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Introducing Beanie's, one delightful neighborhood restaurant

Photo by Lynn Kessel

Fall is the time of year when we yearn for an old-fashioned stew. This rich and beefy, fall-away-tender oxtail stew is a simple one-pot dish.

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By LYNN KESSEL

Tribune columnist

Published: October 8, 2009

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Lynn Kessel

Sometimes you just want to go where everybody knows your name.

After moving to Ruskin last year, several friends in the area told me I just had to try Beanie's. I had seen the place but hadn't felt compelled to go inside. My bad …

All it took was a visit or two for Beanie's Family Sports Grill to quickly become one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants. I learned that Beanie and family have owned the Ruskin landmark since 2003.

Until a month ago, I never knew the Beanie's real name.

Everyone, including members of his family, calls him Beanie, but his given name is Don Tichy. I recently asked his sister, Dawn, where he got the nickname, and she said Beanie's high school friend Barry Creason tagged him with it.

Chances are, unless you stick your head in the kitchen, you won't ever see Beanie in the dining room. That's because he does most of the cooking.

Beanie learned his way around the kitchen, when his mother passed away in 1980. He said he remembers watching his great-grandmother begin cooking dinner in the morning and how she made everything from scratch. He just kept the tradition going.

The menu at Beanie's consists of fairly traditional sports bar food, favorites like burgers, Ruebens and wings, but Beanie makes them all especially well. And he makes his own soups, salad dressings and potato chips.

I can honestly say I've never had anything on his menu I didn't like.

"Consistency is the biggest factor," Beanie said. "It's what keeps our customers coming back."

Beanie gives generously of his time, and lends his culinary skills to numerous charity events benefiting South Shore residents.

Last year, he cooked enough turkeys during the South Shore Big Give to feed Thanksgiving dinner to more than 500 people in need. And the event took place in his parking lot. The Ruskin Chamber of Commerce gave him the 2008 Simmons Award as the person most exemplifying selflessness during the year.

It took awhile for me to pry this week's recipe from Beanie's grip, but it was well worth the wait. Seems he has a penchant for oxtail stew. So much so, he almost always makes the dish every year on his birthday, and now his three daughters are following suit.

This is the richest beef stew I've ever tasted, with meat so tender it falls off the bone. You've simply got to try it.

BEANIE'S OXTAIL STEW

12 oxtails, top of tail, not split
1 beef bouillon
1 cup boiling water
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
10 whole allspice berries
15 whole peppercorns
4 ounces of tomato sauce
1 – 14.5 ounce can of whole tomatoes, peeled
8 potatoes, cubed
1 pound baby carrots
1 onion, diced
Salt and pepper
Granulated garlic

Heat the oil on medium heat in a large, covered pot. Meanwhile, trim excess fat from the pieces of oxtail. Shake salt, pepper and garlic on oxtails, add them to the pot and cook until they are browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer oxtails to a plate.

Add onions to the pot and sauté until tender and translucent. Stir in boiling water, bouillon cube and bay leaves; return oxtails to the pan. Wrap the allspice and the peppercorns and tie them in a cheesecloth or place inside a spice ball; add to meat mixture. Add tomato sauce and enough water to cover the oxtails. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 3 hours.

Add slightly cooked carrots and potatoes to the stew. Cover and continue cooking for about another hour or until the vegetables and meat are tender.

Serves 6.

Lynn Kessel can be reached at lkessel@mac.com. For more of her recipes, visit southshore.tbo.com and enter the search words Lynn Kessel or look for her blog at www.lynnkessel.blogspot.com.

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