Friday night cooking show at Your House

This misadventure in the kitchen is for you, Whitney and Tiffany!

This is a recipe from my favorite cooking show, Sam the Cooking Guy, that comes on Tucson's public channel on Saturday mornings. It's yummy and warm and gooey. We ate it for dinner last night, but now that I think about it, it would be a kick-ass brunch food. On the other hand, it is full of onions. You never have brunch if you don't have company, right? Onions=smelly=uncomfortable guests. You do what you think is right.

Kick-Ass Onion Pie
-8 oz red wine
-2 big red onions
-3 roma tomatoes (or 2 regular tomatoes, or a zillion cherry tomatoes)
-6 oz goat cheese with herbs. (I know last week's had goat cheese too. We're not fanatics, we had leftovers- gimme a break)
-1 deep pie shell (or be brave and make your own)
-olive oil

First step: Change into something fabulous.
Next, locate place in your kitchen where pretend audience is sitting. Mine usually sits across from the stove. Remember, you must be able to explain everything you're doing to the audience, so be sure they're sitting on your good side.
3. Obtain large wine glass. Pour 8 oz wine into glass. sip demurely. Being on TV is so hard.
4. Slice up onions into really thin rings. This takes a little while, so be sure to say witty things to the audience, or go ahead and take a commercial break.
5. Heat some olive oil in a big frying pan over medium high heat and add the onions. You're going to cook them until they're nice and soft and maybe a little browned. Add salt and pepper to your liking.
6. While those are cooking, slice up the tomatoes.
7. Sip wine
8. Advise audience on proper cutting techniques, being sure to show off any fancy knives or cutting boards. Remember, you're a professional. Speak hautily and use big words. Tell them how you learned to cook in France, etc...
9. Check on onions. Still not done? Flip them over a little so they all get cooked. I used tongs. Tong ta tong tong tong
10. Open goat cheese package. If you forgot to get the herb-y kind (like I did) then spice it up yourself. Wink at the audience while you expertly mix together your favorite combination of rosemary, sage, dill, thyme, whatever you like. Crumble it up with the cheese.
11. When onions are done, take them off the stove and get out the pie shell. Fill the pie shell with onions.
12. Layer the tomatoes on top.
13. Sprinkle the cheese over top.
14. Here's where you tell the audience that you'll cook the pie at 350 degrees until the top is bubbly and the sides are brown. Then, pull out a pie that you made earlier to show them how awesome you are.
15. Big sip of wine.
16. slice up the pie and serve.

Friday is for free recipes

I am married to the most fantastic cook ever. He makes miracles in the kitchen all the time. It's a wonder we don't both weigh 400 lbs. The only trouble is that he makes things up as he goes along, so there's no record of what he put in when the dish is a success (which it always is). We've tried lots of solutions to this, me tagging along behind him jotting things down, him writing down the recipe when he's done, etc. Mom even bought him a tiny tape recorder so he can talk about what he's making as he makes it. None of this has been very effective.
I have resolved in 2008 to try to keep track of some of his creations and to write them down as close as I can. Here's the first installment:
We had this on the 1st and it was unbelievable. You'll be bummed if you skip the dumplings.
We did our best with the amounts of ingredients. If it's not looking or smelling right at your house, go ahead and adjust.

Rob's New Year's Day Beef Stew
1-2 lbs Tri-tip or sirloin steak
6-ish strips thick bacon
4 medium potatoes
1 large onion
3-4 celery stalks
4-ish carrots
1.5 Quart beef stock
1/4 tsp cloves
2 bay leaves
Some paprika, marjoram, thyme, white pepper, parsley, black pepper (all dry)
dash of Worcestershire sauce

Cut bacon into 1/2" strips. Saute in thick-bottomed (hee hee) pot until brown, remove. In bacon grease over med. high heat, brown steak (cubed) until awesome-looking. Remove. As you're browning, sprinkle it with salt and pepper. In the same pan, saute onions (diced)until clear and yummy. Remove. Deglaze pan with 1/4 bottle (about a wine-glass full) of any red wine. Add bay leaves, stock, cloves, spices, worcestershire sauce, bring to a gentle boil. Add steak, bacon, onions, turn to low and simmer gently for 1 hour, stirring whenever you remember it. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, and some salt if necessary. Cook for 45 min, or until everything is soft and smells good. This sounds like a long time, but you will love the way it makes your house smell.

Dumplings
2 cups regular flour
1.5 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup soft goat cheese
2 tsps each parsley, marjoram, thyme, black pepper
about 3 cups stock or water flavored with bouillon

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Spoon into the boiling stock or water and cook about 6 minutes or until they float and seem done. Serve in stew.

Rob's note: The stew is too thick to cook the dumplings in, so that's why you've got to make them in stock or water.
Lizzie's note: The dumplings were crazy delicious. We baked the leftover batter in little wads on a cookie sheet the next day and ate those pseudo-biscuits in the leftover stew and it was even better than the dumplings.

Hope you like it!