Fall is for Stew

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I had been thinking about making a good, hearty chili for the last couple of days.  Then I started cooking...and ended up with a sort of stew-like concoction instead. 

My approximate recipe:

1 T olive oil
1 t mustard seeds
1 t cumin seeds
spices: salt, pepper, cumin, fenugreek, garam masala, dried hot pepper; to taste
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 giant cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef
1 large beauregard yam
3 medium carrots
4 leaves chard
1/3 c dark beer
1 c slightly fermented cider

Heat olive oil and seeds until seeds start to pop, about 1 minute.  Add onion and sauté until clear around the edges.  Add garlic and sauté another minute or two.  Add beef and stir until it’s mostly come apart (I often forget to thaw it ahead of time).  Add (chopped) yam and cover.  When yam is half cooked, add carrots.  When carrots are half cooked, add chard stems.  When everything else is nearly done, add chard leaves.  Add beer and/or cider whenever the liquid is lower than the surface, at least until the yam is cooked.  Serve with cornbread.  (I use the recipe in the Tassajara Bread Book.)

(Everything except the spices, the olive oil, and the beer were local.  Any recommendations for local oatmeal stout would be welcomed.)