Fresh Flavours Made From the Heart: Trouble no more.... How to make Stew!

Today it is cold. Minus 15 cold. Now If you are living outside of Halifax and are having a balmy summer day this post may not be for you. However keep it in mind the next time you step outside to bone chilling, teeth chattering, below zero weather.

Stew: In the most basic of terms, if you were to boil any two ingredients in a liquid on the stove for a one pot stop meal you would be making stew. Almost every culinary region of the world has a traditional "stew". For instance, Hungarian Goulash, Beef Bourguignon, Boiled Dinner, Pot au feu, and Hot pots to state a few. Today lovely readers I will share with you my traditional stew recipe. Please let this be your blank canvass and feel free to tweak the recipe in anyway you choose.

First things first! You are going to make the base of your stew. Head down to your local butcher and ask nicely for some beef bones preferably with marrow. I will wait for another blog to discuss my marrow love but trust me, flavour, nutrients, bone love... all good. You are going to roast the bones to start the juices extracting so that you can make a wicked awesome stock to lay the foundation of your stew. This is NOT hard... just a bit time consuming so I suggest making your stock 1 carrot, 1 celery, 1 onion, 3 cloves garlic, thyme, rosemary, and either 1tbsp tomato paste or tomato (All coarsely chopped). Let this roast in the oven at 400 for around 30 minutes or until a beautiful golden brown. Your kitchen will smell amazing. From there carefully transfer everything into a pot, and fill with cold water. Bring this liquid up to a simmer and continue to simmer for at least 2 hours. This my dears is your beef stock! you can continue to add water and simmer for up to 8 hours if you are adventurous (and have the time) This will only continue to condense the flavours and liquid.

Now that you have your Beef stock let's make Stew!

2lbs Beef (Ask for your butchers recommendation.. I used brisket)

4 slices thick bacon

1 Large Onion

3 Carrots

1 Bushel Kale

3 Potatoes

1 Turnip

2 Parsnips

1 Guiness, or 1 cup red wine

Salt and Pepper as needed

1/2 Cup Flour

Cut your meat, and veggies around the same size. Nothing needs to be perfect here so have fun with it. Chop, chop chop... and set all ingredients aside so that it is ready.

1) Season your meat with few pinches of salt and pepper then dredge in your flour so that it is fully covered. While this is happening heat 1tsbp of butter in a large pot on the stove and add in diced bacon. When the butter is melted and your meat is fully covered add the meat into the pot.

2) When the meat is brown, the bacon is crisp, remove them from the pot and set aside. Deglaze the pot with 1 cup guiness and stir so that all the flavours stuck to the bottom of the pan are once more introduced to the liquid. When the beer has almost evaporated add in your onions, garlic, and let this cook for 2 minutes.

3) Then add your herbs, and chopped veggies. Once this medly has had time to get to know eachother (3 minutes) add back in your lovely beef and bacon. Give all the ingredients a few minutes to become friends and share flavours. Make sure to stir the ingredients at this point so that they do not stick to the bottom of the pot. From here you will add enough beef stock to cover the ingredients. Do not worry if the consistency of the stew looks thin when you first add the stock. You are going to let this simmer on the stove uncovered for at least an hour. The stew will thinken, your veggies will cook through, and the beef will tenderize. Wait until your stew is almost done before seasoning. While the stew cooks the flavours will add their natural goodness so if you season as you go you may end up with to much salt or pepper.