Cook's Catalyst - Chapter Fourteen - This is No Time to Stew Over Diinner

Cook's Catalyst - Chapter Fourteen This is No Time to Stew Over Dinner Biscuits can be fun when baked on top of a casserole dish of stew. The biscuits are your personal accomplishment by now. The stew takes a little more work but it is a one pot meal that needs very little supervision. You can throw it together while your children begin their day. Heart-Warming Beef Stew 2 pounds chuck beef, cubed All-purpose flour to coat 3 tablespoons shortening or olive oil Salt Ground, black pepper Approximately six cups water 2 cups diced white or yellow onion 6-8 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks 3 ribs celery, cut into bite-sized pieces 4 medium to large potatoes, cut into large chunks 1 cup frozen peas or corn or a mixture of both 2 bay leaves 3 cloves garlic, peeled and diced ½ cup red wine, optional Fresh or canned mushrooms, optional Coat the meat with the flour and brown in the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed kettle. Add two teaspoons salt, bay leaves, pepper, garlic, chopped onion, water and wine. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently for approximately two hours. Meat should be just tender. Add remaining ingredients except for frozen vegetables. Continue simmering for 45 minutes. Add frozen vegetables and mushrooms. Heat through. At this point, your stew is ready to serve. If you want to try the biscuit presentation, ladle stew into a large, wide, oven-proof baking dish. Top with un-baked biscuits (you have been busily preparing them the last few minutes of the stew's cooking time, right?). Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake until stew is bubbly and the biscuits are brown This stew can also be put in the crock pot if you don't want to bother with watching a pot and didn't need biscuits that day, anyway. Stew always reminds me of the chicken pox! I managed to come down with them the first day of Christmas vacation and recovered the day before school began again. I had a particularly severe case. Nothing sounded good to eat. A few days before I stopped itching, my appetite returned. My mother had a pot of stew bubbling on the stove. One sniff and I knew I had a reason to live again. I recovered quickly after that, but not quickly enough. My spots only healed up the day before vacation was over.