SHOW & RECIPE FOR MARCH 8

GETTING IN THE GROVE
Houstonians are enjoying their first chances to get to know the park called Discovery Green right in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center – and that’s a tasty project indeed. Thanks to the Schiller-DelGrande Restaurant Group (of Café Annie and Café Express fame) there’s an important new eatery called The Grove right inside the park. Executive chef Ryan Pera joins us to explain what the concept’s all about.

HEALTHY CHEF GREG
Greg Gordon is best known as the chef and visionary behind La Vista, the strange and wondrous neighborhood restaurant with two locations in Houston. Today he comes into the CNN 650 studio to talk about what he cooks when he cooks healthy – which to look at him, you’d think he must do pretty often. Greg is this month’s Healthy Chef in Houston Health and Fitness Magazine.

LATE NIGHT AT ARMANDO’S
To date, Armando Palacios has made his name – years ago and again more recently – as the guy who adapted Tex-Mex cuisine to suit the River Oaks palate. We’ve talked to Armando in the past about his achievement, as well as about the chic “taco truck” he uses for upscale catering. This time the subject is his new late-night menu, and an intriguing thing it is, if only we can stay awake long enough.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
ST. PATRICK’S DAY BEEF & STOUT STEW

2 pounds lean beef stew meat
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 large onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 cups Irish stout beer (e.g., Guinness)
2 cups chopped carrot
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Toss the beef cubes with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Dredge the beef in this to coat. Heat the remaining oil in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef, and brown on all sides. Add the onions, and garlic. Stir the tomato paste into a small amount of water to dilute; pour into the pan and stir to blend. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

Pour 1/2 cup of the beer into the pan, and as it begins to boil, scrape any bits of food from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. This adds a lot of flavor to the broth. Pour in the rest of the beer, and add the carrots and thyme. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley.