Posts tagged stew

Tunisian Beef with Eggplant

September 9, 2009 · Filed under Autumn, Main Dish, Summer · Tagged , , ,

Posted by Lisa
Tunisian Beef with Eggplant

Tunisian Beef with Eggplant

This stew certainly isn’t a looker, but many stews aren’t.  Do let that fool you, though.  The combination of flavors and textures in this stew is superb.  The meat is tender and meaty, the eggplant silky and rich, the almonds firm and unexpected and then the apricots just kind of melt into a subtle sweet undertone.  This was fantastic the day after I made it, so I would recommend letting it rest for a day to let the flavors marry.  It was also delicious the night I made it, but it was really over the top then next day.  I served it over couscous, but it would be good plain or served over steamed rice.  I would imagine that you could leave the meat out and still have a wonderfully hearty stew.  With a fall coolness in the air most evenings, stews are a welcome dish these days.

Tunisian Beef with Eggplant

printable recipe

  • 1 1/2 pounds beef round steak or other inexpensive cut
  • 2 medium eggplants, cut into 1″ cubes
  • sea salt
  • About 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 2 cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 (14 ounce) cans of tomatoes, chopped (or equivalent of fresh tomatoes)
  • About 4 cups beef stock
  • 2/3 cups whole  almonds
  • 1/2 cup unsulfured dried apricots, chopped
  • A small bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Toss the eggplant chunks with fine salt and leave in a colander to drain.  Meanwhile, in a heavy-based flame-proof casserole or Dutch oven, heat half the olive oil and brown the meat in it in batches, setting it aside when it is done.  Add a little more oil if necessary, then add the garlic, onion, and celery,  and sweat until tender.  Pound the cumin and cloves together in a mortar and pestle and add to the sweating vegetables with the coriander, ginger and one teaspoon sea salt.  Stir well and cook for a couple more minutes.  Add the tomatoes, turn up the heat a little, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until you have a thick, pulpy sauce.

Add the beef, pour in enough stock to cover, and mix well. Bring to a trembling, gentle simmer, and cook very gently, on top of the stove covered with its lid for 1 hour.

Quickly rinse the eggplant chunks and pat dry with a kitchen towel or paper towels. Heat another tablespoon or so of olive oil and stir-fry the eggplants until nicely browned. Add to the casserole with the almonds and apricots and stir everything together gently but thoroughly.  Return the casserole to the stop top for another good hour, or longer, until both the meat and the eggplants are completely tender.

Grind some fresh pepper into the stew, adjust the seasoning and stir in the cilantro. Leave for 15 to 20 minutes to absorb this last flavoring, then serve, with couscous or plain boiled rice.
*I adapted this dish from this recipe.

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Indian Lentils with Cabbage

April 27, 2009 · Filed under Autumn, Main Dish, Spring, Winter · Tagged , , , , ,

Posted by Lisa
Indian Lentils with Cabbage

Indian Lentils with Cabbage

This isn’t the snazziest dish; it’s pretty homely looking.  Don’t let that fool you.  This is a hearty and comforting bowl of lentil stew.  The tomatoes and cabbage lend it a slight sweetness that took me by surprise.  It isn’t very spicy, but the flavors aren’t boring either.  It also reheats very well.  My oldest daughter thought it was better the next day.

Indian Lentils with Cabbage

  • 1 3/4 cups lentils, rinsed and drained
  • 7 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 5 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 large onion, finely sliced
  • 3/4 pound cabbage, finely sliced
  • 1/2 cup frozen or canned mild green chiles
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes (home canned are best)
  • 1 teaspoon ginger, peeled and finely chopped

Put lentils and water in pot and bring to a boil.  Skim any foam that forms on the surface.  Add turmeric and 1 teaspoon sea salt and stir well.  Simmer until lentils are cooked, about 40 minutes.

While lentils cook, heat coconut oil in a dutch oven or large pot.  When hot, add cumin seeds.  Let them sizzle for a few seconds and then add garlic.  Cook garlic for about 30 seconds and then add onion, cabbage and green chiles.  Cook for about 10 minutes and cabbage is wilted and beginning to turn golden.  Stir in one teaspoon of salt and turn heat off and cover until lentil are cooked.

