recipe by request

With yet another winter storm headed our way here in upstate New York and the entire Northeast in a deep freeze, here’s the recipe, by request, for an easy soulful stew to nourish you and yours.

This is from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, I think actually my late grandmother’s copy, and calls for vegetable juice cocktail, I use two large jugs of V8 as I always double. You can use beef or veal, the best yet has been when organic lamb stew meat was used. This is a quickie, you can even go to market at 4 pm and have dinner by 7. Add a green salad, old-fashioned buttered egg noodles, some bread, your favorite red, and dinner is served.

Beef Stew | or Veal | or Lamb

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 pound beef or pork or lamb stew meat

3 1/2 cups vegetable juice cocktail | I would use one large V8, when doubling the recipe which I always do, I use two

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules | I actually use the better than bouillon, it comes like paste in a jar and I just scoop out a big couple of spoonfuls

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

2 1/4 cups cubed, peeled potatoes | I use small red and cut them in half or quartered, depending on size, and do not peel

2 cups sliced carrots

1 cup celery

Place flour in a plastic zip-loc bag. Add meat cubes, a few at a time, shaking to coat. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven brown meat, half at a time, in hot oil. I skip the vegetable oil and use the best olive oil I have on hand. In the interest of speed I usually have two large dutch ovens going at once, you don’t want to crowd the meat as it will steam and not get nice and brown. 

Return meat to saucepan. Add juice cocktail, onion, bouillon, garlic, basil, and thyme. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover, simmer 1 to 1 1/4 hours for beef (30 minutes for pork) or till meat is nearly tender. With the lamb I simply used perceived doneness. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cover; simmer 30 minutes more. Skim fat. Makes 4 main-dish servings. Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

And now the outfit, practically every women I have been speaking with has been dressed in some variation of the same this winter: black pant, black turtleneck, black jacket, flat boot. It’s been a tough one but we can get through it. I’ve got Spring Fashion inspiration going on all around me, Trunk Show going on now through Monday, February 10th. Come on by, in your black pants, visit, browse, bring a friend. You can see, touch, and feel all the new looks. Feeding and dressing others are two things I do well. 🙂 Call me at 716-445-3033.

Every day dress, and eat.