A Beef Stew Bread Bowl and Other Necessary Indulgences

Today was a day of total and uncompromising gluttony--also known as Football Sunday. Our good friends Lauren and Keith came by and joined us for some good ol' Football rivalry--Jets vs. the sad Fish. The eating started promptly at 1p and went on for the next four hours. Needless to say, we were zonked and consumed enough carbs for the whole week--but it was well worth it! Check out some of today's big touchdowns...

Beef & Beer Stew

I got this recipe from the December/January issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray (p. 61) and it was a big hit with our guests. My special twist? Putting the stew in a bread bowl! This was Dan's idea and it was right on. We tag-teamed the preparation, as Dan hollowed out 2 jumbo rounds of bread and then I filled them with the stew. Each couple shared a jumbo bread bowl, eating its delicious contents and then finishing off by devouring the bowl! Check out the recipe here. Alternative: Instead of serving the stew over mashed potatoes as the recipe suggests, I substituted with regular cubed potatoes and cooked them in the stew.

Panetone Bread Pudding:

Most of you know that I'm a dessert freak and need to end a good meal with something sweet. This Panetone Bread Pudding originated from a recipe by Dave Lieberman (Food Network Star) but morphed into my own creation, as I substituted Challah with Panetone--a luxurious Italian holiday bread. Lauren and Keith seemed to really enjoy it, especially since it was paired with a simple and classic standby--vanilla ice cream. See recipe here.

Note that I left out the raisins from this recipe since you get them right in the Panetone. Instead, I substituted with craisins--they add a nice tang. And because the Panetone is so sweet, I also decreased the amount of sugar by half and didn't bother making the chocolate ganache.

Enjoy!