Week Seven: Ancho Beef Stew, Whole-Wheat Pasta with Lentils, Spinach, and Leeks, and Five-Spice Turkey Burgers

This was a pretty good week for food. So here's what went down...

Ancho Beef Stew

This was a Family Circle magazine cut-out from the November 2012 issue. And a good one.

There is something so wonderful about stew beef in the winter time; it is so hearty and filling. And this recipe was a little different from my Beef Barley Soup from Week Five. Okay, maybe they kind of look the same, but they did not taste all that similar. The Beef Barley Soup incorporates fresh thyme, which has a very distinct flavor, but this Ancho Beef Stew has more of a Mexican feel. This stew also appealed to me because I was drawn to the long, sliced carrots (versus diced or sliced in circles) and big chunks of potato. It was just so meaty-looking.

Aside from all the chopping, this was pretty quick to make also. A great weeknight meal. Actually, Family Circle calls it "20-Minute Ancho Beef Stew." You can find the recipe at the following link: 20-Minute Ancho Beef Stew.

We didn't find ancho chile powder when we were grocery shopping, but Zack found out that pasilla is a good alternative, so that is what we used.

Whole-Wheat Pasta with Lentils, Spinach, and Leeks

Remember this one? Here's an "amateur" blog throwback: Pasta with Lentils, Spinach, and Leeks from the always wonderful Power Foods. Since, this week's meal planning consisted of hearty items like beef stew and burgers, I decided we needed a lighter meal mid-week. Hence, Power Foods. Always healthy, flavorful, and light, yet satisfying.

This Power Foods recipe is hard to find online, so here's a snapshot.

This is going to make me sound like the biggest cooking nerd ever, but the greatest thing about this recipe is how the tubular pasta (or shells, as I used this time) just naturally scoop up the lentils. And the different shades of green, with the lentils, spinach, and leeks, make for a very attractive dish. Plus, you can eat this warm or cold, like a pasta salad. I ate my leftovers cold the next day for lunch, and it was great.

Eat this pasta dish for lunch the next day, re-heated or cold.

Five-Spice Turkey Burgers

with Sweet Potato Fries

This recipe also happened to come from the November 2012 issue of Family Circle. 

 Zack and I love homemade turkey burgers. They are a great alternative to your usual ground beef burger. Plus, the ground turkey is very versatile in that you can really fool around with the spices to create burgers with different influences. In this case, using Chinese five-spice to make an Asian-style burger. The sriracha-mayonnaise just tops it off.

So, what is Chinese five-spice anyways? According to Wikipedia, a common mix for five-spice powder consists of star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel seeds; however, there are other variants often used. The cinnamon is what really stands out to me, so it's good to be careful not to get too excited when using your five-spice; otherwise, you might end up with a turkey burger that tastes more like some sort of weird, holiday/dessert burger. A little goes a long way.

This recipe is also difficult to find online without a login; here is a snapshot of the recipe.

Now. We must talk sweet potato fries. I know I'm not the only one who is on the lookout for a good way to make your home-baked sweet potato fries crispy (versus soft and tender). I was so excited to find a Pinterest pin that claimed it had the secret to crispy homemade sweet potato fries. It did say it might take a few tries to get the ingredient combination and technique just right, but that being said, I tried twice, and I don't know if I'm all that thrilled with the result. I'll roast my sweet potatoes, but I think I may be done trying to makes fries out of them. That is, unless one of you readers has a secret you want to share...

This recipe calls for soaking the sliced sweet potatoes in water for awhile (up to a few hours even), then dry (well, I added that part), toss in cornstarch (the supposed big secret), drizzle with olive oil, and bake as usual.

On our first try, I didn't really dry the soaked sweet potatoes, so the cornstarch and olive oil created a sort of slurry. Then we made the fatal error of not spreading the fries out enough on the baking sheets. Result: soggy, slurried mess. Tossed those.

For my second try, I was sure to dry the sweet potatoes prior to tossing in the cornstarch, but the slurry-thing still kind of happened. The fries were crispy, but they tasted like they were rolled in sand or ground something. They were kind of gritty. Not too impressed.

As Zack said, "there's a reason they're called 'fries' and not 'bakes.'" Fries are meant to be fried. However, I will never give up hope. If you know a way to make your home-baked sweet potato fries crispy, share it here.

On that note, have a good week and keep an out for my "Week Eight" post a little earlier than usual this week. Cheers.