One pot dinner

Now that it’s started to snow and the temperatures have dipped below zero, I think it’s safe to say that it’s one-pot cooking time – chilis, soup and stews, for example.

I love one-pot cooking. You can get so much into a dish without having to dirty up a bunch of pots. When you’re the one doing the cooking in the household, each week you should have, you need a one-pot meal to make the cleanup faster and easier.

I made a Beef Stew the other night (pictured above), which I made mostly from memory of stews past, but then found almost the exact ingredient in Lucinda Scala Quinn’s recipe in her new cookbook, Mad Hungry. It’s a fantastic basic one to keep on hand (or like me, make enough times in your life that it become ingrained like the lyrics to Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and the birthdate of all your ex boyfriends).

Mine was the same except for the amounts – I used 3 carrots instead of 5, 4 potatoes instead of 6, 2 pounds of beef instead of 4, 1 onion instead of 2, waaay less stock and no wine sadly (that’s what I get for drinking with it instead of cooking with it – when will I learn?). The Mad Hungry recipe is made big on purpose – so that you cook once and have a bunch leftover for the week. I used just what I had on hand, which is enough for us two and then some, while Lucinda’s serves 10-12, or as she writes, “or 6 for one meal, with leftovers to freeze for another.”

Lucinda’s Basic Beef Stew

5 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks

4 celery stalks, peeled (2 finely diced, 2 sliced crosswise into 3/4-inch slices)

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

4 pounds beef, cut into 2-inch chunks (use chuck stead or half chuck/half bottom round)

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetables oil

1/4 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 sprigs of fresh thyme, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

1/2 cup red wine (optional)

8 cups beef or chicken broth

1 tablespoon hot red pepper sauce (optional)

1. Float the carrot, celery, and potato chunks in a large bowl of cold water until needed.

2. Toss the meat with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Heat a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Swirl the oil into the pot. Working in batches, coat the meat pieces in flour, and add to the pot. Brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes, then transfer the browned meat to a plate. Repeat until all the meat is browned, adding more oil if necessary.

3. Pour off all but a few tablespoons of fat. Swirl in the butter. Add the onions, garlic, diced carrots, and diced celery. Cook on medium-low heat until lightly caramelized, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and the thyme and cook for 2 more minutes.

4. Raise the heat to high. Add the wine, if using (or 1/2 cup of broth), and stir to deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits stuck to the bottom. Return the meat to the pan and add the broth, which should cover the meat (add water if necessary). Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 2 hours.

5. Drain the carrots, celery and potato chunks. Add to the pot and cook until tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove 4 potato pieces, then mash them and stir back into the stew to slightly thicken the mixture. Stir in the hot sauce, if using. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve hot . (To freeze: Cool the stew and store in an airtight plastic container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

p.s. And just so you don’t bored of making stews, do what I did tonight – change it up and make it up. I made a Veal Stew with Za’tar, a Middle Eastern Spice made with thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. I also added leeks, celery, red pepper, garlic, parsley, peanut butter and tomatoes (ingredients pictured below) and served it over basmati rice. It sounds gross, probably, but it was like a African Stew I used to make. Completely and utterly comforting in a new and unfamiliar way.

Nothing beats stew, no matter what kind you make.