When lentils are cooked, add tomatoes and ginger and stir well, then cook another five minutes.  Then add lentil mixture to cabbage mixture and turn heat back on and bring to a simmer.  Check and adjust seasonings as necessary and then serve.

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Pork and Vegetable Stew

March 3, 2009 · Filed under Autumn, Main Dish, Winter · Tagged , , , , , ,

posted by Lisa

In our freezer, we have some delicious, natural and pastured raised pork, grown by my good friend and fellow blog contributor, Sheila.  We don’t have very much of it, so I’ve been cooking it sparingly, so as to extend the time we can enjoy it’s deliciousness.  As I previously mentioned, we didn’t have any vegetables from our CSA last week, so along with the pork I combined winter staples of potato and carrot with frozen vegetables (grown and packaged in the NW) to create a simple, hearty and stick-to-your-ribs stew.

Pork and Vegetable Stew

Pork and Vegetable Stew

Pork and Vegetable Stew

  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 lb pork, cut into bite sized cubes (I used pork steak)
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 8 ounces tomato sauce (preferably home canned)
  • 1 quart filtered water
  • 2 carrot, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 4 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 2 cups of frozen corn
  • 1 cup of frozen peas

Brown onions and pork in a little olive or coconut oil of your pork is very lean, like mine was.  When the pork is browned, add salt, flour and pepper and cook for a minute or two.  Add tomato sauce, water, carrots and potatoes.  Bring to a simmer.  Continue to simmer until vegetables are tender.  Adjust seasonings to your taste and add frozen corn and peas.  Cook until corn and peas are heated through.

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The catch of the day

March 2, 2009 · Filed under Main Dish, This and That, Winter · Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by Sheila

clams

Seafood isn’t a staple in our home.  Hailing from the middle of the country and not setting sight on saltwater until I was almost 22, shellfish and fish from the ocean were not really fresh enough or reasonably priced as such to consider.  Not that there was much fresh in my childhood home.  My father, the youngest of 15 children, was the only to be born away from the farmhouse and in the hospital, my grandmother convinced, I can’t imagine how, that this was progress.  And as things began, so they continued, my father never taking to the farm life, and my brother and I only eating fresh, rustic, delicious and wonderful food at his oldest sister’s home.  I knew nothing of it at the time, but now that taste of warm milk just from the cow, real butter, homemade bread, my aunt’s kitchen, so full of life and warmth…now I can appreciate what she had to offer and what my childhood diet sorely lacked.

When Andre and I were first married and living in a very rustic cabin in the wild and wonderful Rocky Mountains of Colorado and were still vegetarians in every other way, Andre learned to fish the sweet rushing creek near our home, and the taste of fresh brook and rainbow trout, along with the wild bolete mushrooms and maybe some other kinds that I can’t recall that he had learned to find as we hiked…this was, I think, my first adult taste of fresh and real food, and true to my everlasting preference, we ate it simply– the flavors, with just a bit of garlic, butter and salt, enough to die for.

Still, after our move to the Pacific Northwest, with the ocean so close and the smell of salt, the wind and weathered views, wet and sandy toes our favorite repreive, we hadn’t chanced more than wild caught salmon on occasion.  Now we are venturing into shellfish, prompted by posts at  www.cheeseslave.com about iodine and b-12 and minerals in general, all things our family shows a few signs of lacking a little.  Besides, our local market sells a lot of Oregon shellfish for us to work with and it has a very special feeling for the kids when we make clams and such.

What led to last night’s(*) seafood stew was kind of a meeting of bouillabaisse, a Provencal seafood stew and San Franciscan  Cioppino, both based on what was on hand, the catch of the day.  This is how I see country cooking, whether it is rustic Italian or French country, or traditional prairie food; it is the food of the land (or sea), of the season, of the place, of the home.  It is simple, it is hearty, it is unpretentious.  It is the kind of cooking I love, the kind I wish was my own heritage, the kind I hope will be my children’s.

Both bouillabaisse and cioppino were fisherman’s stews, meant to feed those working, not buying, the finest fish around.  In France, the fishermen developed this stew using the most commen fish, not the expensive fish for market; in San Francisco, the Italian fisherman called for everyone to “chip in” to the communal stew pot at the end of the day.   As the piles of empty clam shells piled up into treasure piles next to the children’s plates and the hubby smiled and said “that was delicious”, I relished the thought that even the simplest dish made with great ingredients is enough to make this family feel rich.

