Day 1. Slow Cooker Thai Beef Stew

I can honestly say the pictures illustrating the recipes in this book would make anyone instantly hungry.  Seriously.  So when I flipped to the page with the recipe listed and saw the photo of the finished product, I could not wait to start cooking. 

Almost every ingredient listed in the book can be found at your local grocery store.  This helped with my “gather the week’s worth of groceries” run this morning.  One thing I will note is Danielle Walker is amazing.  She specifically mentions brands that she has used and stands behind.  So for anyone who is trying a recipe with new-to-you ingredients list, pay close attention to the brands she lists in the “tidbits” section. 

The Thai Beef Stew is incredible.  It was surprisingly easy to make and is a slow cooker recipe so you can cook it all day, for those people who are gone all day.

One of the interesting ingredients is something called Jicama.  I know, I know, what in the world is Jicama??  I had no clue…. So thanks to Google I now know that it is a sweet root vegetable that looks like a turnip and a coconut had a love child.  It is round-ish and a light brown color.  It is solid so it is a little difficult to cut into, but the flavor is great!  It is crunchy and sweet.  For me, I hate water chestnut with a passion, so to find something that has the crunch without the slime-like texture of a water chestnut is great! 

I should also note I do not own a slow cooker.  After today I need to get one.  I had the genius idea to just cook the dish in one of my pots.  Well, I burned the bottom of it. (Go me!) Aside from my own “user error” the food is incredible.  It smells delicious.  The flavor is unlike anything I’ve ever made before.  The sauce is spicy, yet creamy.  The meat is tender and juicy.  

I served the stew over the Against All Grain cilantro cauliflower rice.  Honestly, I was not looking forward to cauliflower rice because I have tried to substitute rice for the cauliflower option and never liked the taste.  Plus, cauliflower smells kind of odd to me.  But this recipe is amazing.  It is the best rice substitute I have ever had and I will be making it again!

And the husband LOVED it!  He ate everything on his plate and was really curious about what vegetables were in the stew.  When I told him about my plan to cook my way through the cookbook, he was initially nervous.  After tonight’s delicious dinner, he cannot wait to see what is next!

If you are cooking your way through Against All Grain, please let me know! I’d love to hear your feedback and any recipes you love!

-Kim

Welcome!

Welcome to all of my loyal followers! Just kidding.  I will be lucky if my sisters read this.  I am new to the blogging game, so let me just jump right in and share my story and reason for venturing out into the world of blogs. 

Originally hailing from the great state of Louisiana, I got a crazy idea in my head to move across the country to Portland, Oregon.  My upbringing in Louisiana exposed me to some of the best cuisine this country has to offer.  Life revolved around food and drinks.  Between my grandmother and my mom, I learned how to cook and have since developed a great appreciation for the art of cooking.  (To be fair, it took a while for me to really start to love cooking.  Most of my childhood was spent with my parents trying desperately to get me to eat healthy and try new things while I adamantly refused to eat anything but hamburgers.)

Since moving to Oregon, I have thrown myself into learning about cooking new types of cuisine and trying interesting flavors and ingredients.  Sometimes my recipes works out great and quickly become crowd favorites.  Other times, dinner ends up in the trash and we order pizza.  But this is part of the fun in learning to cook. 

Recently I have been working hard to improve the quality of ingredients I choose.  I have never been one to “diet” because diets do not work and they make your life miserable.  However, as I get older I realize how important it is to take care your health, both in what you eat and how active you remain.  In the spirit of trying new things, I decided to throw myself into a challenge, which I will document here. 

After purchasing Danielle Walker’s new cookbook Against All Grain: Meals Made Simple, I decided I will cook my way through the recipes listed, à la Julie and Julia. 

What I hope to achieve in this is journey is as follows:

         I want to stick with it, and publishing my progress will make me accountable.

               I am curious to see what health benefits come from making the extra effort to eat a cleaner, more wholesome diet.

               I hope to learn more about cooking so I can start sharing my own recipes with you.

    I hope you will join me on this journey!

-Kim

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