I must be a glutton for punishment. For the next while I’m going to try a bunch of “new to our family” recipes and write about it here on the blog. What can I say, I’m in a cooking rut and am desperate for ideas.
To kick things off I’m going to start with stew. First thing I like about stew is that it’s always better the next day and makes great leftovers. The flavour settles and the meat is more tender. Second, it’s one of the nicest things you can eat when it gets chilly outside.
Sadly, my kids don’t eat stew. I knew this going in. They’ve never been keen on foods that are, as they put it, “mixed up.” Gah. I am hoping that will change someday.
I am happy to report that they ate the meat out of the stew, and some broth too, but nary a cooked vegetable. (Perhaps, however, they received some veggie-nutrients from the broth? Lor’ I hope so.)
Oh well. It’s a start, I suppose.
This was my stew:
It’s fab. The recipe is from Canadian Living. It’s ideal if you’re thinking about dinner at 2:00 p.m. and you’ve forgotten you own a slow-cooker.
Note to self:
- Chop veggies smaller next time
- Use less parsnip
- It needs an extra splash of beef broth and
- … maybe an extra 1/2 hour on low to get that meat extra tender.
I used fresh thyme (washed carefully to get rid of snail trails and spiderwebs) because I have bushes and bushes of it growing right outside my doorstep. I omitted the peas altogether. (Mark suffered serious pea-related trauma in his childhood and the very thought of cooked peas make him retch. We can’t have THAT, can we?)
I served it with homemade pretzels, half of which were pizza-style à la Scattered Mom. OF COURSE everyone liked those.
What’s your fave stew? Recipes please! If you decide to make this and your kids eat it (or not), please report back!
Up next: fettucine carbonara, with added greens!
