has never been a child who gives up easily.  When he was a toddler you could distract him from the outlet that was his goal for an hour, thinking you had won.  As soon as you stopped entertaining him, he was back at the outlet again.  My error was forgetting that I had 2 boxes of food coloring.  So the boys had the first box and were conducting their own science experiments on the deck.  When I discovered them there were puddles of water and food coloring on the deck floor, the table and spatters all over the two of them.  I am sure they learned something, sigh.

While I may not have the endless time I was dreaming of I still made a bay laurel ice cream.  I started to dream of making bay laurel ice cream after reading Molly gush over fennel ice cream on Orangette.  If the cream and butterfat soften the flavor of fennel and makes it irresistibly herbal and soft, I began to wonder if it would also work to soften the flavor and bring out the sweet under note of fresh bay laurel leaves.  The end result wasn't as subtle as Molly's description, however it is creamy and rich with a sweet herbal floral flavor that nobody will guess the origins of.  However that might be more because to most folks the flavor of bay laurel leaves is muddled into beef stew and not because it is disguised.  This ice cream tastes nothing like stew, instead it has a sweet flavor that lingers in the mouth as the ice cream melts on your tongue.

Let me be clear that this should not be made with the dried bay laurel leaves you have gathering dust in your cupboard.  I am lucky enough to have a bay laurel tree, if you aren't you can substitute another favorite herb, or buy a bay laurel plant.  If you live locally, Red Wagon Plants is carrying them this year and should have them at the local stores that carry their plants.  Check out my post on the Red Wagon Plants blog that explains how I care for a bay laurel tree in Vermont.  Maybe working on that post explains why I had bay laurel on the brain and made this ice cream.  Whatever the cause this is a dish i will be making again.  (Sometimes you can also find fresh bay laurel leaves in the produce section of your grocery store).

Bay Laurel Ice Cream
Inspired by Gourmet's Fennel Ice Cream

1 2/3 cups heavy cream
1 fresh bay laurel leaf (as you can see my leaf was a little over 2 inches long, smaller would be fine)
1 cup whole milk (I only had 1%, I used 3 Tbsp half and half and the rest 1%)
3/4 cups sugar, divided use
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 large egg yolks

Combine the heavy cream and bay laurel leaf and a small heavy saucepan.  Bring the cream to a simmer, remove the mixture from the heat and let steep covered for 30 minutes.  After steeping the bay laurel leaf in the cream for 30 minutes prepare an ice bath.  Place the milk, 1/2 cup of the sugar and the salt in a medium sauce pan.  Bring to a simmer while stirring to dissolve the sugar. 

Prepare an ice bath and whisk the egg yolks with 1/4 cup sugar in a medium metal bowl and set aside.  Combine the milk, ½ cup sugar, and a pinch of salt in a medium heavy saucepan, and bring just to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Add the hot milk to the egg yolks in a slow stream while whisking.  Warming the eggs gently this way prevents them from scrambling.  Add the egg yolk/milk mixture back to the pan.


Cook the mixture over medium low heat while stirring constantly with a heat proof spatula (I use silicone).  Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan as you cook it.  When the mixture coats the back of the spatula and thickens pour it through a fine mesh strainer into a metal bowl set in the ice bath. Stir until cool, when it is cool strain the bay laurel flavored cream into the egg yolk mixture.  Continue to cool over the ice bath until very cold or just cool it in the fridge for several hours.  The mixture must be totally cold before proceeding.

Freeze in your ice cream maker and then place in the freezer to harden before serving.