Last Night’s(*) Seafood Stew

*I use “last night’ rather loosely as this post has been in draft status for a week
  • Smoked wild-caught salmon, in chunks
  • Oregon bay clams
  • Jumbo prawns
  • Dungeness crab meat
  • Chicken (or veggie) stock
  • Leeks
  • Butter (or olive oil)
  • Dried tomatoes
  • Fresh cut lemon-thyme
  • fennel seeds
  • bay leaf

As I have no more stewed tomatoes from last summer, I used about a half cup (heavily compressed) dried tomatoes.  I left them right in the pint canning jar and filled this mostly full with near boiling water, added the fresh cut lemon-thyme (regular thyme or dried would be good too), fennel seeds and sea salt and let this steep and reconstitute while I chopped the leeks and the salmon.

I sauteed the leeks in butter, both the white and light green parts, cut big, in about 1 inch chunks.  I sauteed these until they were pretty soft with just a pinch of sea salt.  At this point, I added all the seafood, the tomatoes and broth and a little chicken broth– enough for this to be served in bowls with some juice, but not like a soup–along with a bay leaf.  I let the liquids get hot and then put a lid on this and let it simmer at medium-low for about 10-15 minutes.

These kind of seafood stews are usually served with a nice slice of crusty bread to sop up the liquid, or to scoop stew ingredients onto.  We can’t do that here, but have gotten past missing this kind of dinner component.  We had it with arugula tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a bit of sea salt, and any simple, winter salad would be enough to round out this very filling stew.

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Vegetarian Groundnut Stew

February 8, 2009 · Filed under Autumn, Main Dish, Winter · Tagged , , ,

Posted by Lisa
Vegetarian Groundnut Stew

Vegetarian Groundnut Stew

I don’t think the name of this dish sounds particularly appealing.  Grounduts are peanuts, but I also don’t know if Vegetarian Peanut Stew is an improvement.  This dish calls for winter squash and cabbage, both vegetables that are abundant during our cool winters.  Winter squash are not one of my husband’s or my youngest daughter’s favorite vegetables.  I struggle to find ways to use them in a manner that they will like.  They aren’t my favorite either, but I’ve made many squash dishes that both my older girls and I liked.  We all like roasted squash (except for the youngest) but roasting it can get boring.  My husband really liked the Leftover Squash Muffins.  I told him I couldn’t use all of our winter squash in breakfast muffins.  He disagreed.

This stew turned out well, with my modifications and everyone thought it as varying degrees of good, except (again) my youngest daughter, who has an aversion to all orange vegetables except carrots.  The main modifications I made are:  swapping chicken broth* for the apple juice that the recipe called for  because I think that winter squash is quite sweet on it’s own; the original recipe called for green beans, which aren’t in season here and I also don’t have any in the freezer, so I used dried zucchini in it’s place.

Vegetarian Groundnut Stew

modified from Simply in Season

  • 2 cups onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups winter squash, peeled and chopped
  • 2 cups cabbage, chopped
  • 1 dried chili pepper or ground red pepper to taste
  • 3 cups of tomato juice or puréed canned tomatoes
  • 1 cup of vegetable or chicken stock or water
  • 1-2 teaspoons ginger root, peeled and minced
  • 1/2 cup dried zucchini slices
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
Adding in the squash and cabbage

Adding in the squash and cabbage

In a dutch oven or large pot heat 1 tablespoon of your choice of fat or oil.  Sauté onions and garlic until translucent.

Add winter squash, cabbage and red pepper.  Sauté until flavors are mixed.

Add tomato juice or puréed tomatoes, stock or water, ginger root and dried zucchinis.  Cover and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir in peanut butter and simmer until peanut butter is well incorporated and you are ready to serve.

Serve plain, or on top of rice or millet.  Tasty toppings can include:  chopped green onions, parsley, cilantro, peaches or other fruit, crushed peanuts or flaked coconut.

*Yes I realize the inclusion of chicken broth makes it no longer vegetarian, but I’m keeping the name as is, because the original recipe was vegetarian and mine is just an optional modification.  I include homemade beef or chicken broth any chance I get, because it is a nutrient packed addition that uses up parts of the animal that might otherwise be discarded (bones).

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