Stew.
Stew!
Tonight I made stew for my mum's coworker who recently had surgery. Mum's been all kinds of busy lately so this was my way of helping out and making my layabout-freelancer self useful. Anyway, it was surprisingly a lot of fun. My mum is always getting after me for using a paring knife to cut everything, from potatoes to onions to apples to raw or cooked chicken... but for tonight's stew, I had to chop up some pretty hefty carrots and 'tatoes, and I realized myself that the dinky paring knife just wasn't gonna... cut it. Heeheehee oh Lys I crack me up. Anyway...! So I got out a big ol' chopping-knife and hacked the potatoes and carrots and celery and onions into nice, hearty chunks for a nice, hearty stew, and it was really enjoyable. Also, despite being all alone in a mostly-dark house, I felt quite safe with a big blade in my hands. Eheh. So, uh. Hopefully this doesn't make me sound like some kinda knife-maniac or whatever, but I'd totally make stew again just so I can chop up some vegetables. And man, stew is just so good on a cold night, with a buttered slice of fresh-baked bread... mmmm~
I was just cutting up the potatoes a few minutes ago, actually (the recipe calls for them to be added 2 hours before the end (of the 5-hour total baking time)), and as I was chopping them up I remembered how the French word for potatoes is pomme de terre or apple of the earth, and how fitting it was because the consistency of a raw potato really is rather like that of an apple. And then I also remembered potato stamps that I made with my mum and brothers at least a couple times when I was young, and it was just so nice and heartwarming. Aww.
Ohhh, you guys want the recipe for stew now, don't you! Well okay, here it is (from memory, and in my own words)
1 large (28oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 normal-size (15oz) can tomato sauce
1-1.5 lb stew meat (unbrowned)
5-6 good size carrots (chopped into large chunks)
2 stalks celery (chopped into large chunks)
2 medium onions (chopped)
3 Tbsp minute tapioca
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp sugar (I dunno why you need this but the recipe said so)
pepper to taste
1 clove garlic (optional, but I'd recommend it. garlic's awesome)
Mix it all up in a large bowl/casserole-dish/disposable-aluminum-roasting-pan and bake at 250º for 3 hours. Chop up a couple potatoes and mix them in with everything, then bake for another 2 hours.
Serve with yummy bread n butter and spend a nice winter's evening at home!
Been in a Hazel Nuts Chocolate (supercutesy Japanese synth-pop group) mood lately. I'm terribly proud to have come up with this song to match this entry ("Vegetable Soup Song" is the translation of the title. hee!)
Tonight I made stew for my mum's coworker who recently had surgery. Mum's been all kinds of busy lately so this was my way of helping out and making my layabout-freelancer self useful. Anyway, it was surprisingly a lot of fun. My mum is always getting after me for using a paring knife to cut everything, from potatoes to onions to apples to raw or cooked chicken... but for tonight's stew, I had to chop up some pretty hefty carrots and 'tatoes, and I realized myself that the dinky paring knife just wasn't gonna... cut it. Heeheehee oh Lys I crack me up. Anyway...! So I got out a big ol' chopping-knife and hacked the potatoes and carrots and celery and onions into nice, hearty chunks for a nice, hearty stew, and it was really enjoyable. Also, despite being all alone in a mostly-dark house, I felt quite safe with a big blade in my hands. Eheh. So, uh. Hopefully this doesn't make me sound like some kinda knife-maniac or whatever, but I'd totally make stew again just so I can chop up some vegetables. And man, stew is just so good on a cold night, with a buttered slice of fresh-baked bread... mmmm~
I was just cutting up the potatoes a few minutes ago, actually (the recipe calls for them to be added 2 hours before the end (of the 5-hour total baking time)), and as I was chopping them up I remembered how the French word for potatoes is pomme de terre or apple of the earth, and how fitting it was because the consistency of a raw potato really is rather like that of an apple. And then I also remembered potato stamps that I made with my mum and brothers at least a couple times when I was young, and it was just so nice and heartwarming. Aww.
Ohhh, you guys want the recipe for stew now, don't you! Well okay, here it is (from memory, and in my own words)
1 large (28oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 normal-size (15oz) can tomato sauce
1-1.5 lb stew meat (unbrowned)
5-6 good size carrots (chopped into large chunks)
2 stalks celery (chopped into large chunks)
2 medium onions (chopped)
3 Tbsp minute tapioca
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp sugar (I dunno why you need this but the recipe said so)
pepper to taste
1 clove garlic (optional, but I'd recommend it. garlic's awesome)
Mix it all up in a large bowl/casserole-dish/disposable-aluminum-roasting-pan and bake at 250º for 3 hours. Chop up a couple potatoes and mix them in with everything, then bake for another 2 hours.
Serve with yummy bread n butter and spend a nice winter's evening at home!
Been in a Hazel Nuts Chocolate (supercutesy Japanese synth-pop group) mood lately. I'm terribly proud to have come up with this song to match this entry ("Vegetable Soup Song" is the translation of the title. hee!)