I have a confession to make...

...today, my friends, I joined a colleague for lunch at *gasp* an area restaurant.

WAIT!!!  Before you leap from your computer screen in abject horror, surely feeling betrayal beyond belief, allow me to explain...and ask your forgiveness.

Today is the last day before classes begin.  And, my colleague and I wanted to have the opportunity to have a leisurely chat about pending music department matters - and being crunched for time as we revised our syllabi, programmed upcoming concerts, and cleaned our rehearsal room after a whirlwind end of last semester, we needed to multi-task.

So, it made sense to eat and chat.  We went to "The Holiday", which is a restaurant attached to a hotel of the same name.  It has the best salad and soup bar in town - and, being in the mood for something "lite", and in need of pleasant atmosphere conducive to chatting, we took advantage of it.  So - at least, I ate a healthy lunch (well, mostly - Thousand Island dressing is not exactly a "lite" option), and a relatively inexpensive one.  And, this option provided a more relaxing option than eating and chatting in our offices...if you've seen my office, you know exactly why.

I ask your forgiveness - and hope that the recipe below begins to aim me towards redemption in your sight.

Presenting - our dinner:

Campbell's Kitchen Slow Cooker Tuscan Beef Stew

Please click the recipe title for the link to the recipe.  I did modify it a bit - my hubby does not like carrots, so I left them out.  And - I didn't have the "condensed" broth the recipe called for, so I omitted the half cup of red wine/water, and used a can of low-sodium beef broth.  

Also - I made a couple additions.  I added freshly made Italian 9-Grain Bread croutons, and a 3-Cheese Curl (that yellow tube of yummy-looking goo in the middle of the bowl).

To make the croutons, I put a non-stick skillet over medium high heat, added probably about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and allowed the oil to begin to heat.  I then added two cloves of garlic, cut in half, to the oil.  As the garlic began to flavor the oil, I cubed up about a quarter of a loaf of Italian 9-Grain Bread (purchased from the Wal-mart bakery, of all places).  Then, I removed the garlic from the oil - it had done its duty, and cooking it any further would risk burning the garlic and making the oil bitter.  Then - in went the bread, and I tossed the bread cubes around in the oil.

While the bread soaked in the garlic-oil goodness, I took out a cookie sheet, sprayed it with non-stick spray, and lined it with parchment paper.  I know - you're wondering why I would put non-stick spray on a pan, then line it with parchment paper.  Well, the non-stick spray makes the pan, well, sticky - sticky enough to hold the parchment paper in place.  I turned the broiler on "high", then reached into the fridge for a tub of grated asiago, parmesian and romano cheeses.  (I bought the "Frigo" brand, again, from Wal-mart.)  I put three small mounds on the parchment paper, then placed the cookie sheet under the broiler.

Back to the croutons - when they get crispy on the outside, but not so much so that they resemble my hubby's morning toast, they're done.  You have to keep an eye on the cheese - it can go from melty-goodness to charred remnants in a heartbeat!  When the cheese had melted, and was brown around the edges, I removed it from the broiler.  I then took the parchment paper off the hot pan, and set it aside to cool.

Then, I dished up the stew, piled some croutons on top, and folded the cheese into the curl you see above.

Reviews from the family were good - my hubby suggested perhaps more salt was needed, while I felt it was almost too salty.  So - adjust to your taste as needed.

We paired the stew with "Maipe" - a 2010 Malbec wine.  This is a dry red wine from Argentina with peppery overtones - and a gift from my awesome sis and bro-in-law.  My hubby and I have been Malbec fans ever since we first tasted an Alamos Malbec on our 10th anniversary...when we also had the opportunity to meet Alton Brown.

But, again, that's another blog post.