Caesar Salad:

Romaine hearts Renees Caesar dressing (not light, not extra garlic) 1 lemon 2 tablespoons olive oil Parmesan (fresh)- the good stuff. Gourmet croutons

1. wash lettuce thoroughly. Dry using paper towels or salad spinner. Cut the white ends off. Chop the rest with a knife. Place into salad bowl. 2. put 1/3 bottle of Caesar dressing in a bowl. Squeeze juice of lemon. 3. add 2 tablespoons of olive oil 4. lots of black pepper. 5. heat croutons in a pan to give extra umph. 6. add dressing to salad and toss to coat all lettuce pieces. Finish with freshly grated parmesan and fresh ground pepper.

Beef Bourguignon
stewing beef chopped cooking onion, pearl onions (optional) garlic chopped carrots chopped celery mushrooms- chopped and dried thoroughly (use wet paper towel to clean off dirt) bacon red wine beef broth- preferably organic, low sodium bay leaf fresh parsley, fresh thyme.

1. cut raw bacon into small pieces. Brown in a big pot (medium heat) 2. remove cooked bacon- set aside. Do not drain. Bacon juice = FLAVOR. 3. add chopped onion. Cook in the bacon flavor until see through. Add chopped garlic towards the end. Remove and set aside (with bacon is fine). 4. add mushrooms to the pot. Cook in the previous flavor. Remove and set aside.

5. Throw the carrots and celery into the pot. Idea is just to brown everything. If pot becomes too dry, add some olive oil. Remove, set aside. 6. Set pot to HIGH heat. Put some butter or olive oil in the pot. Add the beef pieces carefully using tongs. 7. Add LOTS of freshly ground black pepper, salt. Sprinkle flour over beef. You are creating a light flavor crust on the beef. Once one side is brown, use the tongs to flip beef pieces. 2 sides of browned beef is sufficient. Remove once nice colour is achieved. Place in separate bowl. 8. Now to DEGLAZE: add 1 cup red wine to the pot. Scrape the bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add 1 cup beef broth. 9. Add the beef, veggies, onions, bacon into the pot. Throw in a bay leaf. Put lid on and allow to reduce down for 1 or 1 hours. If necessary, add more wine and broth to make more liquid. a. After half the time, add pearl onions. b. With 20 minutes to go, add fresh parsley. Serve with boiled, steamed or baked potatoes. They will be perfect for soaking up the juices of the stew.