We always say that we love belly-warming stews, but in past years have gone whole winters without getting around to actually making them. (We have relied instead on varieties of chilis, which of course have their place on a winter's menu.)
I'm at the kitchen table watching Sweetie McPie organizing the makings of "beef and beer" a long time favourite stew involving -- you guessed it! -- beef and beer, seasoned with nutmeg, worcestershire, malt vinegar, etc, and topped with slices of crusty loaf spread with (stew-side down) grainy mustard, which gets nicely toasted in the oven. For this is a oven-safe-pot stove-top-to-oven dealio. Deeelishus!
I mention it because I feel we are on a roll. Last week, I made sauerbraten, and it was totally amazing. I threw several chunks of it into the food processor for Tim, and he loved it too. I would link to the recipe, as I used the one in the Complete Canadian Living cookbook, but it's not on the web site. A tragic oversight. An excellent trick in the recipe was to use crushed gingersnap cookies thrown in five minutes before serving to thicken the gravy. (I can link to the recipe I used for the braised red cabbage I served with the sauerbraten - it was also a winner. I've never actually cooked a Jamie Oliver recipe before; I found this one by searching on "red cabbage and bacon" a combination I thought would be an excellent complement to the stew... and bingo! Or, as Tim would prefer: B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-O!)
Hmmm. McPie just lamented "It's too bad we don't have any cabbage"... perhaps cabbage is a natural sidekick for beef stew?
So, Saturday is now stew night (or Sunday, if we procrastinate), and I look forward to future experiments in belly-warming.
(That said, we will be travelling for many Saturdays of the coming winter: at least three of the next four weekends. Details to come. In short form: Nova Scotia/China; Huntsville winter fun; Caribbean cruise.)
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