Is this our last week for the CSA boxes?

I can't remember, and can't seem to find the info...

cross posted: a not-so-vegetarian stew

When we were little, my mother used to make us beef stew, and I loved it. I'd been waiting to make a stew like this for me and the husband, but something had always stopped me--his pickiness, my inability to dedicate three hours in the kitchen to dinner. But now, the soup is on the stove, simmering for later, and I have a recipe to share with you, from March Cooking Light:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon butter, divided
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 pounds boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 5 cups chopped onion (about 3 onions)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1 (11.2-ounce) bottle Guinness Draught
• 1 tablespoon raisins
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices carrot (about 8 ounces)
• 1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) diagonal slices parsnip (about 8 ounces)
• 1 cup (1/2-inch) cubed peeled turnip (about 8 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons butter to pan. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt; dredge beef in flour. Add half of beef to pan; cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan with a slotted spoon. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, and beef.

2. Add onion to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and beer, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return meat to pan. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, raisins, caraway seeds, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil. Cook 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrot, parsnip, and turnip. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and bring to a boil; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with parsley.

(Ryan said, "Look, I cut you an alligator tail!)

I omitted the parsnip and turnip and replaced those with celery and potatoes from our CSA. We also used onions from our CSA and instead of tomato paste, I only had diced tomatoes, so I replaced that as well. Oh, and we only had vegetable oil, so I used that instead of canola, though I know canola is healthier.

We don't have a Dutch oven, though I suppose we ought to add it to our holiday wish list as we've had to maneuver before; instead, we used our copper pots, which are much-abused and very loved and part of our wedding loot.

I love any time we can be a team in the kitchen. I usually stare at the recipe, blank-eyed, the onion-fumes and the pregnancy drawing pillow-and-down-comforter fantasies as I stir. He usually chops. And chops. And chops. And chop he did: two cups of carrots, a cup and a half or so of celery, the remaining russet potatoes, and five cups of onions. And I got to go to the liquor store--the first time since I got pregnant, I think. All those rows of cider and beer... Sigh.


A few recipe notes, post-feast: it's excellent the next day. And the next. And the next. Because it's enough to feed two families. Hungry families.

I would have cut down on the celery as it's a very prominent flavor and put all the vegetables in earlier than 40 minutes before consumption time, especially the potatoes. (Big surprise that my adaptation vegetables are the ones giving me the trouble in the recipe.) This used up a great amount of potatoes and onions we had from prior CSA boxes, as well as carrots and turnips (Meryl takes the turnips from our box, which is a good thing).

The stew has also come in handy for Ryan and myself: we're both struck with a nasty, nasty, nasty cold, and one knows how wonderful soup can be when one's temperature is unsteady, when everything is blurry and tiresome, and when one cannot stand up to cook in the kitchen. Reheated stew. Yum.

A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powder

In contrast to the goodness we get to eat every day -

A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powder - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com