More recipes -- beef stew and baked pasta

I've been cooking up a storm lately, mostly because I don't want to spend a lot of money on food. I'm also in full hearty winter meal mode, which means lots of stick to your ribs kinds of stuff. The stew recipe is distilled from the stew my former mother-in-law used to make, a Gaston stew where I misinterpreted the pepper corns for juniper berries, with really great results.

The pasta recipe is just something I threw together. It just so happened that we had book club the night I made the pasta and the hostess was serving lasagna she had bought from the store, so I asked if she minded if I brought leftover pasta. She didn't. Everyone seemed to like it. I used Dreamfields noodles, which I use now because of the fewer effective carbs.

Juniper beef stew

3 pounds chuck cut into 3/4 inch squares
flour to dredge
white pepper
sea salt to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
6 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups small carrots
2 onions cut into half inch pieces
3 cloves garlic minced
15 baby red potatoes
8 juniper berries crushed
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon thyme
1/2 cup red wine
About 1 quart beef broth, or enough to come to the top of the stew

Dredge beef in flour, salt and pepper. Heat a few tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add beef in and brown in batches. Add more oil as needed. When all the beef is browned add onions and celery to olive oil, add more if needed and cook until starting to sweat, add garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant, being careful not to scorch it. Add beef and the rest of the ingredients and simmer. You can cook this for a couple of hours in a 300 degree oven, but you still need to cook it on the stove top to thicken the juices. Be very careful not to burn the bottom by stirring constantly.

Italian sausage pasta bake

1 box Dreamfields penne pasta cooked al dente according to package directions
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 minced garlic cloves
2 large cans Progresso crushed tomatoes with added puree
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 cup red wine
1 pound shredded mozzarella
1 container fresh mozzarella
Parmesan cheese
8 ounces provolone

Remove casings from sausage and brown, breaking up into small pieces. Add onion and pepper and cook until onion starts to become translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Do not brown or it will be bitter. Add tomatoes, bay leaves oregano and red wine and simmer. Grease a 11X13 inch glass baking dish. Add sauce to bottom of dish and spread out. add half of the noodles. Add more sauce. Top with half of the cheese. Add noodles, sauce and the last of the cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan last. Cook in 35o degree oven for 30 minutes.