Stew!

STEW!


Welcome to part of our tiny-ass kitchen.  We set up an assembly line for the meat.

From the left: raw meat (cut into chunks, trimmed of most fat, and dried), meat that's browning, beef base in the back, meat that is browned, and a bottle of red wine... waiting for glory.

Mmmmm....stew.  It makes me very happy.  It's also one of the few things that will prod the picky-eater to actually consume vegetation, granted it's just carrots and herbage (there are onions, but those are "saved" for me).

Yay!  Look, even the wine is happy it's stew time.

(I know, I still haven't fixed the date-thing on the camera yet)

We'd made stew/brisket/Bavarian pot roast (I can't remember, but it's a recipe from their family cookbook) a ways back, and the other chunk of meat has been living in the ice-box since.  So, a few days ago, while making a "quick" trip, the picky-eater finally remembered about stew.  We were in the wine aisle looking for our preferred wine and ran across our standard red, ravenswood zinfandel (the cheap bottle from the grocery), that we only use for stew.  Neither of us is a fan of reds... unless it's a port (and that's just me).



As I was finally having my pea and pesto soup, the picky-eater was in charge of starting things.  In my informal culinary education, I've learned a few things, and I've taught, ahem, other people these things.  Whether certain people admit to this it their own business.

• Brown that meat!



Delicious Meeeat!

• in order to do this properly, listen to Julia Child 
• make sure the meat is dry
• don't crow the pan!  (it'll steam otherwise, ugh)
• don't fret about brown bits, that's flavor
• after browning everything, we sauted some sliced garlic and deglazed with some wine
• it's been a while since we made this, and we'll saute the onions with the brown bits next time
• (I'd already thrown them in the pot)
• (Don't fret if you didn't do this either, it'll still be glorious)

• Use stock (if you have it) instead of water
• broth is the next best
• (any time a recipe calls for water, replacing it with stock/broth will usually enhance the dish)
• in some things stock/broth would take away from the primary flavor of the dish
• pea and pesto soup is one--the water allows you to taste the bright flavors of the pea and pesto; stock/broth would mask this
• Use veggies/meat that make you happy

• I know that there are thousands of recipes, but remember that you can substitute where you want
• I live with an onion-hater (I'm reformed), so I just made them into bigger, easier-to-pick-out pieces
• there are potatoes, by the way
• realize that some flavors go better together, but you know what you like
• I accept the funny looks when I eat an orange, take a bite of pizza, and drink chocolate milk in one sitting
• (They are delicious!)
• Slow cookers are amazing



Go ahead, tip it all in

• seriously, you should get one
• we got ours during a special at our grocery store
• 6qt (I think) CrockPot for about $20, and a beef brisket
• FOR THE WIN!
• they are perfect for the lazy/busy home cook
• sleep, work, walk your puppies while cooking some delicious

Over the course of the day, we added various seasoning and herbs.  We favor kosher salt, fresh-cracked black pepper, sage, basil, thyme, and coriander (all dried; we're on a budget and don't have space or proper light to grow our own herbs).  We started with 2 tsp of each herb, save coriander; salt and pepper were to taste.

Someone was a little overzealous with the apple-cider vinegar, so we mellowed it with two installments of roux made of 3 Tbs of butter and flour each.  We love apple-cider vinegar in stew.  It adds the right kick and brightness that we look for, just be very careful when adding it.  A little goes a long way




24-ish hours later, we have some serious delicious.  You should be jealous and plan on making some yourself.