It is real winter here in Sonoma County. Mornings are frosty, some days are clear and others rainy, and nights are reaching below freezing in areas. We light our wood-burning stove every night and the heat penetrates throughout the house. Our Australian Shepherd Sydney and cat Pearl are both sporting their heavy winter coats. A deck of cards is always out.
The orchard is dormant now, so the cold is good, and rain even better. Most crops, pruned, look bare and lifeless. They are not, just taking a much needed break. Our cover crop between the rows of trees is green and thriving though, responding to the rain.
During cold season, nothing warms the house and fills it with wonderful aroma like a simmering stew. We make it all winter long.
My mother always made stew this time of year, and whenever someone was in need or comfort was in order, she was there with a big pot, some rice or pasta, a salad and dessert. I can’t count or imagine how many pots of stew she distributed to her friends; she was that lovely type of person.
I love the hearty vegetables this season brings – turnips, potatoes, carrots, onions – and I load them into my stew. I’ll stop by Tierra or visit the Santa Rosa farmers market on Wednesday or Saturday or the Sebastopol farmers market Sunday. I also love deep red wine which creates a rich broth that mixes with the beef and vegetables perfectly. We have so many local wines to choose from, and I go with what I plan/want to drink that evening. In my case, it’s usually a neighbor’s Zinfandel.
I was in Chile’s Colchagua Valley recently, and had some beautiful Carignans and Carmeneres, and thought how perfect they would be for and with a hearty stew. (Side note: we visited Montes winery, where the wine was aging in oak barrels to Gregorian chanting 24/7) It was also a treat to indulge in a fresh peach salad in February, too.
It seems like just about every country has a traditional stew. Some even say stews originated in Japan. Whatever the case, the combination of slow cooking solid ingredients with liquid, over a period of time, in a gravy type of broth, has been done for centuries and the world over. My family was from Canada, my parents and my three siblings and I were all born there, so this is a tried and true Winnipeg winter stew recipe, and people from Winnipeg really know winter.
Winnipeg Winter Stew
Ingredients:
Bottle of red wine– Zin for us out here in the Dry Creek Valley
One and a half pound chuck roast, cut evenly into one-inch-plus cubes
One large onion – sliced
One cup of beef broth
Four Bodega red potatoes – cubed
One large turnip – peeled and cubed
Four carrots – sliced
One cup green peas
Flour for dredging
Olive oil, about a tablespoon
Salt, Pepper, favorite hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce
Favorite cooked rice or pasta
The process:
Coat a medium-sized stewing pot with local olive oil. Dredge meat in flour and then sear meat on all sides, over medium to high heat. Add beef broth and then wine to cover meat completely in stewing pot. (Save and drink the rest of your wine with your meal). Add sliced onions. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Cover and simmer for an hour and a half or two, until meat is fork tender, and you can tear meat easily.
Then add potatoes, turnips and carrots and simmer for another half hour to hour. Add more liquid to cover ingredients if needed. Add peas at the very end.
Once all vegetables are cooked and tender, season stew with salt, pepper, your favorite hot sauce, a dash of Worcestershire sauce and whatever else you think will make it delicious.
Serve your hot stew over rice or pasta, and with a fresh and local green salad. Yum!
Next: Asparagus
