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day "off"
June 19, 2014
Had an enjoyable day off (You keep using dat word...I do not tink eet means what you tink eet means...) yesterday, despite waking with a raging headache, the weather being gray and dismal, and long wait times at the doctor and dentist. Slept in just a bit, then took the B for a long walk. When we got home, I puttered around with my flowers, relaxed in the back yard with a book and a good cup of coffee, and eventually got cleaned up and ready to go to my first appointment.
I left for the doctor's shortly before 9:30, thinking "oh, this will go quickly--it's just a condition management visit". Yeah--well. Didn't get out of there till eleven o'clock! Long wait in the waiting room, followed by a long wait for the med student, followed by a long wait for the doctor. But the outcome was pretty positive, apparently--all he could find to pick at me about was the old, old story--my weight. We discussed the meds, how I was doing on the new doses, and the way I felt in general, and he seemed satisfied. The recent mood issues were probably related to the menopausal side of things. My color, temperature, blood pressure, skin and hair issues, fatigue, and body aches have greatly improved. Doing fine, scripts renewed, come back in six months.
All well and good, but by the time I had driven over to the pharmacy, waited for my order to be made up, and was ready to go home--it was pretty much time to go to the dentist. That went a little faster, I got there a few minutes early, but they took me back for my cleaning pretty quickly. The wait for the dentist took a while, though. A lot longer than she did, that's for sure--I got a quick glance and she was on to the next patient. Since it's my mid-year exam, and I am not having issues, I was fine with that. I was feeling pretty fatigued by that time.
And hungry, since I had planned on eating my breakfast between doctor and dentist. I got home at 1:00 pm in the pouring rain, and had a big bowl of corn Chex and bananas, then about two, I started on my dinner prep.
Got the Recipe here.
Boeuf en Daube (or Daube de boeuf) - Provencal beef stew
serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 lbs. beef shank, with or without bones, cut in large chunks
1 large red onion, sliced
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes
4-5 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup red wine (I used Rex Goliath Cabernet Sauvignon)
1/2 tbsp. herbes de Provence
Salt and pepper
(I added a pinch of freeze-dried garlic, as well)
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large saut� pan, add the meat chunks and brown them on each side.
Remove the meat from the pan and set aside for later.
Add the onions slices to the pan and cook until caramelized.
Add the browned meat chunks back to the pan with the onions
Add the tomatoes, carrots, wine, herbs, salt and pepper.
Simmer for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat is very tender and the sauce has thickened.
Serve with noodles, rice or mashed potatoes. (I did noodles; that's traditional)
I didn't finish this in the pan; once the meat and the onions were done, I threw everything into the slow-cooker (I used a liner bag) to simmer, then deglazed the pan with some of the wine, and threw that in too. My cooker braises perfectly on high, so I figured "why not?"
I after all the prep, I sat down for a brief rest, then took the time to clean up all my messes, before stretching out on my bed for what I hoped would be a nap. No luck, and when 4:00 rolled around, I got up to pill the dog, and ended up reading for a while, till it was time to tend to the dinner again. Once the meat was tender, I drew off as much of the liquid as I could, ran it through my grease separator to take out a good portion of the excess fat, and thickened it on the stove with a little cornstarch before pouring it back into the stew and turning the heat down to the warm setting.
The verdict? It came out marvelously. WAY easier, and WAY better, than the Bourdain recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon that Spouse and made a few years back. (Sorry, Chef!)
Spouse really enjoyed it, I could tell--when I suggested chicken for dinner tonight, he asked if we could have leftovers instead! Definitely have to put this one in the recipe file; we will be having it again.
Dinner at seven, and by the time I was done with dishes and prepping for morning, it was nearly eight, and I was pretty beat. I pottered about on Fb and tumblr, played a word game, and was completely ready for bed by 9:30. Busy days like that trash me, even though I really enjoy them.
Reading: Just finished this.
Listening:
At Random:
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