Yesterday, I spent the day at my fellow chef and Picnic’s frequent chef, Michele’s house at the beach. Or, as a northern New Jerseyan, I should say, “down the shore.” Why is it that I go down the shore, but I go up to the lake? I guess that lack of preposition is just one of the things that make our Jersey dialect unique.

Anyway, we started out at a bar called the Mill, where we had the biggest pizza – I mean huge — $20 for a pie with a pitcher of soda. We skipped the soda, and downed a nice cold Becks instead. I followed that up with a custard on the boardwalk after a ride on the log flume and the roller coaster. Orange cream – a swirl of orange sherbet and a swirl of vanilla custard. Then, of course, a nice boardwalk lemonade was refreshing after a walk on the beach. Dinner, well, fish of course!

Yet, after my day at the beach, I woke up this morning and it was down right nasty out… damp and chilly as an October morning. I couldn’t help myself; the next thing I knew I was in the car heading out to buy chuck. Yep. I’m making stew. The whole house smells like it, and while I want summer to last a few more weeks, on a day like today, it gets me excited to braise and stew. On a nice fall night, there is nothing better than taking a good braised short rib, lamb shank, or pot roast, or pot roasted chicken right out of the oven.

Here is the way I do a nice beef stew. The sear is crucial, as is maintaining the fond. I make mine in a terrific antique cast iron Dutch oven at home. At work, a big Le Creuset will do the job just fine.

Get a chuck steak. Cube it. Make them nice and uniform so they cook evenly.

Throw some flour on a plate, add a few grinds of fresh pepper and mix it up.

Coat the bottom of the pot with a decent amount of veggie oil. Crank up the heat.

Now, coat that meat with the flour and when the pot is good and hot, put them in…one at a time. Don’t crowd the pan. Work in batches. A lazy start to this will blow the whole thing.

Sear each piece, using tongs to turn. Brown evenly on all sides. Watch the temperature! I mean it! The fond that you are collecting at the bottom of that pan is worth its weight in gold (or at least in demi glace and I don’t think you want to be making batches of demi glace, trust me, we do it all the time and it’s days of work.)

Don’t let that pan get too hot. Have I made myself clear yet? Anyway, get all your meat nice and golden brown and remove it from the pan. Now, with that pan nice and hot (without any scorching or burning, you hear?) add a finely chopped onion (Spanish is fine for this), two or three celery stalks chopped fine and about a handful of mushrooms. The veggies should cool your pan off a bit, and you’ll sauté them for a few minutes. Now, add about half a can of tomato paste and cook it out until its rust colored. I mean rust, not red. Deglaze the pan with chicken stock or beef stock if you have it. No matter. Add the stew meat and its nice bloody juices right back into your pan. Cover with chicken stock. Add about five bay leaves, a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme,  Bring it to a simmer, nice and slow. Now, stick the pot, cover on, into a 325 oven and let it do its thing for about two hours. Pay it a visit every half hour or so to make sure there’s plenty of stock.

Now, two hours later, add a whole bunch of nice cut carrots, Yukon gold potatoes, another onion or two and some more mushrooms. Stick it right back in the oven for another hour or hour and a half. Same deal, check on the liquid.

After the veggies have cooked soft and yummy, and the stew meat falls apart when you pierce it with a fork, season away with a little salt and pepper. Better the next day, but good enough right now.

Easy as can be, and just yummy! I can’t wait for dinner!

Well, it’s official. When I return from vacation Picnic will be serving up dinners. And, here is the sick thing. I can’t wait for vacation to be over! I love making lunch, I love doing the catering, but oh, how I’ve wanted to cook…really cook…whatever I feel like. That’s going to be Picnic dinners.

I’ve been contemplating the first week of cooking, and am still undecided. I have two weeks of rest and relaxation at my lake house to ponder it, but I have some strong ideas in my head. I’m thinking a braise, a fish, a classic comfort, a veg, and an international! Yippeeeee….I can’t wait. If you read my little blog, give a suggestion or drop an e-mail!