I spent the day making vegetable stew for my dad. It is summer and it is hot, too hot really to have a stew pot on the stove for hours and hours. Well, he asked me for it and he is 87 and I'm leaving soon for 7 weeks and it freezes well. (No fat.) So... my house got a little warm today.
I've been asked for the recipe. I will try. I cook mostly to taste, and to my dependence on available fresh vegetables so this recipe will follow that particular formula.
You will need a dutch oven. If you don't know what a dutch oven is, it is simply just a very large pot. The biggest and deepest you have. With a lid!
A note: The only "not fresh" ingredients are two cans of tomatoes and some vegetable stock. Do not buy stewed tomatoes. Do not buy any other kind of flavored canned tomatoes. Use one can of whole peeled tomatoes and one can of petite diced tomatoes. The vegetable stock I use is "O Organics" organic vegetable stock. The rest of the ingredients are fresh.
I will list the ingredients below. Until then, bear with me!
1. Peel a large russet potato and cut it into small pieces. Eights or tenths depending on the size. You'll see why later. Put the potato pieces in the dutch oven.
2. Open one can of 14.5 - 15 oz. whole peeled tomatoes and one can of 14.5 - 15 oz. petite diced tomatoes. (Both are readily available at Von's.) Pour the cans over the potatoes.
3. Cut up a normal sized red onion. Add it to the pot.
4. Use a garlic press and press two large garlic cloves into the pot. If your cloves are smallish, use more.
5. Add 9 small bay leaves or 6 large bay leaves.
6. Add a dash of allspice.
7. Add a teaspoon of sugar. (This is important. The mixture is too acidic otherwise.)
8. Add a tablespoon of salt. (I use sea salt.) If you don't use salt just toss a couple of dashes in. (My dad loves salt and this recipe is for him. Personally I cook with little or no salt.)
9. Add a half teaspoon of paprika.
10. Add a half teaspoon of ground black pepper.
11. Add up to a tablespoon of lemon juice.
12. Add 2 teaspoons of Lee and Perrins Worcester Sauce. Use the real thing. It makes a difference.
13. Cut up 4-6 tomatoes. I use a combination of Roma tomatoes and whatever expensive locally grown farmer's market tomatoes I can find. Add them to the pot. If they are small, use more. If they are large, use less.
14. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock. (More or less.) I like the "O Organics" because it is so thick.
15. Add 1/2 cup of water. (More or less. It depends on how much liquid the tomatoes provided. You are going to be cooking a lot of vegetables in this but this is NOT soup. Don't add too much. You want this dish to be thick. You can always add more liquid later. (And I do.) If you add too much don't worry, you can reduce it later.)
16. Stir.
17. Turn the heat to medium-high. Let the entire mixture get to a boil.
18. Lower the heat, cover and simmer up to an hour. Help the potato pieces along. Squash them with a fork. You want them to blend in with the broth and more or less disappear.
19. Wash and cut in half or quarters (depending on the size) 8-12 smallish red potatoes. You do not need to peel them. Just clean them. Cut off the ugly parts. If they are small cut them in half or just throw them in the pot. If they are large, cut them into manageable pieces. I don't know... an inch and a half? 2 inches? Larger? What size do you want your potatoes in stew? Your choice! The larger the pieces the longer you will have to cook them.
20. Add some chopped celery leaves. Add 1 pealed and cut up carrot.
21. After 20-30 minutes check the potatoes with a fork. If you can push through check the consistency of the broth. If it seems thin, add a couple of smaller cut up potato pieces. The starch will add thickness. Resist the urge to taste now. You will think you've over - seasoned if you do.
22. After the potatoes are near done...(you can easily get a fork through) add 1 pound of pealed cut up carrots. I usually add 1 pound plus one carrot. I don't know why. The carrots add a lovely sweetness to the stew. Take the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer 10 min. Check the flavor now. (Cover if you want it to cook faster. Don't if the broth looks too thin.)
22. This is when I will add more Worchester Sauce and more garlic. (Usually just a teaspoon or two more of the Worchester Sauce... and usually garlic powder.) But be careful. I will also add a couple of turns from the pepper grinder.
23. Clean 18-20 pearl onions. Slice the larger ones in half. Add to the mixture. (Sometimes - like now - pearl onions are out of season. Use white onions. NOT YELLOW. Cut one large sized onion into pieces approximating the size of pearl onions.)
24. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer 10 minutes.
25. Clean and cut up... geeze, I don't know... 6 - 10 stalks of celery. About 2 cups. Use the leaves. Dice the leaves. They have GREAT flavor. Add to the mixture. Celery will completely change the taste of the stew.
26. Celery is tricky. It cooks really fast. I will again bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer.. checking the celery. I don't want it to loose too much color. Just before it gets soft take the stew off the heat. Cover and let it sit for a bit. The celery will continue cooking.
I haven't talked much about covering the stew. Well. If your potatoes are taking too long to cook, cover and simmer. The same is true for all the vegetables. If you've added too much liquid, alternate and simmer without the lid to reduce.
You are now ready to serve. This recipe should feed 6 people. There is no fat in the stew. There is no animal meat and I promise it will taste fresher than stew made with meat. (I've made this vegetable stew side by side with the beef stew and the beef stew tasted a little "game" next to the vegetable. It was a revelation.)
If you want to freeze the stew let it cool first. (This can take several hours.) I portion it out into those small plastic containers for my dad. At the dollar store you can buy 2 individual plastic containers for a dollar. I just filled 7. I put them in the freezer tonight and will label them tomorrow and put them in my dad's freezer. Again, the food has no fat, so it is not in great danger of spoiling. I know the food is safe for at least 3 months, though Dad has eaten it all well before then.
The stew is loosely based on a recipe in an old Betty Crocker Cook Book. (Brown Stew.) A great cookbook, by the way. I have made a number of changes. The Worchester Sauce was from the cookbook. The increased amount is mine. I think it makes all the difference. I believe this stew is different enough to be called a new recipe. But feel free to compare.
I created this recipe because my dad has developed gout and no one seemed able to help him find foods he liked that did not aggravate the condition. This dish has worked out well for him, though one of the ingredients in the vegetable stock is mushrooms. Mushrooms are not recommended for patients with gout. (I think the amount is so small that it makes no never mind. However.. everyone has a different body chemistry. The stew would work just as well without the vegetable stock. Use water instead.)
Well. I've never written out one of my own recipes in such detail before. I hope it was clear and that your result pleases you as much as it pleases my father!
(Write me with any questions.)
Love!
m.
Ingredients:
1 can 14.5oz - 15oz Whole Peeled Tomatoes.
1 can 14.5oz - 15oz Petite Diced Tomatoes. (You can use plain old diced tomatoes)
Vegetable Stock
1 medium sized red onion
6 - 10 tomatoes
2 or more cloves of garlic and garlic powder
5-10 bay leaves
1 russet potato
8 - 10 red potatoes (or more)
6 or more tomatoes
Dash of Allspice
Salt
Pepper and Ground Pepper
Paprika
1 pound of carrots
Bunch of celery
20 pearl onions (or 1 large white onion)
Worchester Sauce
Lemon Juice
Sugar
Water
I think that is it. I love this stew. I hope you will too.
xo
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