Do you love stew?

I made a huge one on Tuesday and I'm still eating it. Usually I make it when I have a lot of different veggies around that need to get used up. Mine almost always involves a big can of crushed tomatoes and a small can of coconut milk, some grains and beans, and whatever veggies I have in whatever amount. This one was black-eyed peas and quinoa with three big beets, two yellow squash, an orange and a red bell pepper, black bean stock, a big onion, celery, black pepper, chile powder, a cinnamon stick, dried rosemary, cider vinegar, sea salt, a little tamari, assorted cooking greens, wakame, three green tomatoes...I'm sure I'm leaving some things out.

As always, it kicked ass. The whole process of a stew is really satisfying and visceral, from dropping things in and stirring the pot to the point where it must be ready because you can't stand the smell without eating some. I don't fridge my stew until it's down to the dregs, usually after about three days--I just keep it in a sealed pot (I use my pressure cooker, which is no good as a pressure cooker, but makes a great stew-pot), turn it on and start stirring when I want some. That way it ages and the flavor develops over time, and it's still 'alive' in a sense. Once it goes in the fridge, it's just leftovers.

Anyone else love the stew? What's your process?

Ummm... getting my mom to make it! :D

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Stew is awesome (nearly as awesome as Alton Brown, on average. Don;t ask me to compare based on stew with chunks of steak or venison.)

My favorite thing is to set up a crock pot of meat early in the day, then add vegetables, and possibly ground meat and milk or broth. I wait until the fibres are almost completely broken down (so that I have to puck chunks up with a spoon, lest they fall apart, and the fibres catch in my teeth smply by closing my jaw), and the potatoes are squichy lups of unidentifiable starchy chunks (but before they completely lose their shape), the carrots are basically solid chunks of orange beef broth with a little bit of carrot throughout holding it together, and thegreen vegetables are no longer cruncy but not yet squishy.

If I haven;tadded too many vegetables, I may make chili out of the leftovers, or I may simply have more stew.

Stew is great, a nice beef stew with white rice, that makes me happy :D

i could live off of stew... :drool:

Yay stew!! My mom used to make it. Then my dad said he thinks it's hobo food and my mom got offended and doesnt make it any more :(

I ate so much stew as a kid that I refused to eat anymore once I moved out. But now I'm starting to get back into it. My favorite is the really thick kind, like Irish stew or something, or anything with mushrooms.

I'm not sure how I feel about not refrigerating it though. :P Are you sure that's errr.. sanitary?

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Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

I ate so much stew as a kid that I refused to eat anymore once I moved out. But now I'm starting to get back into it. My favorite is the really thick kind, like Irish stew or something, or anything with mushrooms.

I'm not sure how I feel about not refrigerating it though. :P Are you sure that's errr.. sanitary?

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It worked for the Mongols, and I'm not dead yet :D

Stew's gone, btw.

EDIT: Also, my stews don't have any dairy or meat in there, making them a little less volatile, though I'm thinking beef or pork would hold up just fine.

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Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

I ate so much stew as a kid that I refused to eat anymore once I moved out. But now I'm starting to get back into it. My favorite is the really thick kind, like Irish stew or something, or anything with mushrooms.

I'm not sure how I feel about not refrigerating it though. :P Are you sure that's errr.. sanitary?

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EWWWWWWWWW mushrooms!

:P

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Originally Posted by rockinred

Yay stew!! My mom used to make it. Then my dad said he thinks it's hobo food and my mom got offended and doesnt make it any more :(

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Haha same thing happened to my family pretty much, except it was my grandfather who said that.

Of course she still makes it just to annoy him sometimes. ;)

Ahh I see, yeah no dairy makes a difference! :D

*gasp* guerilla! Mushrooms are sooooooo good.

They might be good for you but if I even smell mushrooms I feel nauseous and kinda sick to my stomach, thats just the smell, tasting one would just make me i don't know what

I'm grossed out just by thinking about it ew lol

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Originally Posted by guerilla

EWWWWWWWWW mushrooms!

:P

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My experience with people who say "EWWWWWWWWW mushrooms," such as myself up until 5-6 years ago, is they have little or no experience of mushrooms, and they've had traumatic experiences with bland mushrooms, poorly prepared. There are dozens, possibly hundreds of varieties of edible mushrooms, and I had the opportunity to try quite a few of them prepared by a master over the last few years; as an ex-fungiphobe, I assure you that any of them prepared well are delicious. Some of my favorites are miitake (hen-of-the-woods), hon shimejis, and chicken-of-the-woods, and another whose name I can't remember--a delicate, dark-banded little cap with the texture of a ripe cherry.

Um well my mom is a very good cook, I don't care how good anyone says mushrooms are, the sight or smell of them makes my gag reflex go on, no joke...even if she makes them the smell of them cooking makes me ill and I have to shut my door so the smell doesn't go in my room, it really just makes me feel sick.

I'm sticking with my beef :D

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Originally Posted by guerilla

Um well my mom is a very good cook, I don't care how good anyone says mushrooms are, the sight or smell of them makes my gag reflex go on, no joke...even if she makes them the smell of them cooking makes me ill and I have to shut my door so the smell doesn't go in my room, it really just makes me feel sick.

I'm sticking with my beef :D

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Most people's food phobias come from traumatic experiences with their mother's cooking ;) It's a big world out there, why shut the door on a whole kingdom?

I just don't think you get it, is it not possible for one to hate a food?

I've tasted mushrooms from alot of places and every time it was absolutely revolting and the smell was even worse, and my moms not a bad cook shes a great cook.

I shut the door because i kept puking from the taste, look and smell.


I don't think I need to say more


Beef stew is the best!

I suppose it's like my cat's utter revulsion to strawberries. You can't really reason with him, it's just how he's programmed! :D

Yea mes is right, once again :D...and she updated her avatar with another drop dead gorgeous guy wow mes where do you find these cute guys?

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Originally Posted by Taosaur

My experience with people who say "EWWWWWWWWW mushrooms," such as myself up until 5-6 years ago, is they have little or no experience of mushrooms, and they've had traumatic experiences with bland mushrooms, poorly prepared. There are dozens, possibly hundreds of varieties of edible mushrooms, and I had the opportunity to try quite a few of them prepared by a master over the last few years; as an ex-fungiphobe, I assure you that any of them prepared well are delicious. Some of my favorites are miitake (hen-of-the-woods), hon shimejis, and chicken-of-the-woods, and another whose name I can't remember--a delicate, dark-banded little cap with the texture of a ripe cherry.

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Originally Posted by Taosaur

Most people's food phobias come from traumatic experiences with their mother's cooking ;) It's a big world out there, why shut the door on a whole kingdom?

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SO true! I hated mushrooms my entire life and then when I moved out, I realized it was because of how my mom made them. She'd cut them up and put them in some kind of slimey something or other sauce. Yuck.

Then I started making them and I grill them, drizzle them with butter and sprinkle garlic powder on them and they are FANFRICKINTASTIC!

That stew sounds great by the way. And yay to no meet or dairy! Can you give a recipe? Like, step by step? I don't know how to make a stew but I would love to try yours. Tomatoes and coconut milk and all. :)