Today, I Cooked....

     Stew: oxtail, beef shank and stew meat, browned and, as it cooked, cut up.  This is especially interesting with oxtail -- you cook it and then you start fishing it out, taking it off the bone, and letting it cook more.  Ideally, you cook it until it is ready to fall off, but it needs some help even then.

     Once the meat was well-browned and mostly cooked, I diced a big old rutabaga, and let it cook and deglaze.  Added diced carrots, then worked on a nice big fennel bulb, and once it was in and cooking, chopped up a large onion.  I sauteed all that together and once the veggies were done enough --rutabaga soft, onion translucent -- I added a big can of crushed tomatoes and beef stock.  Cover and ignore, other than periodic attacks on the oxtail and beef shank.  Sharp scissors help with that, and the marrow cooks out of the shank bones and enriches the broth.  Once it warmed through, I added basil, parsley and three bay leaves, because it was a big pot of stew.

TAMARA KEEL PHOTO

      It cooked away with the lid on for another 45 minutes and was ready enough.  Tam and I dug in and it was good indeed.

     There's plenty left for tomorrow