Fall is here and with it comes a colourful harvest of flavourful root vegetables that can be used in a dozen different ways. From onions and carrots to potatoes and parsnips, autumn's gifts are not only good for you but the warm scent of roasting vegetables is reminiscent of Grandma's kitchen and simpler, easier times. One of the best ways to enjoy the bounties of fall is in a wonderful oven stew that takes advantage of all the colour that the garden has to offer. This stew is easy to prepare and after you have popped it in the oven you can just forget about it till meal time.
The secret to a great stew is in the size of the pieces. Stew should have large chunks of vegetables so it can be stewed for a few hours without becoming mush. If you cut the pieces too small you will have chunky soup instead of stew. I try to leave the pieces about the size of a small egg. When you are buying your vegetables look for big carrots and parsnips not the thinner small ones.
Fall Harvest Oven Stew
- 2 pounds of lean stewing beef or lean sirloin cut into large cubes.
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 large sweet Vidalia onion .
- 4 carrots cleaned
- 2 parsnips cleaned
- 1 medium turnip peeled
- 4 large potatoes
- 4 cloves of garlic peeled and minced
- 2 cups of diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 cup of apple juice
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Peel the onion and cut into wedges. Clean the carrots and parsnips and leave in chunks about the size of a small egg or 2 to 3 inches in length. Clean and peel the turnip and dice it into large chunks. Scrub the potatoes but leave the peels on and cut into quarters.
- Toss the stewing beef in the flour till coated.
- Put all the ingredients into a roasting pan. Put the lid on. Roast at 300 degrees F for 2 1/2 hours or until the beef is done.
- Remove the lid and the bay leaves.
- If the stew is too thick add a bit of water or tomato juice, mix and heat through. If it is too thin you can thicken it with 2 generous tablespoons of flour in 1/2 a cup of cold water.
- Stir till smooth and mix with the stew. Cook until the stew is the desired thickness.
Stew is best served with home made biscuits. If not biscuits then warmed crusty bread is great too.
Heather O'Neil - Published poet, children's book author, mixed media artist and retired newspaper columnist. I am also the sole owner/operator of O'Neil ...
