Fall: A Season for Stew
The fall season signifies change. The leaves turn different colors and disappear from their branches, temperatures drop in the evenings, signaling a time to turn indoors and gather together. What perfect time to create warm, soul and belly-filing meals that are easy to make and hugely satisfying.
A one-pot meal that crosses every culture and region is a stew. Though it’s represented by several countries around the world, the earliest written record of a stew comes from Rome, Italy a country famous for sumptuous food. There are recipes for lamb stews & fish stews in the Roman cookery book Apicius, believed to date from the 4th century. References to stews can be found in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Archeological evidence of cooking practices resembling a stew dating back 8,000 years or more have also been discovered.
Today stews are extremely popular with busy families who want to eat healthy and nutritious meals that can be assembled in a short period of time. Slow cookers or pressure cookers are ideal for this type of food which is mostly boiled and simmered. Most stews are thicker than a soup and fattened up with either flour-drenched meat or a homemade roux. Gumbo, a stew originating in Louisiana, is a popular stew filled with seafood, meats, spices and okra, and a roux base. It is meant to be eaten over rice and is especially popular on cool nights. Below is a recipe for Gumbo adapted by Kevin Clark, a former New Orleanian and a noted cook.
Southern Man Gumbo
4 chicken leg quarters
3 smoked sausage links-cut into pieces
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons gumbo file spice
1 tablespoon thyme
2 tablespoons parsley
1 can chicken stock
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/2 bell pepper-chopped
1 medium onion-chopped
3 cloves garlic-chopped
2 stalks celery-chopped
15-20 okras cut into pieces
1 cup flour
1/2-3/4 cup vegetable oil
Boil chicken for 45 minutes in water and chicken stock. As boiling add: onion, parsley, thyme, bouillon cube, and garlic. When the chicken is done, debone and set aside. Keep stock boiling. Make a roux by filling skillet with about 1/4′ of vegetable oil and adding 1 cup of flour. Stir constantly until the roux is chocolate brown in color and the consistency of tomato paste. DO NOT BURN! Add the roux to the boiling stock a spoonful at a time, stirring constantly. Add okra, sausage, de-boned chicken, gumbo file, and salt and pepper if needed. You can add cayenne pepper or hot sauce to taste also. Continue cooking on medium heat for about twenty minutes. Serve over white rice.
For more great stew recipes, follow these links:
http://beef.betterrecipes.com/fall-stew.html
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/8675?section=70
http://fall-recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/black_bean_and_butternut_stew
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chicken-stew-recipe/index.html
http://www.regionalrecipes.com/article1177.html
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/beef/slow-cooker-pot-roast-stew/
Meaghan Clark is Web Editor for Charlotte Parent magazine.
