A Pot of Stew

Joe was visiting a friend the other day and he said, "I think that I will go home and make some stew." He stopped at the grocery and bought a couple pounds of stew meat and then some more beef that he would cut up into stew meat for the freezer. You have to understand that he used to be a meat cutter....sooo I have to hold him down, when he sees a meat counter. He loves to shop for meat and keeps our freezer full. He will bring home a whole beef or pork loin and cut and package it himself. Whole chickens are a snap for him to cut. He knows his way around the kitchen too and stew is his specialty. He will find the biggest pot and start browning the meat. He gets it good and brown and then starts adding the rest of the ingredients. He uses some canned vegetables and fresh carrots, yukon gold potatoes, onions and any vegetables left in the refrigerator. He wastes nothing. He cooks it hard and fast. The juice is thickened with cornstarch. Lots of seasonings....thyme, salt and pepper, garlic, hot pepper flakes, and some things that I don't even know about. (secret ingredients) He cooks his stew on top of the stove and it bubbles fast. We were sitting at the table eating his stew in a matter of two hours. He isn't a patient man...so the crockpot isn't his cup of tea. I would rather make stew the slow way to develop the flavors, I think. I like his stew...it makes for a hearty satisfying meal. Fall has begun, so our meals are changing. I love to cook in the fall and winter and Joe loves to eat my cooking. I enjoy eating things that he prepares...though we are very different cooks.

Balisha

PS...He cleans up the kitchen afterward :)